Jim Corbett Travel Guide: Wildlife, Adventure & Funny Mishaps

Jim Corbett - PC - Nitesh Ranga - Insta ID - @ traveller_mate

Have you ever had a destination haunt your travel bucket list for years, dodging your every attempt to visit it? For me, that elusive spot was Jim Corbett National Park.

2009: Planned. Cancelled.

2010: Planned twice. Cancelled twice.

2012: Gave it another shot. Nope.

2016: I swore to finally close the loop. Spoiler alert—this time I actually made it! 

And honestly? The wait was worth it (and did we spot the tiger? well… we’ll get there).

The Journey of a Traveler

I often wonder how much time was spent in traveling mere centuries ago when the road of the traveler was hard. No flights, no high speed trains and the most prevalent medium to travel was ships. People spent a fortune and even in some cases, they spent their all earnings to just see what the world looks like. They spent days and weeks in traveling from state to state and even months in reaching from one country to another, some for leisure, some for business and others for just curiosity and amusement, from the stories they heard from people returning from The Great Voyage. In fact, many case, people did not even return from their great journeys, some due to will and others due to illness. Well, that era was different and so were the people. They had patience to travel and that was no less than the adventure for them.

5 Things to Do Before you Say Bye!

Goodbyes are always hard. No matter how strong you are, there is always an emotional chemical somewhere hidden in the corner of your heart that makes it bit difficult to say Good bye to your favorite place. Even a slightest thought of you not being visiting the place again makes you want to capture every single moment of the vacation which will bring smile on your face later.

Though handy cameras in phones and digital cameras have enabled us to capture as much pictures as we can but maybe that's not enough.. maybe we need something more....

World's Shortest Commercial Flight!

If you thought your last flight was short, wait till you hear this: the world’s shortest commercial flight takes place between two Orkney Islands in Scotland - Westray and Papa Westray. They’re separated by a mere 1.7 miles, which is basically the same distance your dog drags you on a “quick” walk.

This legendary route is operated by Loganair, and while the official duration is two minutes, with a helpful tailwind you can touch down in just 47 seconds. Yes, that’s less than the time it takes to microwave popcorn.

Almost Kasauli: 35 People, 1 Bus & A Hill Station Plot Twist

Every office group trip tells a story. Ours? It's a hilarious epic titled "Almost Kasauli"—because we planned a grand escape to the majestic Kasauli hills but ended up camping in Sanawar, a mere 6 km away. The moral of this story is simple: when you try to book hotels for 35 people at the last minute, the universe (and Kasauli's hoteliers) will laugh and tell you to find a tent. And so, our luxury offsite became a rustic adventure.

This is the chaotic, carb-loaded, and utterly unforgettable tale of our corporate offsite that proves sometimes, the best adventures are the ones you didn’t plan for.

Goa - Sun, Sand and Beaches - Chapter 2

Well, this vacation meant a lot as we were going together as a family after a long long time. It took us 2 months to finalize the holiday destination. We started planning for Mauritius, Singapore, Kerala, Pondicherry (now Pudducherry) and then we finally agreed on Goa. Though we have been there before but since Goa has it's own charm and value proposition, the excitement grew each day as we  were nearing our vacation dates.

Selecting Goa was also a wise decision as we were taking along our 2.5 year old son and we didn't know how will he react to completely new place, that too for 5 nights. We had it in mind even if feel restricted with him on our vacation, it will not be a problem as we have been to Goa before and stayed in the same hotel and I knew what all facilities I was going to get. But all our anticipation was false. He enjoyed a lot and didn't want to return home at the end of our trip. More on this later.

Patiala Peg: How a Maharaja’s Bet Created a Legend

Punjab has always fascinated me - its history, its food, and the sheer amount of love its people pour into everything (including the size of their meal portions). Recently, I found myself in Punjab wandering through Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and eventually to the shimmering Golden Temple in Amritsar. Along the way, I collected stories from locals - some unforgettable, some… well, let’s just say the lassi was stronger than my memory. But one story stuck with me forever—the legend of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.