By Ram and Reshma.
Most of us earn a living so we can enjoy our passion in our leisure hours, and we
were no exception to the rule. We both worked for a dream company - Google, had a significant disposable
income, worked hard by day, and lived the high life by evening and on weekends. Yet there was something missing, like we were living it up
only peripherally. Deep within, we were not able to do the one thing we thoroughly loved - travel. We took frequent vacations, but always found ourselves time-bound and sprinting with fixed itineraries.
Most of us earn a living so we can enjoy our passion in our leisure hours, and we
were no exception to the rule. We both worked for a dream company - Google, had a significant disposable
income, worked hard by day, and lived the high life by evening and on weekends. Yet there was something missing, like we were living it up
only peripherally. Deep within, we were not able to do the one thing we thoroughly loved - travel. We took frequent vacations, but always found ourselves time-bound and sprinting with fixed itineraries.
We were left with a longing to
indulge deeper and experience the places we travelled in, and ultimately
So after 7 years of a comfortable corporate cubicle, we decided to quit our jobs and embrace a nomadic life.
In the 6 months since we started our new lives, we have discovered Thailand in a way our corporate lives never allowed us; we saw the temples of Bangkok by day and went pub hopping by night, wandered up and down Bangla road, hopped on a speed boat to super crowded Phi Phi island, went snorkeling at monkey bay, an experience that left us mesmerized by the beauty of marine life.
The highlight of our trip to Phuket was taking John Gray's Sea Canoe excursion - where we got to experience the stunning beauty of the ocean, explore sea caves and hidden lagoons by kayak under the blue skies and by the light of the moon. We learnt how to make flower kratong, and joined the locals to offer them to the sea gods at the caves after sunset (yes, we recovered the kratong back from the sea!).
We were lucky enough to witness the rare bio-luminescent phenomenon in the lagoon, where micro sea organisms emit a natural white glow in the dark waters.
If Thailand opened us up to the coastal beauty of Southeast Asia, we lost our heart in the heart of our own country, India. On a 43-day road trip covering
4270 km, 15 cities, 3 world heritage sites and 6 national parks, we witnessed the awe-inspiring diversity of Madhya Pradesh - wildlife, pilgrimages, historical monuments, prehistoric cave paintings, India's stone monument, the royal Bengal tiger, the holy Narmada, masjids, stupas, the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, and the iconic Khajuraho temples; we saw it all.
Funding our travels from our savings over the years, every day makes us feel like we are getting a little closer to the life we have always dreamed of.
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Would you ever consider quitting your job for a nomadic life?
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AUTHOR BIO: Passion for travel brought Ram and Reshma close; they fell in love, got married and now come up with crazy ideas to satisfy their hunger for travel. When they are not travelling, they blog, work on their culinary skills and treat their taste buds. They practice yoga, take care of the machines they ride and drive. Read their blog at http://screamingpiston.blogspot.in/
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Nice sharing! You shared beautiful pictures and information. This information is supportive for all blog readers. I had a great experience about temples of Bangkok. These are very attractive and best for photography. I have been there after completing my tour withbus to washington dc with my friends. Wat Phra Kaew is the most visited temple of Bangkok. It is Opened 8:30 am to 3:30 pm and the visitor entry charges is 500. For Thailand people entry is free. Its color decoration is gorgeous. This temple is located inside the grand place.
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