The journey of a globetrotter
, Tandrani Raj, always had wanderlust built in me. I dreamt of taking solo trips to abroad. Being a girl, I had to break out of that shell and quench my thirst of exploring the world. The need to discover new places became an obsession for me. I started studying tourism in Bangalore to understand the industry. I started working in a state tourism board as a PR. This led me to meet people around the world, exchange stories. When I became a screen producer, working for a movie, I decided to start taking my own trips.
Whenever I travel, I take at least two months to explore their cultures and traditions, the people, the attracting places, their features and history. I spent six months in Vietnam.
Slowly my circle started building. I met with people; they told me to come to their places and help in their local business. After I did a few projects at BBC, I solo travelled for two years. First I went to Europe and was there for two months and then I travelled around. Last year I travelled throughout nine countries. I started my own website – Girl Meets Globe where people would interact, and a travel circle can be created.
Recently when I went to Turkey around the onset of Coronavirus pandemic, I had the most scarring experience. I lost my passport, so I had an emergency certificate issued for me so I could come back home. Travelling is surely a plethora of great and worst and the self-discovering experience that we keep knowing ourselves through my journeys.
When I visit any place, I try to stay for a long time because I believe that a week or so of the visit is not enough to fully experience a country’s culture and get to know its people. Furthermore, I visited other countries and experienced cultures and debunked some myths. For example, the Brazilians are a group of conservative and are only truly wild during festivals.
Since people were very persistent in knowing how I travel, I created up a website and to make the thirst quenchable for them. I am all set for an opportunity to knock on my door, and I would visit yet another country and cross off my list.