Did Social Media Kill Wanderlust? ft. Aakanksha Monga & Shivani

You are entering the Overthink Tank. Hola, it's me. Surbhi on your favorite podcast, the Overthink Tank. And today we are going to overthink all your travel plans and why they don't ever come to fruition today. Joining me are two really cool people. First up is this travel influencer who knows about five ways to get to Bali from Delhi in the price of a coffee. She knows about every hidden gem, every hack, and that is a Akanksha Monga.

Thank you.

And with her we've got Shivani Garola, who is a writer, a thinker, a definitely not your average traveler. She doesn't want to post anything on Instagram. She and I know that from personal experience. Hi, Shivani.

Hi, Surabhi.

What's it like to be on my podcast? I love that on this episode is because of your different perspectives that you bring. Right. Somebody who's traveling as a full time thing, like now. It's your job.

Yeah.

And somebody who's traveling just for the heck of traveling, you know, just to enjoy and be in the moment and not make like a carousel of 20 photos. And that's what I see in Shivani. So I think this will be an interesting conversation.

Yeah. Because I think we have a. The common love that we share is still traveling by the end of the day. Just different ways of doing it.

That's true.

Yeah.

And on this podcast, guys, the Overthink Tank, we get a question from our listener. All right, let's read the question.

Hi.

The Overthink tank. So I'm 25, working as a software engineer, and I've just started listening to your podcast. Love it so far. Thank you. But I have to ask, how is everyone going to these amazing places? I am seeing people in Italy, Bali, the Swiss Alps, and here I am stuck in my nine to five, saving up for weekend drinks with my friends. Is everyone secretly a millionaire or am I going to die cultureless? Help me out. Ooh.

Love the question.

Classic question. First of all, every time I open my Instagram, there's a person in me who compares my.

Just like all of us. I think we all do that.

Yeah, I don't want to do it, but it just happens. I'm like, okay, I'm in my bathroom and this person is in an open bathroom.

In Bali, technically, you're all doing the same thing.

Yeah. But they have a better view.

The vibes are different.

Do you feel like you compare yourself even though you're a travel influencer? Do you feel like even you have these spans of comparison 100%.

In fact, I was talking about this recently as well, that within travel creators itself, there's a comparison, right? So right now it's about who has gone to more destinations, who's gone to more countries. Like, for me, in the traveling space, it's more about like, oh, this person. Like, I love traveling. Very offbeat and going to countries that are very unique or having experiences that are tougher. That's the kind of travel that I enjoy doing. So I would compare myself to creators who are doing travels like that. And I'm just like, oh, my God, this person has gone to XYZ country. This is such a hardcore country to go to. Why haven't I been here yet?

So North Korea coming for you.

To be honest, there is a marathon that you can run in North Korea. It's been shut for the last two years. I think after Covid, actually, I think it was shut. But I think next year they'll open it. And I remember seeing someone video. Someone's video has gone for that. And even I was like, that's so cool. Why haven't I done that? So see, for me, comparison is on that level. But I think I also still compare and catch myself comparing. It's good and bad, I think good because then you strive for something, but bad because, yeah, I mean, comparison is never really only good.

So as I'm on my Instagram comparing myself, I'm like, comparison is the thief of joy.

Exactly.

While comparing. So at least I'm glad I'm not the only one. You also feel this. What about you? What do you think about this question, Shivani, do you feel like travel is expensive?

Travel is expensive, but it depends on how you. How. How you look at it. Like, I feel like travel, for me, the expense, I won't. I'm not a person who sets a lot of store by, like, a lot of material possessions. Like, I'll buy a cheap bag, but I'll. I'll splurge on travel. So I, I don't think of it as a. I mean, of course it's an expense, but I think of it as a. As an expense that's adding something to my life. So I don't mind making that expense. But obviously, like, it comes to a point where I had to get to a certain point before I could actually start traveling in a big way and, you know, kind of make those expenses without really having to, like, struggle for the next few months.

I know everybody has like, these bucket list, but then eventually, when it comes down to like, okay, the flights will cost this much and then my stay is going to cost this much. And then your basic necessaries, it all adds up. And then suddenly you're like, I might as well just, you know, buy the bag because it's cheaper. You know, like, has this ever thought come to your mind?

The idea of getting to experience a new culture or new thing for the very first time is just something that adds a lot to my soul personally. It's like a weird thing to say, but it really does. And that kind of, I think, softens the blow on my bank account at times. I genuinely feel like that's the only reason. Like I. Again, touchwood. I don't have, you know, a lot of responsibilities in that sense. Like, nobody to support, nobody to like really have. I. I'm the only person I'm like kind of looking out for. And that allows me to do all of these things where. Which a lot of people, even if they perhaps are making the same amount of money as me or even more, they have like a lot of other, you know, a lot of the other obligations to like, take care of. So that I think that comparison then also becomes like a weird thing to do because there must be people who are earning way less.

Yeah.

Who are also able to do it because they don't have like those additional responsibilities around them to like think of. But.

Or as you say, emotional baggage.

Yeah. I don't think they'll let you fly with that on Indigo on Air India.

Though It's allowed only 25 kgs of emotional baggage. Okay, a quick question, guys. You're going to go out tomorrow. Okay? You are.

Is this like, hypothetically, Are you sending us to Goa after? Is this what we get?

Hypothetically, Both of you are going to go out tomorrow. You have five things to pack. Quick. Five things to pack.

Toothbrush, which I will forget for sure.

Toothbrush.

That's the worst I'll get at the hotel.

Toothbrush.

No, my. A swimsuit.

A swimsuit.

My towel. Oh, why am I saying you'll get.

It at the hotel?

Okay. Three.

Okay.

My charger.

Your charger.

A pair of, like, shoes.

Wow. Okay. You forgot. You forgot something really important. And that's underwear. But moving on. You're going to think I can buy.

This is terrible. I'm so bad at this.

You're going to go out tomorrow. Five things. Go.

Yes. My power bank and phone. Does that count as two? Can I count them?

No, that's two things.

Okay, well, my power bank in my phone. Nice try.

A Kangshan.

I wanted to say it in one go. I was like, pee. Maybe it works. Power bank phone. A good swimsuit, sunscreen. Yeah. And oh, my God, comfortable pair of flip flops. Because I always end up getting these really bad ones. If you go and buy them and.

Go on, I would only take one thing. I'm going to take a conscious bag.

I'm going to steal a conscious bag. Do you have this thing where, like, every time you're trying to go for a beach holiday, even though you're going for the weekend, but you will pack, like 18 underwears, you shit yourself every day. Yeah. You're just like, I don't know. I don't know what happens.

You know, I think the only thing I actually, I'm. I don't overpack at all. Since I have to really be mindful of my luggage. Since I live out of my suitcase. I have been traveling for the last six months with 16kgs. That's all I take with me.

Even. Even though the airline offers you more, you're like, that's it, I'm done. Yeah.

Because I have to carry my own luggage. There's nobody lugging my luggage around, so I can't pick up 30kgs. Like, it's not possible. Especially when you're in, like, okay, when I was in Europe, half of there. Even though we think, yes, Western Europe is very modern, but a lot of the train stations and they don't have, like, lifts and escalators everywhere. So sometimes you just need to pick it up and walk up and down, like, 30 flights of stairs.

So have you made any noob mistakes? I know that now you're in a place where you're like, I packed 16 kgs to the tea. But what are your. What mistakes did you make?

I think I'm like the queen of making because I'm really careless as well. I get really excited and then I book things and I book things for the wrong months.

Oh, my God. Tell me more about that.

There was once, and this was so stupid. So I was in Indonesia and yeah, I also have this habit, you know, as you travel more and more, you actually get cockier because you're like, oh, yeah, I know this. Like, I can land in any country and I can figure it out, you know, like, that's how you get. So I never reached the airport, like, three hours in advance because I just know that you don't really need to, to be honest. So I reached the airport just like, you know, right in time for, like, getting in. Everything was going to work, like, clockwork until it didn't because I reached the security gate and in this was in on a random small island in Indonesia. And the guy goes like, yes, you're here today. Why? And I was like, yes, because I have my flight today. And he's like, yes, today, but in two months. Today.

In two months.

So he was like, you can leave. And I was like, no, but I want. I need to go back to the. Because then I had another flight from Bali out to India that was booked.

On the right day.

Yes. And then I was like, I need to go. And then he said, sure, you can, but by the time you get the flight, you put your luggage, the counter would be closed so you wouldn't be able to make it. And that's when I realized that, okay, maybe the mom's two and a half hour rule works when you need to. You know when she always says just in case reach just in case. That is the just in case that happened to me.

I'm so terrified of missing a flight even though I've missed one. And it's. It's not a good feeling. Like the, the way they make you feel at the counter when they just shut it. Be like, I'm sorry, can you just call the plane back to do a quick U turn?

This theory that the way to guess how the people of the country are going to be like, are they nice or rude? Like, what's the culture is by talking.

To people at the ground stuff.

Yes. That's where you see like people. Because I think ground staff, they're. They're just done.

Yeah, they're working.

Yeah, they're working so hard. They have annoying people like us going like two months later, we've booked our flight. Please let us go today. Like these kind of requests come to them on a daily. So they really, like, they're done. But if they're still nice, then you know that country's got golden people. Like, then you know that you're like, yeah.

No, but you're right. Has it ever happened to you that you go to, to an airport and you know you're sort of late and you want a window seat. So you make this different. You use a different voice from the back of your throat. I just like, hi.

I actually ran out as I doing this thing where I go and I compliment like a random thing in there, like, whatever. If they're wearing something or doing something like, oh, I love your eyeliner. Or they're always wearing like lovely eyeliner. Yeah.

Of the color of the airline blue.

Love your indigo Highlight.

So if you're like, really look at what can I compliment? Like, so now can I like take 20kgs instead of 15?

I do this thing where I, I mean they have a name tag, so. Amy. Oh, hi. How's it been? Like, we're already on first name basis, so they treat me nicely. Sometimes they're still in a bad mood and they're like, no, mostly they are.

In the bad mood.

Yeah.

They're really not because I think everybody comes and asks them the same question.

That's true.

Yeah.

Do you hold grudges against flights? Like, last time they didn't give me a window seat. So now I'm not. I'm going to book a different flight now.

No, I'm not. I don't think I have so much.

Money to be like, you're like, no.

I do that in the moment though. I'm like, you know what? I'm never going to fly with you again. And the next time I see the prices, I'm like, it's fine. I let my ego go. Like, it's okay.

You can't hold Rudras against people.

The only flag airline that I can openly say that nobody should ever fly with this is because I've spent too much time in Indonesia is Lion Air. Like, this is just a warning because they like have. Every single time I've flown with them, my flight has gotten cancelled or delayed. And not just me. And there's always like, you know, you can go to any airport in Indonesia, in Bali, Lombok, wherever, Jakarta. You'll always see outside lion air There are 20 people standing. And that's because flights are getting. And there's no customer service, nothing.

It was Lion Air only. This happened to me. Like last month I was in Indonesia and I was flying from Yogyakarta to Bali and they randomly changed the flight time. That's.

Oh my God.

This is their hobby.

My Twitter account is just me writing to brands and talking about how they have wronged me. So, like, that's people like you. That's all. That's all I do.

Wasn't it you who's like at AirAsia?

Yeah, the other.

I have, I have online beef with a lot of brands with a lot of airlines. But yeah, the. I tried to.

That's why they don't give you wi fi on the plane, so you can't tweet your way throughout the flight. I hate this.

Ho.

Ha. AC is not working. AirAsia, please do something about it.

Okay, let's talk about solo traveling versus group travel. I know that you solo travel a lot. What is it about solo travel that you're like, okay, this is. For me.

Most people end up solo traveling because. Not out of choice, but because they have to, because nobody's going with them. So they're just like, might as well. Because it's like, okay, does your love for travel win, or does your love for companionship win here? And mostly, like, that's how it started for me. Like, I was in college and it was the same story, actually. The girl who asked the question, the software engineer. Like, I felt at that point I was in that position where I really just wanted to travel. And all my friends around me didn't have, like, they would always say that we don't have the money to right now. And I started realizing that the reason why I have the money is because I wasn't going out on weekends. I wasn't like, I was saving up my money all the time for this. So, like, whatever I would get from, like. I remember at that time I had an internship that paid me, I think, 4,000 rupees a month, which was a big deal at the time.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it was amazing. And I used to be like, wow, 4,000, that's, like, really good. If I save it for two months, 8K easy trip to Himachal and back, like, this is great.

And back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So that's how it kind of started for me, the idea of solo travel, because I realized, okay, either I have to wait for until after college to find somebody or I just go do it on my own. And when I did, obviously there was a lot of fear around it that, you know, because it's just a weird feeling because you're always surrounded by people. Especially I think we come from. When we come from like an Asian Indian household where we're constantly. That we're living in. I was going to say group families. Joint families. Joint families, yeah. Join families. Or you have flatmates. Like, we're not alone. And just like, you step out on the street, you have so many people. So I think just that idea is obviously a bit uncomfortable. But when you go there, you realize you're still not alone because it's so easy to make friends. You land up in a hostel that's kind of like the solo travel checklist, right? That you book yourself into a hostel, you have common rooms, you meet people, and then you do things together or you do things alone. And I think, yeah, for me it started like that. But once I realized, wow, I can do this, and I don't need to, like, be restricted by what my friend wants to do. And it's a little bit selfish in some ways, but I feel like we spend so much of our lives living for other people, like, you know.

Yeah.

So that we don't disappoint our parents, so that we are there for our friends, so that we're there for our partners. So I feel like solo trips are one place where I can just do what I want to do. Like I can have a drink in the middle of the day if I want to after a hike, even though nobody wants to. I can go for a trek at 12am if I want to. So I can do whatever I want. And I think it's a good way of being there for yourself. So. Yeah, that's how I see it.

So Shivani and I have traveled together only once, and then we stopped.

In the middle of something. I knew this whole thing was just.

A ruse to bring this up again.

Yes. So let's talk about that. Right. Like when even though you're really close with someone. Right. You're the best of friends, but traveling actually brings out the worst in people. Or not the worst. Maybe it's. It's who they are.

Yeah.

And then you're like, oh, my God, this is eye opening. So how does that work? Shivani, let's talk. Have you ever thought about traveling with me again? Or is that a no go?

I love this.

Aren't we going to go out tomorrow?

Once? Just. Just be real with me.

People have, like different ways of traveling and it's, it's, it's great to be able to find those people and then travel with them. I mean, obviously you can. People also have to, like, make that effort. And I think you can also always meet midway if you love the, the other person enough. So it's not like we're not going to travel again.

For example.

Yeah.

How one time when we went traveling together, we actually just went to Pune. So it wasn't like a travel thing, but we, we realized that, okay, we both need our space. And even though we were in the same room, she went on a walk because she wanted to go for a walk. I went for a, you know, a shower. So that's, that's how you make a compromise.

Yeah.

In traveling.

Yeah. Normalize the fact that when two friends go traveling as well, like, it's okay if you don't spend 24 hours every second with each other. Like, it's okay. It's okay if you want to as well, because then your Traveling styles are really vibing, but if you're not, then it's okay. Plus, I feel like I have this tip for everybody. The dating tip is that if you ever wanna know if you're going to be together in the long run, like, I would just say cut to the chase. Like, don't, like, date for a year and then be like, now we'll travel together after a year. I would say travel within the first month. Then you're not wasting time. As you would know, once you're on a trip and you've seen that, how another person reacts in extremely stressful situations and extremely happy moments as well. Because you experience both when you're traveling, you're lugging down your luggage up and down also, which is really bad. But you're also seeing the most beautiful sunrise.

You know what? I feel like I love traveling because I get to take naps in different places. Like, wow, I'm just taking a nap and I wake up and it's a different place. I was in my house yesterday and now I'm here. I think that's. That's where traveling gets good, you know? Let's talk about Instagram. Okay. I know that there's a certain kind of pressure to get the perfect trip photo. And I feel like lots of influencers, obviously, you know, the travel influencers like yourself, they have like a team of people who travel with them, but obviously they make it seem very like, oh, it's just me or with my GoPro, but it's a bunch of people. There's hair and makeup, and it's all done for that one photo. And that photo on my feed makes me feel sad.

So why super honest that I. I don't feel that pressure because I, from the very start, I actually used to be very anti social media. I used to travel, like, a lot when I was in college and I didn't have any social media accounts, like, no Instagram, no YouTube, nothing. I used to follow a lot of travel creators, like, watch their videos on YouTube, but that was literally it. I. When I started my page, it was with a very conscious decision, Like, I was not an accidental content creator that, you know, oh, I started posting and then people followed me and I was like, oh, my God, Wow. Now, you know, that was in my story. I knew that, okay, this is something that I can get into. I can. I. I used to write, so I used to be a content writer when I was in college, freelancing here and there. So I was like, okay, you know, I can do this. And I Can write about the thing I'm most passionate about, which was traveling. So that's how I started. And the whole reason why I did this was because I knew that I want to really travel the world. Like, live in different places, do different things. And I thought this, for me is like the path of least resistance. Like, I want to do this, and this will take me to those places, but at the same time, I don't ever want this to become something that I don't enjoy and that I start hating. And I knew one very quick way that I would not enjoy this is if I had that pressure of taking the perfect shot or looking the. Like, looking perfect, because when you're hiking up a mountain, honestly, you just have sweat patches everywhere, so there's no way of looking like your butt is also sweating. So, honestly, there's no looking good in that moment. So for me, I focused my content to be more around, like, telling a story of a place or explaining the emotion behind it. And most of the times I. Like I said when I started traveling, it actually started with me going alone. So I had no support, no teams. I didn't even know that that could be an option. So I kind of trained myself to travel that way, that I could, like, flip my phone and take my own videos or set it up on a tripod or now when I meet people, I always make this joke. If someone takes my video, I'm always like, thanks for supporting my career. Like, today, you have added value to my career goals. I think the only pressure that I do sometimes feel now is that because you see, like, so much content on social media on a certain destination. Like, say, let's say, for example, you went to Italy and then you went to Cinque Terre. Like now, for example, if I hadn't gone there, I would kind of feel that stress that, oh, my God, I didn't go to this one location that is, like, everybody said, it's great. And then, you know, when you don't go to that location, as a creator, as a travel creator, when I say, okay, I didn't go here, I get a million messages saying, oh, my God, but you missed the best place. I had a good time here. And then you feel the fomo, Even though I would have explained that to myself, that, no, I'm not gonna feel any fomo, but you do end up feeling that. So that's the only pressure I feel.

Are we bringing back the word fomo?

Yes.

FOMO is back.

FOMO is back.

Yeah, but that's insane. Like, to you know to sort of change your itinerary based on. Okay, my followers want me to go to this place, so I must. Well, I don't know. Are your followers paying for this extra stay in a hotel? You should just be like, I'm gonna do what I want.

True. I mean, most times I do. But, yeah, sometimes I like, it's. It's something that you've just got to be very conscious of. So sometimes, obviously, I end up, as we are at the Overthink podcast, I end up overthinking it and feeling like maybe because by the end of the day, this is also my job. I'm also doing this as like a, you know, in many ways as like a service to, you know, like to get. Get the best stories out here. So I must. They're my shareholders in a way. Right. So I. I sometimes overthink it and end up doing that. But then I also kind of take a step back and feel that, okay, by the end of the day, they're not following me because I'm a travel agency. They're following me because I tell them interesting stories. And most of the times, like, I no longer do content, like, go to the top 10 places here and stuff like that. So I know they're not following me for that. So there's no point in me killing myself and going to this, like, extra place, which I might not even enjoy just because I feel people want me to go there.

Travel makes you learn so much about yourself. You're like, why am I gravitated towards my phone? When I see something beautiful, why can't I just sit still and enjoy it? And sometimes I also see that a lot of people, you know, there's. There's this whole thing on Instagram which is like, Instagram versus reality. Like something that's super popular on Instagram.

But then people actually in real life.

I loved it. But like, those spots that, you know, those Nusa Panita spots, it's a long, like a two kilometer long line to take that one shot that you've seen.

Yeah.

So that I feel like Bali swings. My God, what a.

What a scam. Yeah. What a. Bali swings are not fun. They look damn fun.

No, they do.

Firstly, it's like ridiculously priced. That that entire experience must be worth it. That's that one shot, right? Everyone wants to go there and get that one shot, which is, I guess, I mean, again, like, people are going to monetize.

Has anyone fallen off that swing?

Huh?

No, they really harness. Put in harness. I've done it so I know the experience firsthand, but it's. It's a great.

Like, it's a great photo and all of that, but I'm like. Again. But then I have a specific. I personally wouldn't go there and, like, go all the way and pay all that money to get that one shot because I don't perhaps care for it. But there are a lot of people who do and who also feel like it. This whole thing would be incomplete if they were to not get that picture. So I get both sides. But I. Yeah.

Which is why we see so many people taking the exact same photo in the exact same place. Right. The Taj Mahal photo. Everybody has that photo. Why is it that every, like, you know, people feel compelled to take the same photo because. Is it because they look at other people doing the same thing?

Maybe it comes from the need to, like, recreate something that you've seen and then you. I feel like it comes probably because social media. I feel like in many ways, one thing that I hate, which I also feel bad because I'm. I'm adding to it. I'm a part of the problem is that we have killed suspense. Like, travel used to be so suspenseful. Like when I used to travel in college because, like I said, I wasn't on Instagram, so I never saw stories. I would just see maybe sometimes a youtuber. I used to be a really lazy traveler in the sense that I would never research anything. I would just maybe buy a book or something and just land up and then see or talk to. I knew that the hostel owners are going to know everything. I'll just talk to them and they'll help me figure it out. And that used to create so much, like, suspense about where I'm going, because I genuinely didn't know, like, what's the best restaurant or where's the best sunset Spot Spot. And then I would come back also, and I would still be happy. I would never feel bad about anything because I was never putting it out there to. For it to be compared to something else. And I think now, because creators like me and everybody else, like, we put out so much content on a certain place, you kind of already know what to expect.

And you've seen so much already through those videos.

Yeah. So when you've seen Bali, you've seen. You have rice fields, you know, you have the Bali Swing, you have that Noosa Pinira shot, and you've gone there. I think your brain just automatically kind of pushes you to do the same thing because you've seen it Already? You've already visualized yourself doing that.

It feels familiar.

Yeah. I guess for both of you.

What kind of travel are you most gravitated towards? Something that's planned to the T, you know, itinerary in place or something that's super spontaneous.

I think it should be planned to a certain point because I'm a very anxious person. I will lose it if I can't get to a place and just be like, okay, now let me, you know, let me figure now. Now either I have to plan it to a certain extent.

By planning, you mean like, reading the Reddit threads of that?

No, like booking my hotels, knowing, you know, having a rough plan of what perhaps I'm going to do in the time that I'm there, or, like, have someone else who I know I can, you know, kind of count on to, like, who's from there or, like, you know, who probably, like, plan it for me, which I've done a lot. Like, if I travel by myself to a different country and my friends live there, then I kind of leave it on them to, like, you know, then I'm okay.

That's what I meant. Lazy traveler vibes.

Yeah, I love doing that. That's my favorite thing to do.

Yeah.

But if I have to do go somewhere by myself, I need at least some stuff figured out. I can't just be like, just, you know, book a flight on yolo. I'll just, like, see what Airbnb I get on that day. I also, I think that's how you travel also becomes expensive if you do it at the last minute. And I'm a very. I. I love getting a good deal. So I, I will go on Skyscanner like, months in advance, see what the best flight is. Okay, fine. It has a Leo. That's all right. I'll do whatever. I'll. I'll do all of that. Go to Agoda Get. Are you. Are you getting paid by any of these people?

None of these except Lion Air pays me.

But yeah, I think for me to plan is also a way to, like, save money, because if you do it at the last moment, you'll end up spending a lot more.

100. Which is why when I look at, like, backpackers or, like, spontaneous travelers, I'm like, what if one day you're just without a hostel? You know, everything is super booked. That's my worst nightmare.

You've got a lot of nightmares.

I feel like, yeah, but this one specifically, where I'm like, what if you're in different city? You don't know the language you don't know, you know, if the hotels are pre booked or whatever, that's just taking it too far, too late.

Yeah, I think it depends on what state I've done that kind of traveling also. I don't think I'll do it now. I think it's travels are also very stage of life dependent. Like right now, if your work stress and everything is already high, you don't want to go. And then also stress about, where will I sleep? Sleep at night.

Yeah. And especially at the moment, solo traveling.

Yeah.

I feel like this is top of your mind, right? Like, where am I sleeping?

There's an additional stress of safety. But I think when you're like when I was in college or just graduating and I really didn't have anything to care about that, like, because I came from exactly what she was also saying that, you know, I didn't have the responsibilities of like taking care of my family or someone else. It was just looking out for myself at that point. I used to do things like, okay, land up somewhere, not have anything booked and you figure it out. And if you don't, you have a friend, you sit the whole night and think, oh, this is like a fun sleepover outdoors.

Nice way of saying that it's fine.

But now I don't think I'd enjoy that. So I think it's like dependent on.

Where you are usually like as like when you're younger, you can literally sleep on like a bed of grass with the sky as your blanket and that's it. You wake up fully refreshed. But now I need my memory foam mattress. Yeah, I feel like I need that pillow. I cannot sleep on. I mean, I can in jail, but.

I think it'd be really fun too for me and her to travel together. This can be a show. I feel like, you know, you used to have these shows we used to watch on like, I don't know, MD and stuff.

Travel.

Yeah.

MTV payouts.

They can do a swap where they put me in your travel plans and they put you in mine.

Oh, my God.

Like, so I should go.

You will just take long showers, which.

Would be really like, I will not like it at all. And if they put you on like a bed with lizards and spiders around.

You, you're a bed with lizards per se.

No, I'm not. But it happens.

Like, nobody's a bed with lizards.

But I think it's happened where I've. I was once when we were in Meghalaya. I think it was last year.

Oh, my God. This is Why? I need someone to travel with me so they can kill the bullet out. Have you seen that video of someone not like a regular lizard? This was in Thailand where a monitor lizard. A monitor lizard entered like, someone's bedroom. And I was like, I'm not gonna handle this situation. That's why I need a boyfriend before I can travel to Thailand so they can tackle the insects.

What if they're scared too?

Well, then you can't be with.

You can't come.

I will pay for your tickets if you just promise the first day she.

Places like a fake lizard on the side to test them out.

Yeah. I wish that was the thing on dating apps.

See, that's another thing you can figure out if you travel with someone in the first month.

Yeah.

Then you.

So I pride if you can handle a monitor lizard. If you can arm wrestle a monitor lizard only. Yeah. But what about you, Shivani? Have you had a experience while traveling that was borderline scary?

Borderline scary in terms of safety?

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not, I'm not a big fan of traveling solo for that reason, but I feel like I'm constant because I'm anxious as a person in general. I'm always thinking, oh, my God, is that person following me? Oh, my God. It's like, what. What is this knock? And I'm constantly thinking about those things. Even if there is no actual danger. I'm like thinking about that, but I can't. I can't recall, like, something.

It's good if maybe it doesn't. It hasn't happened to you.

Yeah.

Which is great.

Yeah.

But maybe, maybe the countries or wherever you travel were like, potentially safer because there's obviously a difference. Like, I. I went to Singapore at 4am in the night and I felt super safe.

Yeah.

The unsafest that I've felt out of everywhere that I've ever been in is Delhi, where I've lived in like for the most of my life. Which, which is like. Which is crazy.

But is this. Maybe. Maybe. Living in Delhi for so long has made us all so paranoid that even though we go to a safe place, we're like, oh, this person is following 100.

Like, I don't know if you recall this, but, like, the three of us were traveling in this. You know, we were traveling in auto. Once we were in Ahmedabad, which was like a relatively safer city we used to go to, we wouldn't call it. And we had another friend with us who had grown up in Bombay and both of us had grown up like, like a lot. I'VE grown up. She's grown up here. I've like, I've been here for a long time. And there was this Auto, like kind of another Auto. This is like right after Garba. Okay. We're coming back at night. It's like a whole thing and it's a very safe city overall. But there's this Auto behind us and the two of us are like, so paranoid because they're like, oh, I think that you know that, that Auto is following us. La la, all of that. And the friend who's from Bombay has not even noticed. She'll chill. She's like sitting. Because she is that. That idea never crossed her, crossed her mind. She's just always felt so safe. And now that we've been living in Bombay, I'm like, yeah, man, this is how it feels like to come back at 2:00 in the night does not feel like the scariest thing on the planet. Because there is also some truth in it.

Yeah.

Because you know that for the most part you are safe here. You're like, oh, wow. After 7:00, if you get home safe, you're just like, okay, fine.

Yeah, you can't romanticize sunsets in Delhi. You're like, time to go home.

Actually, no, I think I totally agree. That's exactly how I've also felt. I think a lot of the safety issues, obviously being from Delhi, I think we are prepared in probably the most unsafe places as well because we are just born paranoid. That's, I think, just there. Right? Like, it was just so sad that we, we have that mentality. But it is there now. And, but at the same time, like when it comes to things like safety and you know, a lot of times parents are always so afraid that, okay, we shouldn't send our kids because they'll be. It's very unsafe. The world is unsafe. I feel like most of the things, like you also said you've traveled so much, but you don't really experience so many negatives as you do positives. Like, people are actually much nicer than they're projected to be on news channels and newspapers and stuff.

What do you think is the biggest myth about traveling that social media has created?

Oh, very good question.

Like, for me, I feel like it is the fact that everybody is traveling constantly and it's, it's because people go to places and they click a hundred thousand photos and they constantly post it for six months. And even though they're, they're back in their house in Barsova, but they're making Me believe that they're actually in Venice.

The lifespan of the travel has been increased by social media.

Like how can you even afford to be traveling for six months? Like, it just doesn't sit right with me.

Yeah, fair. I think that. And also that traveling is only fun if you stay in like luxury hotels and stay. Because I think obviously a lot of the content creators, which is like, nothing wrong, that's just their style of creating content is around like fashion and like it's a combination of fashion, travel, luxury. So there's this then sort of notion that said that you need to have a new outfit every day that you travel. You need to have. Because that's how you increase the lifespan of the pictures. Right. Like if, if I wear the same outfit for two days, then you'd know, you'd know it's from the same trip. But if I wear a new outfit every day, I can be like travel hacks. I just went to, I just went to Thailand twice this year. No. So I think it's about this notion that traveling has started to be linked to a lot of luxury, a lot of status driven stuff. Like, okay, if I went to XYZ Place, did I stay in a hotel which had a floating breakfast or not? Like if I went to the Maldives, like, did I, like if I have, if I'm a travel creator or whatever, have I even been to the Maldives? Otherwise you don't count as one. So, you know, I think these kind of things, which in my opinion, for people who really, really enjoy traveling and I guess you might agree as well that that is the part that you actually don't remember at the end.

Yeah, you don't remember the hotel lobby. It's like, wow, the hotel lobby is so cool.

Yeah. The refreshment drink that they served us still remember it to date. You don't. But I think that's what you hype up on because that's what looks good on Instagram. It's a visual platform.

Yeah.

So I think that's a big myth.

What about you? Do you feel like there's a myth that social media has created about travel?

I think it might be that you need a lot of money to travel. Yeah, it's, it's honestly, like I said, it's a combination of responsibilities that you have otherwise and where that money is going otherwise. Because there are a lot of people, a lot of people who make so much more than I would and they're like, no man, it's too expensive. But the thing is, now they are going to travel with, like, they have kids, perhaps they have other places where it's going. And there are people who, like, right out of college were, like, doing all kinds of travel. I personally waited for a long time because, again, I'm an anxious person. Was like, okay, I should have this much in the bank to be able to do this. But people have been. You can really, like, you know, tailor your itinerary and, like, the way you plan. Like, you. If you want to go somewhere. But, like, the flights are going to be, you know, the flights are going to be expensive. Book earlier. Book perhaps a flight which has, like, a bunch of layovers. Don't stay at, like, a fancy place. Stay at a regular place a little far from the city and be okay to, like, travel. You know, take, like, local cabs. Not even cabs, like, shared buses, all these stuff to, like, get to the main area. That's really a lot. If you really want to travel, you don't need to, like, spend a lot of money.

It's, like, probably the cheapest place to travel. Like, I remember when I was in college, I'd run this trip, actually from Dehradun. We'd gone to Chakrata. I'd gone to Chakrata. And when I was just checking the buses, like, the bus. Bus was costing, like, 1200 and the cab was costing 5000. And I was. I didn't have money for either. Money for either bus was round trip. So 1200 round trip from Dehradun to Chakrata. And then I found an option of, like, this shared taxi, which is a very common thing in India. And that was for a cold lot of 60 rupees.

What?

60 rupees? I did go with some goats and, like, probably 20.

You should have mentioned the.

You were like, was it a truck? No, it was like a. Like, imagine a van, like, with the two seats, you know, the school omni, the kidnap vans. It was the kidnap ones.

I was the risk of getting kidnapped.

Was it the Uber service?

Yeah, Uber service. I get a lot of slack for saying this online when it comes to the myth saying that traveling is cheap because people are just like, no, you come from a lot of privilege. That's why you say that. And yes, that is true. The privilege of not having loans, not having a responsibility. Like, I don't come from the kind of family where I need to take care of my parents or all of that. True. But I also have to be very honest. I have seen people who are doing that as well, and they travel as well, but they travel very cheap. So Then you need to be okay with doing really uncomfortable travels. Like how I said, the shared taxi thing or the layover thing.

I'm shook by it because every flight I check, you know, internationally, has three layovers. But every time I see an Instagram person who's traveling to Bali, they're just like, they look so refreshed. Like, they didn't just take a flight with three layovers. I'm like, please look a little sad.

Yeah, I never understood. Show me that you.

They don't do that.

I don't get.

But that's why I think she's probably the only travel influencer that I follow, because I don't like the idea of. And again, this is not me hating on anyone, but I personally. Because the thing is, that does influence you in some way. Right. If you're constantly seeing that again and again, you do feel like, oh, this travels needs to look like this, or like this is the kind of place I should aspire to be at or whatever. I do love splurging on once in a while.

I also love it. There's no hate against that. I enjoy it, too.

But I think if that becomes my boilerplate like that, that becomes a template for travel, then that would obviously, like, hike up my prices. I would have to. I'll be traveling lesser compared to, like, the same amount of money that I can do, like, 10 trips in. I'd be doing like, five.

So for this person who asked us this question about traveling and traveling feeling very expensive, let's list down some hacks, since we have two travel aficionados among us.

I mean, I did create an entire course on literally just budget.

Travel.

Budget. No, like, hacking your way through travel, as in different ways that you can save money, be it on flights, be it on hotels. Because I did realize that in India, this was the biggest problem that I felt that people think traveling is too expensive, and it's really not. You can really figure your way around it if you work it a bit smartly. So I did create a course on it that you could check out. But the top hack that I would use that I use the most often is probably never. Like, I've still seen that a lot of people book their flights directly through, like, let's say, make my trip or Agoda or whatever. Like, they'll just go and book it on that and not check places like Skyscanner or Google flights. Because by the end of the day, your biggest cost is your flight tickets. Like, once you've taken care of that, you can really reduce Costs costs elsewhere. But flights are like a fixed cost. You can't, you know, reduce that. So the best way to get cheaper flights is to go onto a page like Skyscanner. Use like the different features that Skyscanner has. Like, I love it. You can really. I don't know how to explain this without a computer, but basically you can go to this option called. Let's say you're flying from Delhi and you click this option called Everywhere. And that kind of shows you. Rather than you deciding that I want to go to Italy go. If you don't have that much money, just let flight prices decide for you that where you can go. So you click on this option called Everywhere, Delhi, Everywhere. Let's say you don't even want a layover. You do direct flight and you put the dates. Also there's a flexible date option. So you say, I want to go. I have. I know I can take a holiday in March. Like you put March. And then that page will list out all the destinations in like the world where you can go in at what price point. And then you can just select a flight from there. And sometimes you get insane deals like this. The same thing you can do on Google Flights and actually see the world map on Google Flights and you can see each point. Like, I've found flight tickets from like India to Vietnam, round trip for like 14,000 rupees.

Crazy.

Which is cheaper than going to Goa.

Yeah, yeah. I've also seen this thing where like we were, my friend and I, we were looking at a hotel at the same time, but I was looking at it from. And on Agoda at the same time, the same, you know, room. But I was doing it from India and he was doing it from the Netherlands. So his price was twice what was being shown to him, was twice of what I was seeing. Because that's probably like something that they do where they kind of. And then they really, this person has more money. So you feel like, I think if you're doing it for somewhere else, you have to also have to like mask your ip.

Oh my God.

You can also do one more thing with Incognita if you have like a vpn. I, I don't do this all the time, but sometimes if, like, for example, I'm flying to, let's say Oman, so change your VPN to Dubai and you'll get cheaper prices because then it's like closer.

I think you're a habibi.

But the biggest hack is using credit card miles. Like, I think that is obviously I don't know how I. I think again, like, a lot of people don't have credit cards now. I think the Indian ecosystem is growing a lot in the credit card space. I didn't have a credit card when I was in college, so obviously I don't think this applies to everybody. It applies to people who are earning a certain level of money and then after that they get a credit card. Is that if you just use it smartly? I think we have a lot of fear around credit cards that if you use a credit card, you will become poor or something, which I don't know how that makes sense because you do have to pay the bill.

You have to be very responsible because they're counting on you to be irresponsible.

Yeah, true. But if you just set your reminders, like, it's like paying rent. It's not like you forget to pay rent in the. At the end of the month and you're like, oh, I've just been living here, like, forgot about it.

So I would appreciate, like, you know, off month, no rent this month.

The best part is that you're earning money on everything you spend. And we as Indians love that. Like, I love my cashbacks. I love, like, my points that I collect. So every spend that you make, especially if it's big, spends like you're. I don't know, if you're paying your house rent, you're paying your. Like you're buying something like a gadget or whatever, and you make that expense via your credit card. You get a lot of points called miles. And all of these miles SN points are getting collected over time. And then you can connect these to different airline companies. So, like, let's say Star alliance has their own program, Star alliance as Air India and a bunch of other airlines under them. And then you can literally use those miles that you have connected by spending no extra money just doing what you do on a regular basis to book free flights. Like, I went to. Then I came from Denmark to India this year in 1000 rupees.

Yeah.

Because my flight was free because I used points. So.

Wow.

When you realize this is what you could have been doing all this while, like, I felt so stupid for all the years that I've spent money without getting anything in return.

I know. I still feel bad.

I'm so happy to, like, put down my credit card. When there's like, a group, like, a.

Group, I'm always like, please.

Even if I don't get some money back, I'm like, it's okay. I'll make but now people start fighting because they've realized it. They're like, okay, I also want to make money on my credit card.

Are you a credit card hacker?

You need to be. You need to know the game. It's crazy. But it is definitely a good place to. Good point to start getting into this because now the Indian ecosystem is really getting better at it as well, and it'll just go higher. So it's good. This is now a good time to enter.

One more travel hack that I would suggest is, I think in terms of like spending money, especially when you go to like, expensive countries on food and stuff. I think you don't have to eat out and you don't have to, you know, go to restaurants. And that does not have to be the experience that you have. There's. They have love. They have amazing stuff in their supermarkets which you can like, oh my God. But you go to supermarkets in a different country is one of my favorite things to do. I think that genuinely is like a big part of every travel experience that I have. I love doing that. But I think one thing that you should be open to is to either like, you know, take an Airbnb and cook for yourself a little bit, if you can.

Any European country, actually, they're always telling us that we always see Indians sitting in restaurants and eating food. And they're like that you are making the restaurants honestly make profits because we don't go to restaurants. It's so expensive for us. Like, even the their own economy, like their own people feel like the restaurants are too expensive and they only go for special occasions. And then us Indians go like every day to a restaurant. So they always say that we prefer to go to the supermarkets and get like these ready to meet, eat meals. Really good stuff, healthy also. It's not like unhealthy stuff. Yeah, I really love it too.

Booking timings. I know you said incognito mode is important, but is it a particular time? Say if I want to travel three months from now, when should I book my flights?

I feel like you should. I mean, I. I've noticed that flights are cheaper midweek in that sense. But like, if you're booking for midweek, but I don't know of what time, or are you saying how far in advance should I. Yeah, so apparently that's the thing. Did you get like cheap tickets way in advance, but then if you do it too much in advance, you also get quite expensive. Prices are too expensive. And then like, there needs to be some sweet spot. I don't know do you know what that sweet spot.

No, I think. No, I, I also feel like this is one is like, you can say it. I have done a good job. But it's not really like the midweek thing is true. Like, sometimes I've realized when I look at flight prices on a Sunday, it's like a bit more expensive because probably everybody's doing it. And these in non incognito users, they are the ones hiking on a Sunday.

All right, guys, thank you for all the tips you gave us. I hope our listeners enjoyed it. But before we let you go, there's a quick rapid fire where you have to tell me, what would you rather pack? There's two options.

Toothbrush.

Good. Underwear.

Good. Good. Very good. Very good. But these are two options. Both of them are essential, obviously. And you have to pick one item for your trip.

This is so hard already.

Okay, let's go. Number one. Power bank or water bottle for me.

Power bank.

You, you will rather.

I would. Rather than go and, like, hydrate your. Yeah, I would hydrate my. I mean, my career runs on it. I would be jobless, homeless. I'm already.

But power bank or water bottle?

Bag. I, I, I step out of my house with, like 2% battery. Sometimes liver.

Okay. One pair of shoes or an extra jacket.

I only travel with one pair of shoes and one jacket, so.

Oh, my God. You lightweight.

One pair of shoes is fine. One pair of shoes.

Same.

A pair of shoes, no jacket.

Okay, I'll borrow it. I, I believe in the goodness of.

Yeah, exactly.

I'll take, I'll wear, I'll do that. I'll make someone.

Okay.

What? I brought this from home.

India.

Okay. From home or whatever. Snacks from home or a first aid kit.

First aid kit. I think. Yeah. Wow.

I think we should just.

Yeah, we should travel.

I was thinking you. Somebody will pick thepla. No.

You know, thepla is very essential, though. Like, a lot of times, I think that's the only thing.

You can use it as a band aid.

Protein bars.

Yeah, you can actually put thepla on your wound and it will heal. So you don't need a first aid kit. If you have a thepla, a journal or a what you call that converter thing.

Travel adapter.

A journal or a travel adapter.

Travel adapter. 100% journal, though, again, you can get it. Hotel me. Which hooty C Diary. Hotel.

The hotel is provided for everything. Basically, they will not have anything in the room by the time I leave. But I will take. Thank you.

Thank you for the Lovely stage walking out.

Can you help me with the bed?

Okay. Off the record, what have you stolen from a hotel and have no regrets about it?

Like, actually stolen, stolen.

You know, like. Yeah, put it in your bag. Whatever. Stealing.

I took a spoon once because I was going for a hike and I had no spoon to eat my food, so I took it.

I think knowingly. I haven't really taken anything.

Yeah. But I had to do my spoon.

I think harder.

I once went to an Airbnb where all the hotels. Sorry, all the towels were from Taj. And I was like, whoa, somebody had.

Hustler. This is. Love it. They made it.

Yeah. That's amazing. They made an Airbnb out of going to Taj. Too much.

Maybe they can make it themed. It's like everything stolen from hotels.

Oh, my God.

You to hotels.

That's a business idea. Do you have any closing advice on how this person can include more travel in their life without breaking the bank?

I would say step number one is to also realize that you don't need to travel very far away to experience traveling like you can. Traveling can also be just going to a city close by. It's what you make of it. So that's the philosophical end of things. So I think that's a mindset shift. And the second is that, like we discussed at length, if you just decide to prioritize your expenses in a month in a different way, like, you decide, okay, for the next three months, I'll sacrifice. I won't order out from Swiggy Tomato. I won't eat out. Maybe I skip, like, a few parties with my friends and I save all of that money and spend that on traveling, kind of creating like a reserve. I think you can actually do a lot and then not have those standards that we were talking about travel that makes it look inaccessible. Like you can just go to a place like Thailand and an island there is actually much cheaper than sometimes, honestly, going to Goa and peak season.

Yeah. One thing that I do is like, okay, I'm going to spend this much money. How much time does it take for me to earn this money? And then I kind of make that quick mental calculation, like, okay, no, it's worth it. That's just like, something that works for me. You should not beat yourself down if you're not able to do it. But at the same time, if you just, like, change your mindset a little about how you view travel, then it would help you to also, like, kind of prioritize that money and be like, okay, man, this is Because I'm doing something for myself. This I'm just gonna like keep aside. And that's my bang for my travels.

I love that. And again, you know, to our listeners, if you are feeling fomo, as we've trust coined new term fomo. But if you're feeling fomo, but if you're feeling FOMO about not traveling, just remember that, you know, you can, you don't have to make a big trip. You can do like a small not trek, do not trek. Or you can trek wherever you want, hike wherever you want. But make a small trip.

Just make it right. Surbhi to that trek. Thank you very much.

Make a weekend trip out of it. You don't have to do like a. Oh my God. My itinerary has three places and there's multiple places to hit. Just go next door, you know, go to. Even in India, there's so many places to go.

And sleep in your neighbor's bed. You'll wake up in your neighbor's bed. I want a different bed.

Isn't that traveling? And that is the overthink tank. Thank you so much, Akansha. Thank you so much, Shivani for being on this episode. And if you guys like this podcast, don't forget to subscribe to my channel. And also Akansha, do you want to plug your course once more?

Yeah, don't forget to. Of course. I mean I have a public account, so you can follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my channel on YouTube. And in case you guys want to learn more about everything, travel hacking, be it getting discounts, also traveling better in general, like how to plan your trips. I think it's a big thing, how to find cool locations. Travel solo, travel for free as well. If you want to learn how to volunteer and travel like I did when I was in college, all of this.

I would love to travel course has been what?

Yeah. Then buy my travel hacking course.

Love travel. Shivani, do you want to plug your Instagram?

And don't tag me either.

We will find her complaining on Twitter.

All right, guys, this is it. Bye. You can see bad in that camera.

Which camera?

Oh, that one. Bye.