In a world that thinks everything should be done by a certain age, people like Dr. Sudha Mahalingam, an economist from Bengaluru, are breaking the norm.
In the last 25 years, the 70-year-old has traveled across 66 countries and shared her experiences with the world through a travel blog and a book.
In an interview given to CNN, she said that she likes to go around cities on her own because that’s the best way to explore.
Packaged tours are so predictable. They show you what they want to show, not what you want to see.
Her list of adventures includes getting locked in a building in Iran, finding herself in Nairobi without proof of being vaccinated against yellow fever, and reaching Czech Republic without a valid visa.
She started solo travelling when she was in Sweden with her husband who was a civil servant and busy at the time. With not much to do in a foreign country, she decided to go out and hit the road.
My husband worked in the civil service so his job took precedence over mine and I went wherever he went…I took the ship to Finland, and then the Flåm railway to Norway, and on to Denmark and Berlin.
At this point, she has done everything from skydiving to camping, to setting out to far-off places all by herself. And she loves it.
What’s her motivation, you ask?
Maybe it is just a romantic notion, but I think there are cultures out there that are very different from ours, and that excites me. There are so many exciting things to go out and discover in person. I can’t settle for secondhand accounts of anything.
That is a wonderful way to look at things. We hope her adventures continue.
