• View thesolespeaks’s profile on Facebook
  • View thesolespeaks’s profile on Twitter
  • View thesolespeaks’s profile on Instagram
  • View thesolespeaks’s profile on Pinterest
  • View UCrgKeE8I52XUj3aS95rtntQ’s profile on YouTube
  • thesolespeaks@gmail.com

The Sole Speaks

  • Home
  • About Me
  • VISAS
    • Argentina
    • Bolivia
    • Brazil
    • Chile
    • Colombia
    • Ecuador
    • Peru
    • USA
  • Destinations
    • India
      • Tips for first time travellers
      • Is India Safe for women travellers?
      • How to meet the Dalai Lama
      • Kashi | Banaras | Varanasi – Poetic Experience
      • Kodaikanal Favourites among Locals and Tourists
      • Chittorgarh Fort
      • Golden Temple Amritsar
      • Kodaikanal: Places to visit
    • Bhutan
      • Solo in Bhutan on a Budget
    • Nepal
      • Annapurna base camp trek
    • Latin America
  • Gap year
    • Return to Corporate
    • Why I quit my job at 28
    • My travel expenses for one year
    • How traveling shaped my Life
    • A Place called “Home”
  • Travel Resources
    • Packing List Guide
    • How to make money while traveling
    • Budget Travel Tips
    • Cooking in hostel kitchens
    • My 7 Favourite Treks
    • Volunteering in Hostels
    • Recommended Gear
  • Services Offered
    • Services Offered – Travel
    • Services Offered – Art
  • Youtube

first time travellers to India

Sunrise over ganga with the silhouette of a man
Travel

13 Tips for First Time Travel to India

First time travel in India can be overwhelming for anyone. While it is recommended to take an organised tour, I believe it can be enjoyed on your own as well with some guidance.

By Manisha Singh, 2 months1 month ago
Connect with me on Facebook
Connect with me on Facebook

thesolespeaks

Manisha 🛫| Travel + Adventure
Hope the next one isn't going to hit us in the fac Hope the next one isn't going to hit us in the face.
Wish you all a very happy world mental health day Wish you all a very happy world mental health day :)
.
I'm celebrating by looking at my pictures and going through the journal from 2016, my personal worst year with mental health. A year when a good day was not crying to sleep (in good possibility there wasn't any such day), a year that helped me empathize with people who choose to take the exit.
.
2020 could have been the year to celebrate mental health education, but alas, the fourth pillar of democracy failed there too. Not speaking about it would have been sad but dismissing it in a case was beyond disappointing. 
.
The first time I went to see a therapist, 4 years ago, I was bawling my eyes out the whole day. It's not easy, but I promise it's beyond worth it. It saddens me to see so many of my friends and family members going about their day carrying the burdens with them day after day. Physical injuries may heal themselves, emotional injuries rarely do.
.
Therapy is not as inaccessible as it used to be. A session can cost just about as much as a visit to a doctor would cost. So, if you're someone who is experiencing grey days more often than not then try picking the phone and speaking to a professional. They invest years into this, it's not the same as venting to a friend.
About a month ago I watched this movie named - #Ca About a month ago I watched this movie named - #Capernaum. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind ever since.
.
This is what happens when you're true to your craft. Also a reminder of the power of Cinema. When done right it can change lives of the actors and the viewers. This movie changed lives of the actors not in a teeny-tiny way but in a way that impacts generations.
.
The movie is based on a 12-year-old boy who sues his parents for giving him birth. Set in the slums of Lebanon, the protagonist was hired right there, in the slums of Lebanon. A Syrian refugee, he had never been to school (he was verbally told his lines). Now he is based out of Norway with his family and goes to school :) Watching this movie while there was a nepotism debate happening on every platform did give me some perspective.
.
While this movie is set in a neighborhood we might find difficult to relate to but the questions are relevant to everyone because we all have our own baggages that we are fully capable of passing onto the next generation. Giving birth to a life you can't possibly take consent from should be taken a lot more seriously than it is being taken.
And this chapter has come to an end too. . A year And this chapter has come to an end too.
.
A year ago I walked into a corporate building after a near three year break. This time the job hadn't chosen me, I had chosen the job, the organization, the Boss. If it wasn't going to work out this time, I was going to hang my corporate boots (there's no such thing, is there?).
.
But it did go well :) how can I tell? Well, no Monday morning blues, I cried when my boss called after a week of lockdown because I missed her, I had to prepare to say goodbyes so I didn't cry on the call, my go to people to talk to about work or outside work became my colleagues/friends, I always returned to work after a vacation smiling.
.
It's time to start a new chapter though and this time it's heading back to a place I call home :)
.
Moving in with my parents after a decade. That's got to be the biggest adventure yet!!
Hoping for days when we can take a walk to see a s Hoping for days when we can take a walk to see a sunrise again.
I showed up to volunteer in this backpackers hoste I showed up to volunteer in this backpackers hostel at a beach town in Ecuador but things didn't feel quite right.
.
I didn't have an assigned bed, the laptop was broken, I couldn't find the hostel phone, someone I reached out for help outright declined. I considered leaving. 
I was weighing my options when I met these two guys in the hostel kitchen. One from Argentina and the other from Chile. We found a way to interact through my broken Spanish and their manageable English.
.
Turned out they were volunteering there too and were so much fun I decided to stay in spite of everything else.
The next two weeks made for one of my favorite chapters. They would often bring me dinner if I was busy at reception duty, never once forgetting I was a vegetarian, my days would begin with their good morning and end with their good night, I would often yell from across the room, 'Tomas, I love you'.
.
This picture is from one of our day trips to a neighbouring town.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 188 other subscribers


  • thesolespeaks@gmail.com
Hestia | Developed by ThemeIsle