There are people who make excuses and then there are people like 61 Year Old Molly Joy who make things happen. A grocery store owner from Kerala, Molly has travelled to 11 countries despite several challenges.
Brought up in a low income family in Thiruvankulam, she always dreamt of travelling to far off places. In reality, she couldn’t even afford to go on school trips, but that didn’t deter her spirit to travel.
In 1996, after getting married to Chithrapuzha native Joy, she set up a grocery store with her husband who luckily shared the same love for travelling. This grocery store allowed them to take small trips within South India.
In 2004, the untimely death of her husband brought life to a standstill when all the responsibility fell on her shoulders. But she didn’t lose hope and with sheer hardwork, finally went on her first trip to Europe in 2012. Since then, she has visited 11 countries in 3 continents and doesn’t seem to stop anytime soon.
How did she do it?
Molly proves the saying « where there’s a will, there’s a way. » She worked hard and opened her store on weekends and holidays to get extra income, and took part in chit funds. She also makes sure that she takes gaps between trips to gather enough funds in order to really enjoy her visits.
Molly recalls her favourite trip, the second time she visited Europe and went on a luxury cruise trip from Amsterdam to Rome. She also loved Niagara Falls and Universal Studio on her US trip. She agrees that she can’t travel as much as she’d like to due to financial constraints but is determined to spend what she earns on what makes her the happiest, travelling.
Molly is an inspiration to anyone who feels that you need a fancy job to travel!
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