Travel

I have been on trains in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France (the TGV), Japan (Shinkansen) and Italy (the Frecciarossa). But the last time I was on a train in India was sometime before COVID – which means it had been a long, long time. So when I got on the Ahmedabad …

Ever since I can remember, red torii gates have had a hold on me. Every documentary, every travel show, every friend’s Japan photo dump – there’d always be one shot of a vermillion gate against green forest or grey stone, and I’d think, I need to stand under one of …

Everyone I spoke to before my Japan trip said the same thing. “You’ll love Kyoto.” Every single person. And I’ll be honest – by the time the fifth or sixth person said it, I’d started to temper my expectations a little. That’s usually how it goes, right? The more something …

My first international flight was to Chicago in 2023 for KubeCon. I remember the anticipation, the layover calculations, the sheer excitement of landing somewhere that wasn’t India. Also my first-ever Airbus A380 flight! And then, nothing. Apart from a few stories on Instagram, now archived under highlights, there’s no log, …

I’ll be honest – the Shinkansen was on my Japan bucket list long before I even booked the flight. Not in a casual “oh that’d be nice” way. More in a “I have watched every YouTube video, read every travel thread, and mentally sat in that cabin a hundred times” …

The first time I pulled up the Tokyo metro map on my phone, I genuinely thought someone was pranking me. Fourteen lines. Five different operators. Colour coding that would make a Pantone chart look minimal. I zoomed in. Then zoomed out. Took a screenshot to study later. Then gave up …

I know I owe the blog a lot of posts. March had me in Amsterdam for KubeCon Europe, followed by a short getaway to Belgium and Luxembourg. And then, barely a week after I got home, I was on a flight on my first trip to Japan and the eastern …

The moment I first held the Scapia credit card, I knew this was not just another plastic in my wallet. Over recent years of frequent international travel, I have tested many travel cards and wallets, but the Scapia credit card intrigued me because it promised zero forex fees and a …

I guess I’m compensating for the lost road trips in 2025 this year. Just last weekend, I was on a Hyderabad to Badami road trip with my family, and the following Republic Day weekend, I did an amazing Hyderabad to Ajanta Caves solo road trip. Why Ajanta? Well, I had …

2026 has started on a good yet nostalgic note for me. God knows for what reason, but I’ve been revisiting places that I had visited as a school kid during my days at New Era High School. Back in the day, it was just another educational trip when nothing made …