5 Tips to traveling around the world

5 Tips to traveling around the world

Traveling around the world can be quite an exhilarating experience. If you have never done so before, you are in for quite a treat. While there is a lot to take in and learn about various aspects of the world, you will likely also learn a great deal about yourself in the process. If you are a Travel Freak, then you are well aware of how traveling can change your life and open up your eyes to different cultures and ways of living. This article will provide some tips on how to travel around the world.

1. Journal. It is a fact that you will learn a great deal about yourself while you are traveling. While traveling the world, you will likely see people and places that you have only seen in the movies or on television. It is likely that you will talk to people in local pubs and eateries and hear about their life experiences. Every situation that you are in while you are traveling is a gift. Every evening after your adventures for the day have ceased, take a few moments to jot down some thoughts in a journal. What did you see? What did you do? How did you feel? What did you think? Who did you meet? While the overall feeling of traveling will not go away with time, sometimes the intricate details that make a trip so amazing can fade. Having a journal can help to relive these memories as time passes on.

2. Budget. Traveling around the world can be quite expensive. If you have created a budget for yourself, be sure to stay within your means. It would be a catastrophe to have to cut your trip short because you spent your budget too fast and then do not have a way to earn more funds to complete your trip.

3. Safety. While traveling can open your eyes to new aspects of the world and you will likely enjoy some conversations with locals and others that you meet on your journey, be sure to use your head and think with your gut. While spending an evening at the bar, enjoying the local fare and beer is a fun idea, it is not such a good idea to invite a person back to your sleeping quarters for the evening. It is also not a good idea to go to the person’s place. While it may seem like you have known this person for years after speaking to them for a few hours, it is best to plan to meet up again during the daylight to avoid any unwanted situations.

4. Communication. It is important to keep in touch with family and friends that are back at home. It could be worrisome for friends and family to go days or weeks without hearing of your whereabouts and safety. Be kind and check in from time to time. Your family will want to hear of your adventures as well as know that you are safe.

5. Travel in pairs or groups. While traveling alone sounds like a liberating experience and one that is quite empowering, it can also be very dangerous. Sadly, if you are a woman, it is certainly even more dangerous to travel alone than if you are of the male gender. It is important that when at all possible, you travel with a friend or in a group. This is for safety reasons as well as being able to share the experience with someone else.

Things to Do In Shanghai and What To Expect at Disneyland Shanghai | Tips and Travel Story

Call it audaciously sculptural or pared down and pristine , the architectural ingenuity of the old town in Shanghai engages with the eyes and imagination in such a way that you can't put your head down for a second .
Be prepared to bump into people and poles as you gaze up to appreciate the beauty .
You can't understand this unless you are over and around it .

Shanghai a city and the most idyllic location to find a  sleek and a savvy vibe that you would never run out of things to do. Its a city with modern and an interesting twist to tradition.

I absolutely loved globe trotting in a new era of personalization and identified a whole lot of local secrets and adventures the city has to offer.

Trying to sum up what to expect in the city in a wildly unfiltered way and revealing much more from a local's perspective. Resourcing it all in this blog post , so be patient lovelies.

We were booked at Hotel Howard Johnson Plaza which is straight opposite Nanjing road, one of the most happening streets of Shanghai, also coz you get to do all the touristy things around like the most famous Bund river sightseeing, which is about 750mts .I have a panoramic shot of the beautiful Shanghai at night which could just light you up .Check it all out here.

Nanjing road, is a shopping heaven . And in case your motto is to shop , this street would eat your entire two days.Nothing like walking out of the hotel lobby and bang suddenly you are in the buzz  of it all.

You can get used to the skyscrapers and sit with a beer along the Bund riverside for hours . The twinkling ferries ushers the passengers along the riverside and delivers them to the waterfront . The ferry ride is a package deal with the Pearl tower sightseeing and  should not be missed.

The locals do not speak English. Its very rare that you find someone who would jump onto having a conversation with you. I figured a few were even scared to even share some broken sentences in English hence totally ignored us when we asked them directions. I realized this on Day 2 , and after that totally figured everything out via google maps.

Shanghai is a paradise for food lovers. And those who feel a vegetarian could not survive , damn I put on weight despite all the walking. Shanghai can literally spoil you for food. And boy you can get Vegetarian food in Shanghai almost everywhere. The hotel had a vegetarian menu , plus we discovered a lot of local restaurants who could just switch any dish to your preference. There are some stand alone shacks who sell rice noodle salads, with cucumber , bean sprouts and peanuts, and you cannot miss that too. There are a lot of dotting restaurants at the Bund riverfront along with gorgeous river views, and the staff can communicate well with you for the kind of food you want..

The most popular and another must visit place is Yuyuan Graden , and the city gods temple.Its staggering lovely. It keeps the integrity of the old 15th century charm { the only temple from the ming dynasty ( that's what the sign boards told us )} It was just one stop from our hotel, and the train ride was so much fun. 

Yu yuan was stately , and inviting and boasts of the old world construction and a never forgettable china town experience. The houses and shops even starbucks is designed to keep the structure of the whole place authentic. Beautiful photos of the temple follows after the post, so don't miss any. 

We shopped for some local souvenirs and about 50 chinese fans from the market which begins just after the exit . Great to take home some inexpensive trinkets and local chinese tea and chinese toys.

The only proper way to get around Shanghai is by a Taxi, and the train.  The weather was too hot and humid . After reading some vague reviews about the hop on and hop off bus , which practically gets you around most of the sightseeing places we dropped the idea. But it sure is fun for a day, only if the weather outside doesn't get the better of you. I would still recommend sticking to taxi or the sub.

Nanjing road has this cute little toy trains - almost only a dollar expensive easily making out way on the pedestrian street carefully honking . Even if you are an adult, you would just freak out.

Now coming to where it all started . The planning , and why did we pick Shanghai this time.Well Disney may have a hand in this. Thanks to the commercials we were continuously hammered by our daughter that how eager she was to visit Shanghai disneyland as all the Frozen princesses have their legit squad there . Turns out she was right. Disney is not new for us, its magical, everywhere but a little less in Shanghai . Blame it on the sizable number of people inhabiting the city , Disney was overtly crowded. Also because Shanghai disney just opened up in June and is a little more Disneywise  trending than others.

Be prepared to walk , sweat and stand in the queues for most of the rides. People were just rattling all over the place. 

Disney Day 1 we decided to take the most newest rides first and the ones which has the maximum hours for waiting . Turned out it was everybody else's  plan too. Enter Plan B - Forget everything and just concentrate on the princess. But the good part was that we managed to catch all the shows 

( although in Mandarin ) and they were hilarious and funny . Unlike other Disney's this one is humongous ,and would impress even the most jaded tourists and locals alike.There's a reason why there is a huge waiting for most of the rides, but there were a few which were outrageously boring. Truth is you need minimum three days here, although it deflates you completely ,but I would still suggest that if you want to go to Disney , Hong kong Disney is way better( crowd wise ). Or wait till till the craze dies out a bit, Chinese wants to be the first one to taste everything , so let them do that first. Rest of the world can wait.

Disney pictures with the captions are all below. Have fun browsing through them.

I wore this striped dress from Zaful on one of the days in Shanghai. I have already mentioned how hot it was, and I needed some ventilation. Its a cute shirt dress with some trendy patches . A lot of you asked me about the bag . Its from Zaful too. It was a perfect companion for my entire trip.

Putting down all the details of the outfits below. This post is already becoming so lengthy, or may I say word- crowded . At least I braved Disney on a weekend and that too in chinese school beak holidays. A superpower that I can add to my list of achievements. I deserve a pat or some emojis thumbs up would also suffice.

Ending my travel stories with this post. I am always available to actively engage with your queries on social networks. Come let's Chat.

More on my Instagram. See you with a next outfit next week.

Can you spot the Toy Train ??

Can you see the Tiger Kissing the Panda ?  The theory of glass full or empty in full practice

Things To Do In China, Shopping | Foshan | Guangzhou | Shanghai . OOTD- CHINA STREET STYLE

Bringing the back with a bang look. If you missed me then you probably know I was in China, and if you didn't then maybe I am in danger for overestimating your interest in my blog.

Just so you know , my summers were more inherently summery than yours , more Disney oriented, and more Chinese food driven.

That's why I am back here to delicately start a conversation on what you should do in China . After squeezing in about about three cities - Foshan, Guangzhou and Shanghai in my 12 day itinerary, and attracting a diverse blend of Chinese with our street style shoots, I am here to share a little  tour diary of things you should do in China. 

I got a couple of few Insta stories ( which was a new Instagram feature added just a day before I left which also saved me the hassle of taking photos within one minute of arriving giving me much photo posting clarity. Blessed !!!! 

The best feeling was the great feedback given by those on the receiving end of those founts of stories, and interest in my travel, which encouraged me to hack into VPN and enable Instagram coz every other world social platform is barred in China.

While a lot of you may feel that I am biting on the fresh figs of life, which actually I was, but came with a lot of walking and a big big language barrier. 

Our landing port was Guangzhou, and  it took us an hour drive to check in at Foshan. 

Just so you know, Foshan is a veritable destination and worldwide hub for furniture, lights and for everything your home needs. 

Visited the Chimelong water park, (Asia's No3 , )which was a waste for a non adventurous person like me, especially when those thrilling water rides scare me to death.

Nevertheless its a heaven for kids, and my daughter had a Ball and she made our money back with freqyent display of excitement.

I wore a simple cotton  dress with lace trims by Stalk Buy Love, and my cone bag and the  Floral sandals from Sammydress Clothing  being the highlight of the day were praised by many as I ventured outside our Hotel Fortuna ,to shoot some street style. 

Must recommended place to stay, as the food is crazy and if you are a Vegetarian like me, you won't be starved.

The minute we started shooting, it looked like everyone needed my attention, as around 20 people took out their phones and started recording the terrific stuff we do in India(take street photos ). This ice cream cone bag caught the fancy of everyone , which arrived in 7 days (super quick delivery ) from the website . Despite being the centre of attraction at approx 9 A.M, I also did weird things on special request, for e.g posing to eat the ice-cream.

Language was no barrier then as sign language and friendly laughs ruled and after a dozen Chinese got what they wanted and took my exclusive expressions home, I am now wondering ,if they ruined my groove at my expense ??

Coming back to Foshan, the lighting city and a few shopping malls at Zhongshan are a must visit if you are shopping for home/ interiors. 

Leaving you all with truck load of pics. 

Next up is things to do in Shanghai and a lot of shopping finds.

Ciao xx

A Day In Loungewear | The Club Emerald - Mumbai

These summer holidays were a perfect time for me to gussy up and go out, but hubster was too less inclined to spend time with family. It was a holiday vs Work Tug-O -War situation at home.

The work kept him busy all throughout , and he was a living example of Ass Jack of all trades,( work front ) engrossed in climbing some Mt. Kilimanjaro, Disconnected and not reachable. It was time to break a bottle of some old wine, alone at home,when an idea struck me to follow him everywhere.

Co-incidentally both of ours work made us land in Mumbai at the same time. Now it was a golden opportunity to take a break from solo-parenting and just throw everything and perform my laid back couch potato edit. 

Things became slow. Mumbai was rainy and sluggy, not that I am loving Delhi at the moment, but its that time of the year where the pattern of sweat don't know the city its trickling down from. Yes, Monsoons !!

Obviously we don't have a different wardrobe for monsoons,like we do for winters, but casuals and lounge-wear only seems like an obvious directional choice in this weather which on a side note, also lets me achieve the bonus of every conceivable form of daily activity and save me the Gusset between my legs too ( I said that on Instagram already )......

This Kurti and the linen pant set was the most dressed up I needed to be on a rainy day in Mumbai. You can see my hair is tied up already in a bun. Kurta's can prove to be a Mecca for lounge-wear and also maximise your chill time and that's what precisely I was doing at newly launched Sports Club -Emerald in Chembur, Mumbai. I think there is room for style and taste in every part of women's life. But its only when a fancy place like Club Emerald which is full of luxury notes provides a vantage point for me to swaddle myself up with a cup of coffee in the quietness of the library and loose myself to a book.  After hours of curling up on that library sofa couch, I got in a mood to hit the playground , play some squash and it was exactly when I found out that this Fab India outfit proved every bit in the righteousness to obscure my secondary sex characteristic, unencumbered and non fussy.

Gypsetting in Heritage backyards of Fort Pachewargarh | Bandhani Print Jacket

As a blogger I love adding more taste to my existing style.  Experiments never stop for me. That is the spirit I work with. And that is the spirit which keeps me meandering into trends, doing things with a perspective . Fashion is about dreams. How I incorporate mine into my real and busy life is in my hands, especially when I have a vent window.

Two people had a special role for this post and my Aha moment !!!!

One Mr. Hubs for planning this surprise trip to Fort Pachewar ( a heritage fort/ haveli near jaipur now solely managed by us) and letting me escape from the life I have.

Second Aki who designed this bespoke Bandhej jacket from her label Gulaal Creations. Sending me what I needed just to put this look together and my true gypsy disguise which came out at a free wheeling place which is now close to my heart. The signature  print ( famous from jaipur ) itself is very extravagant and lends a wanderlust meets the high luxe vibe. Tomorrow being Holi, I couldn't have asked for a more opportune time to post about Gulaal Creations :)

This look is elusive , its mysterious, contemporary in its own way, and somewhat narrates forgotten tales of a lost generation. The place (the fort ) also being a wanderlust, has seen many generations too.

Gypsies were always pushed out of the neighbourhood in the name of the progress, in the same way out of many fights and the ill timed sieges that took place within this fort boundaries, there were horses and war, men and caravans and families got scattered too. 

If this reason is not mysterious  enough to let me snap back into the saddle and rehash the past  I don't know what will.  

The spirit to leave home and secede from the conventional , its when I actually cherished being a vagabond ,never a part of herd, forgetting glamour for a while, still sinking close to my old elements.

Who knew Gypsetting into style could be so enriching ?

Happy to have learnt and discovered this side of me . Cheers !!

Happy Holi 

OOTD In Fort Pachewargarh | A Heritage Destination Wedding Resort In Rajasthan

Getting a waistcoat in a trendy colour, with signature blend of cotton and silk had been on my wishlist. I thought it would let me Up my trick of layering and keep me in the business of s---layering, mastering the style first, and then letting you show the endless ways to wear a waistcoat starting now, through this little window you open up on your laptops or phones every week to check my blog . 

Although this post should mark or tick its own waistcoat styling series , which I never want to stop , considering my love for lighter and less serious ways to dress up, but that would be too much of a homework for me while there are a lot of projects I am working on for you guys and cannot wait to show you. 

Talking of guys , if you are a guy reading this post with a passive interest in waistcoats, hold on, don't just be in a hurry to close this window, I have a beautiful heritage resort near Jaipur, which I want to talk about and show, and exactly where we shot these pics. Loving it yet ? No ? Maybe ?

Be a smartie  and drive down six hours from Delhi or one and half hours from Jaipur city,to Fort Pachewargarh and picture yourself spending some fun time with your loved ones.

Amidst an authentic village there it is- your best getaway resorts near Delhi along the Pampasagar Lake,this 450year old Fort is a photographers paradise,resplendent with Jharokhas, Chhatris, Cenotaphs,Canon mounts,rifle slots, and so much more that one is immediately transported to the bygone era of Maharajas and Maharanis(evident in the resort's Khaas Mahal). 

Taking a cue from the rich history of the Fort, I decided to dress the part, in nothing less than a garment which could make me feel equally antiquated and royal, and blend with the timeless heritage, with a tiny thought little less than the urge to get married again in one of the best royal wedding resort in Rajasthan .

I wore a simple waistcoat over an all white look, which was made to measure and sent with love by Aki from Gulaal Creations , and definitely one of the few brands to keep your eye on. 

Gulaal as the name itself rings a bell, has everything to with everything Indian or Desi as Aki says. 

The Indian silhouettes, fabrics and prints of all her garments are not only appealing but resonates with my aesthetics for promoting Indian designers who deserve a bigger platform to be featured. There is an air of Luxe and crispness to her collection, which is not only well stitched but lends an extraordinary fit.

I didn't carry diamonds and rubies and expensive jewellery, to clad all onto myself , and pretend as if I am a wandering spirit, arisen from one of the luxurious suites of the fort, rather chose to layer some inexpensive trinkets, while staring at one of the pictures of the queen who definitely whispered more is more silently in my ear.

Have a look at the pictures, The  heritage Fort, the extravagant Gulaal Creations waistcoat and don't forget to show some love to all ;)

#TravelDiaries | Ahmedabad | Bhuj | Rann OF Kutch | Mandvi Beach Gujarat

These pics were taken last month when we took a smallzy break to Ahmedabad , Bhuj and Rann of Kutch. 

Gujarat had never been on my list of destinations to travel, but somehow the white Shallow Marsh Land of Kutch had always been a fancy and our famous bollywood flick -"Highway" did play a little role for me to consider giving this place a travel shot .  

Although there is nothing much to do about in the city, except shopping at bargain prices for authentic handwork gujarati garments , (Must check out Law Garden) dined at Rajwadu  and fished out a few more restaurants that serve original Gujarati food . The food is pretty decent everywhere and a special mention to team Dominos , which really suck in Ahmedabad with their unexpected lousy service, especially the one next door to Novotel ( where we stayed)  The food comes cold and after almost an hour(hello 30 mins or free slogan?)

We also took a day trip to visit The World Heritage site - Sun temple and Rani ki Vav  (6 hrs by road to and fro)

Bhuj is interesting in terms of sightseeing too. Must check out Aina Mahal in Bhuj City . Built in gothic style, the palace survived 2001 Bhuj earthquake, and the cracks in the palace weep this horrified tale.

Our second last destination was the Tent city at Rann of Kutch a.k.a-  White Desert . Good ambience,lot of activities and the best Sunrise ever. The shopping is pretty expensive as compared to Bhuj, and since the artisans travelled from Bhuj to sell the same stuff at 3x the price, I decided to give it a skip, and leave that exercise for my return touch point via Bhuj.

The tent experience was not overwhelming, but that's the best our destination had to offer. Shot a look in the middle of the desert while the winds blew at 100kmph ( exaggeration).  Photos didn't turn out the way I expected, hence need to redo the entire look once again (cry face)

The last leg of my destination included Mandvi Beach resort. Another overrated destination, and similar tent style set up. The tents smelled awful with the only plus point of being on the beach, which was practically deserted. In the history of my travel in so many years, probably this was the only place which made me miss home so much. Seriously I couldn't wait to reach home all the time and almost blew off my top with the agent who booked us there . What was he thinking ? 

I shopped from another website this time which is Zaful. Ordered another piece from them which is a total trash. I can almost use it to clean the house. As much as I love this look, and the style, of this maxi  I feel totally annoyed when websites fail to check quality control. If a brand is passionate about what they make , it shows. Why would they want me to wear a crappy product on the blog and make me look bad in front of my readers among other things ?

Anyways guys, sorry for my rant, seems like I have had a lot of unpleasant experiences last month, so I just want to get done with it in one single post and move ahead.

This post was supposed to go live yesterday. Sorry for the delay. 

Sharing a few snippets from my travel too. 

 Wish everyone A Sweet Sixteen. Happy Holidays :)