Shivya Nath's Blog: The Shooting Star, page 14

What I’ve Learnt on the Way to 60,000+ Organic Followers on Instagram – Tips for Travel Instagrammers.

About this post: I feel like I’ve come a long way as a travel blogger on Instagram, keeping my focus on authentic content, organic Instagram followers and organic Instagram growth. Whether you’re looking at Instagram as an extension of your travel blog, or to join the ranks of the best Instagram travel pages, I hope these lessons and tips will help you craft your organic Instagram strategy in 2019.

There’s no doubt I was late to the Instagram party. I resisted it for a long time, thinking it...

Where to Find Droolworthy Vegan Food in Chiang Mai.

About this post: I won’t lie to you – some of the world’s best vegan food awaits you in Chiang Mai. I’ve sampled scores of vegan, vegetarian, healthy, organic restaurants in the city, and put together this list of the absolutely best vegan restaurants in Chiang Mai. Go indulge!

Over three years ago, when I turned vegan, I accepted the possibility that someday, I might be confronted with the tough choice of either staying vegan or travelling nomadically. I couldn’t fathom then, as I resolved t...

How I Fit All My Life Possessions in Two Bags as I Travel the World.

About this post: Looking to embrace a digital nomad lifestyle? After 5 years of long term travel, I write about my digital nomad packing list, including my travel gear, gadgets, single-use plastic alternatives and things that make my digital nomad life sustainable. This digital nomad packing list will assist you in packing for long term travel, especially as a minimalist.

A few years after I had quit my full-time job in Singapore and embraced a life of travel, I posted a picture of myself zip...

Highs and Lows of 2018 – And Aspirations for 2019.

In my mind, 2018 was akin to a shinkansen (bullet train) journey in Japan. I immensely enjoyed the ride, but felt like it ended way too soon.

Even though the year wasn’t packed with as many epic travel adventures as I had originally planned, 2018 was the year of a major milestone for me – writing and publishing a bestselling book about my journey so far. Despite this achievement, I’m flooded with bittersweet emotions as I look back at 2018, given the disheartening state of affairs in India an...

Why You Should Stay on a “Local Island” to Truly Experience the Maldives.

Which island are you from? she asked me curiously. She was 30, wrapped up in a red hijab, sitting under a palm tree on the white sand beach, casually de-seeding wild almonds.

India, I replied with a smile. I asked her about the island that was her home now (the one we were both on), and spent a lazy afternoon chatting about the one she was born on, the one where her husband ran a bakery and others in the Maldives she had been to or heard about.

Just as I was leaving, she asked: Which island i...

Unusual Solo Travel Destinations to Feed Your Adventurous Spirit.

As solo travellers, we often tend to take shelter in the same tried and tested places. The ones that rank high on online lists of “safe countries for solo travel”, which have several hostels to choose from, where tourism has made it imperative for locals to speak English and where the presence of other travellers puts us in our comfort zone. Over my solo explorations in the past seven years though, I’ve found that such places often tend to stifle our adventurous spirit. The same spirit that o...

Why I Don’t Recommend Celebrating the Lantern Festival on New Year’s Eve in Chiang Mai.

About this post: On New Year’s Eve in Chiang Mai in 2017, I found myself at the Chiang Mai lantern festival, flying paper lanterns on 31st December as the clock announced the New Year – something I never should have done. In this post, I’ve penned down the harmful environmental impact of the Chiang Mai lantern festival, and why I don’t recommend celebrating it.  

Last year, when I first heard of the lantern festivities on New Year’s Eve in Chiang Mai, I was smitten. I mean, with those gorgeous...

What Indian Cities Can Learn About Green Tourism from Copenhagen.

On a recent visit to my hometown Dehradun, I decided to take a rickety bicycle for a spin around the neighborhood. The plan was to retrace the cycling routes of my childhood. I pedalled along potholes and pools of water from a broken pipe, ignoring the incessant honking of cars and bikes, trying to reach the river and forests that once used to be our backyard. Much to my disappointment, the river was just a dismal trickle amid a rocky, plundered river bed, and I couldn’t trace the forests at...

Incredible Ways to Experience Sri Lanka.

I remember my first trip to Sri Lanka with some clarity. We landed at Colombo International Airport on a nearly empty flight from Kochi, harboring no expectations from this small island nation, of which little was written online until a few years ago. As I walked along the quiet shores of Negombo (a small city between Colombo and the airport), cycled along tree-lined by-lanes, waved hello to young kids who had seen few travellers, gratefully accepted the warm hospitality of my host couple and...

Autumn, Adventure and Artful Living in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Stravaig (verb; Scottish): to wander about aimlessly.

There is a nip in the air, and a familiar scent I can inhale deeply but can’t identify. Cosy in many layers of clothes, my notebook clutched in one hand, my hair ruffled by the light breeze, I tip-toe into the garden, on the bed of fallen autumn leaves. Some yellow and moist. Some orange and crisp. The stream nearby gurgles softly. Under the maple tree I sit, pen in hand, thoughts strewn in my head, an umbrella of leaves sheltering me. The...