One of the to do on my bucket list before turning 40 was to
travel alone. Alone not because i dont like spending time with my family but
because i really have never ever travelled alone. Really i mean it. I have had
a pretty comfortable sheltered and protected life pre and post marriage.
However, this yearning to travel alone was taking over my thoughts and became
deep rooted. Fortunately the hubs supported my desire and let me go "jaa
jee le apni zindagi" style and so did my amazing son who promised to behave
himself and not miss me too much.
I zeroed in on a destination and knew i wanted to travel with
wow an only women travellers group since i have known of sumitra since my PR
and her travel writing days. I decided to go to Leh; Pangong lake being my prime
motivation. So off i went to the land of high passes and altitudes.
Alone? But really was i ever alone. No. I found a bunch of
awesome strong women friends all with the solo aim of grabbing their downtime
and quota of fun. The minute we touched down we located each other the pink
brigade 22 in total, all set to live together as one big family for the next 5
days. And yes there were mny cases that demonstrated an amazing bond of
sisterhood. Sisters of the heart. Due to high altitudes and less time to acclimitise
we all did develop some headaches, tum tum issues etc but they were merely
minor distractions. We shared love,meds and even desi nuskhas. We bonded
extremely well and though we werent with the families and friends they were
with us in our hearts, while bargaining for gifts and mementos, while getting
monogrammed tees and sometimes when the phone signals came on we spoke to them.
Its then that i realised we never are truly alone its just that
at times we need a bit more than elbow space, a space to claim of our own. An
adventure that liberates us and yet keeps our feet steadily on the terra firma.
Cheers to all my wonderful girl friends and of course i am a
convert and will take up many more trips with WOW. It was a wowsome experience
very well orchastrated by the team and Zeba our WOW buddy.
I will travel alone again but i know i wont ever be lonely.
