Ranthambore Safari Tales: Tigers, Chaos & Adventures in the Wild

If Jim Corbett refused to show me a tiger, surely Ranthambore National Park would. After all, every second traveler claims, “Arre, Ranthambore mein toh tiger pakka dikhega!” Famous for its Bengal Tigers, Ranthambore Fort, and epic safaris, this national park in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, is one of India’s top wildlife destinations.

I was determined this time—no tiger, no peace.

Are You a Beach Person or a Mountain Person?

Yea, yea, yea, as far as it goes and you are into traveling, you must have come across this inevitable question "Are you a beach person or a mountain person?". Well, we always pick a side as our mind wanders through all the timeless memories we may have created during all those vacations we had. We all have our own preference, our own likeliness to certain kind of holiday we look forward to. 

Well, if you are not living under a rock, you must be knowing that it is not just a regular question, the answer to it reflects about person's nature as per the study in the Journal of Research in Personality, extroverts prefer the beach to the mountains, while introverts prefer the opposite. It reflects the personality of a person, instinct of a person. But does it actually?

Haridwar - The Ancient Holy City by the River Ganges

The Ancient city of Haridwar is an important Hindu Pilgrimage site in Uttarakhand state of India where the river Ganges flows as it exits the Himalayas.  The largest of several sacred ghats (bathing steps), Har Ki Pauri hosts a nightly Ganga Aarti (river worshiping ceremony) in which tiny flickering natural lamps are floated off the steps. People often come here to achieve salvation and some just to get amused by the beliefs and vibrancy. Falling more into the second category, I also decided to visit Haridwar to experience the vibrancy of the city and also somewhat to get rid of my sins (I still don't know how that works to be honest).

Kerala: God's Own Country!!

After what felt like a hundred failed attempts at planning a vacation, it was finally happening. The Kerala trip. My excitement was a physical entity, a joyous aura that radiated from me, causing my friends and family to groan in unison every time I brought it up. I’m sorry, but also, not sorry. You can’t put a price on the joy of travel bragging.

So, the big day arrived, and my morning was a masterclass in controlled chaos. First, I carefully placed my camera—the most crucial item, my precious baby—in a place of utmost importance. Then, I scrambled to finish packing the rest of my luggage as we waited for our cab to the airport. Yes, we were running late, as always.

Warley Museum: The 'World's Smallest Museum'

Source: SWNS.com 

A telephone booth which was not being used anymore has been turned into 'world's smallest museum'. Yes, you read that right, a telephone booth. Located in Warley, Yorkshire, the booth was “adopted” from British Telecommunications (BT) by the town association of Warley and filled with the local historical artifacts. The exhibit includes old photographs, glass etchings, and personal items such as antique fashion pieces and jewelry.

Here is Why Flights take Longer than they did 50 Years ago

Ever feel like airplanes are dragging their wings these days? Well, you’re not wrong. Believe it or not, modern flights often take longer than they did decades ago - even though we now have shinier planes, fancy engines, and more Wi-Fi to distract us.

Take this for an example - back in 1973, you could zip from New York City to Houston in about 2 hours and 37 minutes. Today? You’re looking at a leisurely 3 hours and 50 minutes. That’s almost enough time to re-watch The Lion King, twice (with snacks).

So why the slowdown? The culprit is fuel efficiency. Yes, airlines figured out that if they fly slower, they burn less fuel—and save millions. Between 2002 and 2012, fuel prices skyrocketed from about $0.70 to over $3 per gallon. To cope, JetBlue once admitted in 2008 that by adding just two extra minutes to each flight, they saved a casual $13.6 million a year. That’s a lot of peanuts and pretzels.

And they don’t stop there. To squeeze out even more savings, airlines are obsessed with making planes lighter. Translation: your suitcase gets slapped with “excess baggage fees” faster than you can say carry-on only.

Oh, and here’s a fun trick airlines play: something called “Block Padding.” This is when they pad the official flight time with extra minutes so that - even if they’re late, they can still proudly announce they arrived “on time.” So, next time the captain tells you, “Good news folks, we’re landing ahead of schedule,” don’t break into applause. Chances are, the schedule was just stretched like yoga pants after Thanksgiving dinner.

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.