I grew up in Alipurduar — a small town in North Bengal where the forests meet the foothills and life moves at its own unhurried pace. My earliest travel memories don't involve airports or hotels. They involve the back seat of my father's scooter, a duffle bag strapped behind, my brother perched in front, and my mother and I sandwiched in between. We'd set off for places 3-4 hours away, which looking back now seems absolutely impossible and definitely uncomfortable — but that's how much our family loved to move.

My father worked in a transferable job, which meant we kept moving to different states of India. What could have been unsettling was actually a gift — because exploring each new place became our family's way of making it home. My parents always made sure we had at least one proper family trip together, just the four of us. Those holidays are what we cherish most, even today.

There's a new addition to our family now — my husband Utsav. And something beautiful happens when he joins our family trips. My parents' eyes light up. Because for them, traveling together is how you build a bond. It's the language they've always spoken. Watching that extend to him means everything.

Moving to Europe at 26 was something I had never imagined for myself. But the moment I landed, something clicked into place. That insect in my head — the one that had been buzzing since the scooter days — went into overdrive. I started traveling extensively, almost hungrily. I had a target: 30 countries by 30. And I did it.

I'm in my mid-30s now, and I've been to 55 countries. But something has shifted — and honestly, it's shifted for the better. The pace has slowed. The checklist has given way to something more honest: truly exploring. Fewer trips, but deeper ones. Places from the bucket list, not just the map. I'm no longer counting. I'm experiencing.

I know my traveling style will keep changing. It already has, many times over. And somewhere along the way I realised — I'm starting to remember some of the earlier trips less and less. The details blur. The feelings stay, but the specifics fade. That's what brought me here, to this website. I needed a place to put it all down. Not for anyone else — for me. Because these miles made me who I am. Every single one of them.

Travel, for me, has never just been about seeing places. It's been about becoming. The girl on the scooter in Alipurduar, the young woman chasing 30 countries in 4 years, the traveller who now sits by a crater in Tanzania in a saree and feels completely, perfectly at home — they're all the same person, still moving, still learning, still utterly free.