Abhigya Shrivastava is an aspiring Chartered Accountant. She had just given her CA final exam, and was in Agra for a mandatory technical training, when unbeaten paths opened up for her. During the training, she would be exhausted at the end of the day, and spend all her free time in the hostel. But here, she became friends with the hostel owner. And when her training ended, she did not go back home. But stayed on to travel, and weave her own journeys.
Abhigya says, “I became friends with the owners of the hostel at Agra. They were nice, friendly people. I would cook in their kitchen and interact with other travellers. Once, after I stayed back there, the owner injured his leg, and requested me to take few visitors to a particular lesser known sunset point, from where you can see the Taj Mahal. I agreed, and it turned out to be a great experience. I had a couple of months with no studies. And so, I decided to spend them travelling around. But the catch was that I had very few savings. Helping the hostel owners at Agra paved the way for me.”
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From Agra, she returned home to Delhi, and then set out to explore Jaipur and Pushkar. She volunteered with the hostel here. She says, “If you volunteer at a hostel, then the compensation involves meals and accommodation. And that is a major part of travelling sorted. Rest I would garner by freelancing as a travel writer.”
Abhigya is preparing to lead a trek to Chandrashila, before exploring Rajasthan further, and then heading to Goa in January. She plans to sponsor her trips through volunteering work and freelance writing. She says, “I am significantly a mountain person. That is why I found time to squeeze in the trek in Uttarakhand. Every year, I try to visit the Himalayas at least four or five times.”
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But will she go back to conventional life if she clears the CA exam? She says, “I really don’t know. I have never been a very decisive person. I would not know where I would be tomorrow. So, I am not even thinking what I will do when the results come. Right now, I had a few spare months, and instead of spending it binge watching on Netflix, I decided to travel. I had my priorities sorted, and so am happy travelling like this.”
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She says that if you love travelling, then financial independence is very important. She suggests, “You have to prepare for any eventuality that might happen when you are on the road. However passionate you might be about travelling, but it is important to have a steady source of income.”
Abhigya is an inspiration for those who want to follow their passion for travelling, but also a wise voice who believes that financial stability is important when on the unbeaten paths.
