22/08/2026
I found these photographs from 2011 while going through my old travel memories.
I was 19, had just finished school, barely spoke English, and somehow found myself accompanying five international travellers across India to Goa.
The train journey that should have taken around 32 hours became almost 50.
Our seats weren’t together, so I kept asking passengers to swap places so we could sit as a group. Somewhere during that very long journey, I stopped worrying so much about my English.
We started talking, laughing and making jokes.
When we finally reached Goa, my mother — who was working at a travel camp there — suggested that I stay with the group and explore Goa with them.
So I did.
Those next couple of weeks changed much more than I understood at the time.
I learned how quickly people from very different cultures can become friends, how important it is to make someone feel comfortable in a country they don’t know, and how much of travel happens in the moments that were never written into an itinerary.
At the end of that experience I was paid ₹3,000, which felt pretty
exciting at 19. 😄
But looking at these photographs today, that is not what I remember.
I remember the people, the laughter, the friendships — and the feeling that I wanted to do this again.
What started almost by accident became years of working with international travellers across India and Nepal, and eventually
became part of the story behind Anagh Routes.
More than a trip.
Goa, India • 2011
