Shivya Nath's Blog: The Shooting Star, page 13
May 17, 2019
What I Learnt Volunteering on a Remote Island in Cuba.
Cuban reggae music played on repeat as I rode on a bright yellow truck from the 1940s, along a bumpy, heavily forested road. While the driver – an engineer by education – and I chatted in Spanish, he casually pointed out iguana lizards chilling by the road, vultures flying low in search of food, deer at the edge of the forest, huge crabs running helter-skelter and an enormous snake that brought us to a screeching halt.
A world away from the photogenic streets and tourist traps of Havana, we w...
May 14, 2019
Why You Should Drop Everything and Travel to Iran Now!
About this post: I had many questions on my mind before my trip to Iran. Why go to Iran? How is Iran as a country? Is it safe to visit Iran? What is Iranian culture like? A month in Iran later, I think it might be one of my favorite places in the world. This post is my humble attempt to show you why.
Most people think that now is a terrible time to visit Iran. The renewed US sanctions on the country mean that popular travel websites like Expedia, Airbnb and Booking.com don’t work in Iran. Int...
May 8, 2019
My Search for Stories of Digital Empowerment Across India.
Under the grey clouds and golden light of the setting sun, I found myself amid the lush rice paddies of Kerala, listening to enchanting folk tunes by India’s first “bamboo orchestra”. The young men – radio jockeys, carpenters and farmers in their everyday life – came together to revive their lost music traditions and handcrafted their own bamboo instruments by learning from DIY videos on YouTube (Also read: Offbeat Kerala: 11 Travel Experience to Inspire the Artist in You). They’ve gone on to...
April 16, 2019
If the World Was a Library, These Books Would be the Destinations I’d Pick.
Before I began to travel full time, the books I read based on the “best travel books” recommendations were mostly written by western travellers. You can probably guess some of them: Into the Wild by Jon Krakeur, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I found them inspiring back then and still admire the authors for their personal quests. But the more I travel, the more I realise that the perspectives in these travel memoirs often come from a place of privilege.
In my qu...
March 31, 2019
Why You Should Drop Everything and Travel to Iran Now!
Most people think that now is a terrible time to visit Iran. The renewed US sanctions on the country mean that popular travel websites like Expedia, Airbnb and Booking.com don’t work in Iran. International debit and credit cards can’t be used to make payments or withdraw money from ATMs. Most travel insurance policies don’t cover Iran. And social networks like Twitter and Facebook are technically banned.
And yet, spending a month exploring Iran in Feb-March 2019 – thanks to the local all-wome...
March 19, 2019
How to Travel as a Vegan and Find Delicious Food Anywhere in the World.
About this post: Travelling as a vegan sounds incredibly difficult, but after 3.5 years and over 30 countries, I can assure you that being a vegan traveller is more a matter of being prepared. In this vegan travel blog post, I share all my vegan travel tips and try to prove that travelling as a vegan in meat-obsessed countries is not impossible.
I’ve travelled to over thirty countries since I turned vegan 3.5 years ago, including seafood-obsessed Japan, kebab-loving Iran and tribal regions of...
March 2, 2019
The Epic Land Journey from Thailand to India via Myanmar.
About this post: In January 2019, I embarked on a journey from Thailand to India by road, crossing Myanmar over land. This road trip took me from Chiang Mai via Myanmar to Manipur, without boarding any flights. The India to Thailand road route is marked by stunning scenery, misty sunrises, old temples and rice paddies. In this detailed post, I talk about why doing India to Thailand by road should be on your bucket list.
When I got asked to conduct a digital marketing workshop for responsible...
March 1, 2019
Myanmar Tourist Visa on an Indian Passport: A Quick and Easy Guide.
About this post: The Indian passport is not the most travel-friendly, but we’re lucky to have exceptions – and the Myanmar tourist visa is one of them. The Myanmar evisa is easy to apply for, quick to score, and allows hassle-free entry into Myanmar. Behold, a quick and easy guide on how to get a Myanmar tourist visa on an Indian passport.
In January 2019, when I travelled overland from Thailand to India via Myanmar, I was relieved to learn that Myanmar offers Indian citizens both, eVisa and...
Myanmar Visa on an Indian Passport: A Quick and Easy Guide.
In January 2019, when I travelled overland from Thailand to India via Myanmar, I was relieved to learn that Myanmar offers Indian citizens both, eVisa and visa on arrival. Not wanting to risk showing up at a land border to get a Myanmar visa on arrival on my Indian passport, I decided to apply online for a Myanmar eVisa – and was delighted to receive a confirmed visa by email within 24 hours!
If you plan to travel to Myanmar soon, here’s what you need to know to score a Myanmar tourist visa o...
February 9, 2019
Inspiring Places to Live, Work and Explore as a Digital Nomad in 2019.
About this post: Ever since I embraced a digital nomad lifestyle, I’ve been on the lookout for digital nomad destinations around the world. From Guatemala to India, these are my unusual picks for the best digital nomad cities and offbeat digital nomad locations in 2019.
I often lament being born a few decades too late. Of missing out on a time when most places around the world were still pristine, the original hippie movement was still taking shape, overtourism wasn’t a thing, plastic wasn’t...
