“I work at Microsoft” used to be my entire identity for a long time.
It’d be the first, and sometimes only, thing I’d mention while introducing myself.
Seeing the layoffs today, I wonder how I’d have reacted on being robbed of my identity, if I was there.
(1/3)
Just attended the wedding of another friend who found her partner at B School.
Confident that an MBA has a better success rate than most dating apps.
Time to start studying for GMAT. 💪
Goa is known for its nightlife. 🍸
In the last few months, I have felt so helpless, not being able to experience it fearlessly.
And it’s not just me, but every other woman traveller that I speak to.
Well, it’s time to change that.
@onherwaycation
A lot of us have the flexibility in our work that allows us to travel irrespective of long weekends. If you do too, I strongly urge you to avoid long weekend travel, and here's why.
I have stayed at an ITC Hotel (30k/night) and an OYO (1k/night).
You can add only so many "features" to your luxury stay.
What truly sets the experience apart and justifies the price point, is the hospitality and how the staff makes you feel at home & safe.
I noticed a beautiful thing in Goa where people would introduce themselves as a writer, traveller, or even a tech geek, who also happened to work for XYZ.
We, in the city rush, constantly detach our interests from our identity, because it’s just “something we do”.
(2/4)
So, the next time someone asks you to introduce yourself, maybe mention how you write poetry, or love to bake, or play the ukulele.
Whatever it may be, it deserves to be almost an equal (if not more) part of your identity as your work.
(3/4)
An average traveller is not a 28-year-old man, but a 35-year-old woman. And yet, the travel ecosystem over the years has been built for the average man, by men.
(1/5)
I found it.
I found the shack of my dreams.
This one is tucked away in a tiny missable corner of Ashvem Beach.
Wild Shack has pineapples and books on every table, soft jazz playing in the background, stunning views of the sea and the freshest food.
I refuse to eat bad food on vacation. Every calorie consumed must be directly proportional to the delight induced. 🥣
Ngl, Varkala did disappoint quite a bit in the beginning.
But after some hit and trial, I found some gems.
Women Travellers, how much would you be open to paying, per trip, for a safer travel experience?
That means, getting access to a safe & trusted stay, a known and trusted cab driver, a local contact at your destination, and more.
(in rupees)
Like most founders, I had also dreamt of days I write posts about how we earned that first dollar and then the subsequent billion, the love of that first customer, and then the millions. Launching a product, that first office, team pizza nights, and so much more.
Unknowingly booked a stay at the venue of the IPL Auction.
Spent this morning bumping into folks in IPL jerseys, aggressively googling to figure out who they were and getting excited about sharing space with famous people who I had no clue existed until that very minute.
It’s so amusing that the same men who are pretty much ‘meh’ about most things in life, can have AND show such a wide range of emotions for a game of ball ⚽️
If you’re a woman travelling this week and need help with anything on your trip (planning, reccos or anything else), hmu and I’ll do my best. It’s a slow week since everyone is on vacay, and I am happy to help whoever is ‘on her way’. 🏃🏻♀️
Really need more friends who are morning people and would be up for filter coffee and dosa at 8 AM.
Tired of calling my night owl friends and screaming "Rise and Shine", only to have them hang up on me.
Mussoorie had been on my list for the longest time. Especially since the absolutely stunning
@ZostelHostel
Plus came up there.
Recently made that trip happen and omg my heart is so full.
Twitter made this happen!
I connected with
@anilgoteti
on Twitter a day after announcing the shutdown of
@onherwaycation
.
With zero context, since they were in stealth at the time, I landed up at the
@getscapia
office 3 months back and excited to be joining them fulltime now
The curse of solo travel is that you never find one of those cute BnBs at a price that makes sense for 1 person.
Consider this a random experiment (that I’ll ofc fuel into my work), but is anyone travelling to Goa next week and would be open to sharing a flat? DM.
I don’t know how people across the world do 6 months of this weather.
It’s just been 3 days of no sun and I feel sad and hopeless.
Sun is not shining and neither am I, tysm.
📍Felix, Anjuna
👩🏻💻They have a co-working space and an outdoor cafe that you can work out of. I personally find the co-working space a bit too dark and prefer the outdoor area. You don’t have to pay to sit in this area, so that’s a bonus too 🌝
Great for calls, usually silent.
A very nice woman at my Gynac’s clinic told me about the crazy opening sale at the Mango Store in Indiranagar and now I’m standing here in sweats, with a report in hand prescribing lifestyle changes which don’t include shopping 🛍️
But here I am — writing about why that isn’t in the cards this time around.
Tldr: I am moving on. I am incredibly proud of myself, irrespective of the outcome. And deeply appreciative of everyone who tagged along in this ride of a lifetime.
Have always had my bias for North Goa, but discovered these gems in the Sleepy South.
📍Tesouro for some mad cocktails. They were among the 50 best bars in Asia, and rightly so.
📍Beno for brekkie, I am in love with their Turkish eggs and can have them everyday till I die. Ty.
With all the buzz around Shark Tank, seems like a good time to share that we WON’T be appearing this season haha 🥲
We did however make it to the Top 500 who auditioned in-person and it was one helluva experience.
Waited for over 8hours+, so had a lot of time for pictures 🌝
Being in Bangalore is so energising as a Founder.
I spend a week here every month and pack my schedule with breakfast, lunch, dinner convos with brilliant builders and operators.
Always head back buzzing with ideas and a long to-do list of things to implement.
Yesterday,we launched the
#SafeSpaces
Initiative with 10 bars in Goa, kicking it off with a bystander intervention training for their teams. Training them on how to be an active bystander and intervene the right way, when a woman at their space is feeling unsafe or uncomfortable
📍Barefoot, Parra
👩🏻💻My all-time favourite! Great for ALL THINGS WORK. Solid wifi, a booth for calls, a quiet space for focused work and great food & coffee. They charge a 500 rupee cover, so best to work out of here when you plan to spend the day out.
Here’s your reminder to be kind to the waiters, bartenders, and other PEOPLE in the hospitality industry.
Had a long chat with a friend who started as a waiter when he was 15 and still carries the trauma of the countless times he was mistreated by his customers.
(1/5)
Idk how y’all have been enjoying WFH. It’s so annoying to ping someone for a “quick call” when you could’ve just walked over to their desk and hovered around till they spoke to you.
Never been more proud of my travel hacking skills - just booked a roundtrip to Milan with 6k cash and rest all points from a couple of months of credit card spends!
Real backgrounds that seem like virtual backgrounds 🤌
Worked from The Rice Mill at Morjim today. This is now officially in my top 5 places to work from, in Goa.
Want more such recommendations and personalized to your taste? Join the
#TravelTaskforce
and have me personally design your trip for you!
Sign up here:
Bonus: You get to be part of the
@onherwaycation
mission and change travel for women, for good.
Hello hello hello travelers of the world, we are hiring for two amazing roles at
@onherwaycation
- Founder's Office (Full-time) & Social Media (Internship). You get to work with me &
@srishtiime
and we are pretty fun to work with ngl.
Safe travel is most broken for budget travellers.
You can “buy” safety by booking a branded hotel, picking a chauffeured cab, flying instead of using a train or bus.
Safety becomes directly proportional to how expensive it is. Sad, in a country with a huge gender pay gap.
Hello frens!
Over the past year, I have played host to many of you who have visited Goa and I’m getting back to doing it again now.
This time a tad bit better.
Used my Electronics & Communication Degree for the first time since graduation - to understand how effects work while DJing.
High pass filters, low pass filters, phaser - oof nostalgia.
Overtourism is real. The travel destinations that you end up going to, are not built for the masses and don't have the infrastructure to support them. When everyone comes into these spaces, all at once, naturally there's chaos.
Hired two brilliant women for social media from college and now they’ve got their entire college featuring in
@onherwaycation
reels and making content for us
📍Rice Mill, Morjim
👩🏻💻Kinda sorta very much in love with this place. Love their coffee, vibe, and music. Would recommend it for days when you are working on something creative and just want a space to sit and think.
There’s something about Goa that makes, not just me, but so many travellers keep going back year on year. 🌴
But even with all the Goa trips you may have done, I can assure you that you’ve never done it like this before.
Hosted a meetup + bombay darshan for the newbies of the city. 👭
We met at a coffee-house which is a transformed 120-year-old Goan Bungalow. 🏡
Played two truths and a lie - travel edition.
As always, everyone got my lie wrong. No, I haven’t ever missed a flight. 😎
Made it from the airport gate to the boarding gate in 8.5 minutes, thanks to
@RGIAHyd
’s express check-in.
…..then waited at the airport for the next 3.5 hours cause my parents taught me no better than to show up this early, always :)
Tons of Diwali messages today, but the ones that strangely made my heart most warm were simply those with my name on it.
Made me feel a little special that this person took out the time to type this out (even if it was probably just my name) and not just hit forward.
My favourite spots in the city are the ones that feel the least city-like.
Here’s one that truly puts me in a Goa state of mind.
📍Olive Bistro, Hyderabad
Want to give a sneak peek of something special we’re building to a few women travellers this week and get feedback.
If you’re available for a quick 15 minute call this week (that could possibly change how women travel foreveeeer) please hmu 🌝
With the number of Indians who are going to be at the Coldplay concert in Thailand this weekend, I wouldn’t be surprised if the crowd breaks into a “Bharat Maata ki Jai” chant in the middle of Viva La Vida 👀
📍Cafe Rasa, Panjim
👩🏻💻A proper co-working space, with amazing views of the Mandovi River. They charge a fee for the space on an hourly/daily basis. Makes sense most when you plan to spend the day. I go here for the views and on days I need quiet spaces for calls and focused work.
The next time you’re planning a trip, look for such spots around tourist destinations.
For Dharamshala, it’s Dharamkot.
For Anjuna, it’s Mandrem.
For Manali, it’s Naggar.
For Mussoorie, it’s Kempty.
Trust BBMP to build a beautiful lakeside park, a dedicated cycling track and then not allow cycles inside. 🥲
Just when I thought I had found the perfect cycling track in Bangalore, a wild BBMP lady appeared and chased me out.
The 10 mins I got to break the rule for 🤌🏻
Did anyone else notice all the Marvel-like moments in Pathaan? Post credit scenes, crossovers and references of other heroes, an ironman-like depiction of Srk and ending with a hint of an upcoming bollywood avengers 🙃
Yrf Spy Universe is onto becoming Marvel for India
Sure, you’ve gone drinking here but have you taken a tour of Bangalore’s favourite brewery? 🍺
@onherwaycation
is hosting an exclusive tour of Toit this weekend.
This is just the beginning. These spaces are committed to building a truly safe space for their women guests. Here’s a list of all the bars in Goa that are making this change happen and what they have to offer:
Things I forgot to account for when calculating my morning commute time in Bangalore:
- Rejections from every app, every type of vehicle. I have tried to book an UberXL for just myself at one point.