My 50 Days of Solo Bike Tour in India during Monsoon!

The idea of this #AllIndiaSoloBikeTour originated from an obsession. I was obsessed with my deeds.

During the journey, everyone asked me, “Why you are doing this?” I used to reply, “I wanted a different life for me. But, I end up doing this.”

My attempts to start a small company and live a comfortable, society approved, settled, (etc etc) life failed continuously. I invested three years into achieving a satisfaction. Like, starting a Jaipur blog dedicated to my hometown was one of those efforts. 

I don’t regret about those failures as I was never looking to achieve a number or a point. For me, the journey was always the important part.

This year, I decided to go with the thing my fate has decided. I have been traveling a lot in past, but, never wanted to share those details on social media. This year, I decided to try it as a profession. Traveller!

Before I can get into that (professionally), I needed to check if my fate is for all good or for all failures, again. It looks like, I betted the right horse!

After completing 50 days on the road, irrr, Highway, I am writing this, sitting comfortably at home. Not a single scratch on me or on my bike.

Even to me, it looks like a Miracle, but, I invested everything I had into it.

तन मन धन – All three!

Initially, the budget of 1,500INR per day was set, which will convert into 75,000INR. But, the tour was finished at 60,000INR mark. All thanks to the support I received from members of our Blogging Community across the country. Gratitude!

Highlights of the #AllIndiaSoloBikeTour

#NoGPS – I wasn’t having any GPS device, and I traveled without taking help of any digital navigation. I used directions, road maps, sign boards, local people, auto drivers, paan walas, etc., for navigation. More than twice, I ended up in a different city, which I never intended to go. Perks of No GPS!

#NoHorn – Before I reached Goa, horn of my bike stopped working. Instead of repairing or replacing it with a new one, I planned of completing the tour without it. And, now I can say, I have covered about 60% of this tour without Honking. I have traveled through villages, crowded streets, and even metro cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi.

#LessMoney – I now understand this that traveling is more fun when you invest less money. Lesser the money, more will be the fun. The best part is that you get a chance to live a local life at a new place and meet new people which all converts to unforgettable experiences. Investing a lot of money in going from one place to another and posting check-ins is not traveling (to me).

During the tour, I was left with no money, twice. I was continuously working, completing my writing gigs to fund my coming days. During those two incidents of left with no money at all, I experienced desperation. Not in any harsh way!

#Solo – This was my first intended Solo trip and after 50 days of being alone on the Highway, I can finally say, I Know Myself! I know who I am! After three years of continuous failure, I wanted to know myself. I had to!

#Monsoon – A single drop from the sky can change the way a landscape looks. I don’t know if my country is this beautiful in the non-monsoon period but, the country I saw during monsoon, is Blessed and Beautiful.

Driving a car or truck during monsoon is tough. But, when it comes to driving a Motorcycle in rain, things not only remains tough. The whole situation becomes rough and most of the times, it stays out of your control. In my 50 days of share, I was greeted with rain for about 45 days. I even traveled into a Flooded city (Chittorgarh) during my second day of the tour. In order to keep myself and my bike safe, while cruising on the road in the rain, I had to use all my skills and past experiences in similar conditions. I guess, I did everything right!

#IndiaIsSafe – Stop being a judge by knowing few incidents reported by media platforms and stop criticizing your country, and its people. India is still safe and based on my experience with the people, it will always be safe. It’s not just me, many solo ladies (Divya Shree, Deepika Gumaste, Swati Jain, Esha Gupta) have traveled India in past (and still continuing) and they were really an inspiration to me (when I was planning this act).

#People – Every person I met during the tour was ready to help, except for few. People from my Blogging Network, people from different states, and people from different countries. Everyone was ready to invest their valuable time and make sure I don’t feel alone. There were many interactions which inspired me to a level which boosted me to continue this tour and complete it, anyhow.

Sai Ramesh (Vijaywara) – His Family or Company?

#Food – I am in love with the variety of Food our country have. ???? Food is one of the reason, why I’ll be traveling to those places, again. ????

#NearToDeath – There were a couple of incidents when I could have ended up dead or injured on the road. The first one was in Gir forest, while the second one was in Jharkhand, between the loaded trucks, and few more. During those slippery moments, instead of worrying about what’s being happening, I chose not to lose the concentration and continue using the basic skills. And, it always helped me regain the lost control.

#Family and #Bike – My family and my bike, are the prime reasons why I went to do, why I was able to continue doing, and why I was able to complete it. Family!

I hope this journey we all were part of, was, at least, fun. I hope that the things I shared publicly, rather than keeping them from you, will help you in one way or another.

Anyone can find those experiences and moments during the tour on Facebook (search for #AllIndiaSoloBikeTour) and on this blog. I’ll be sharing the remaining details of the journey soon – seven entries are already available.

You can also find few videos and pictures I captured on my YouTube and Instagram profile.

ETV Andhra Pradesh covered the tour. Here is the video of the same. Watch it after 8 minutes. And, here is a copy of newspaper coverage (in Telugu). ????

#AllIndiaSoloBikeTour is Done! ????

Now, I've started a travel blog, named HighwayMonks and I'm going to take this travelling thing to new heights.