A few months ago, while weighing the pros and cons of quitting her full-time job, Sajna Ali, the founder of women’s travel group Appooppanthaadi, had no clue that she would be shortlisted for a travel fellowship. A software engineer, Sajna has, over the last three and a half years, proved that travelling only requires smart planning – not a fat pay cheque. Her privilege leaves and weekends have always been set aside for extended trips and short getaways.
It all began with a last-minute cancellation on a trip with friends, stirring her to go ahead alone, inspiring what would be the start of many a solo exploration. Questions that arose from women who were held back by concerns of safety led to her starting a blog www.solotravellersdiary.blogspot. in , which covered everything from affordable accommodation to safe lodging.
Last year, Appooppanthaadi was also born in the process, enabling Sajna to coordinate endless trips with groups of women. At last count that was more than 300 women and 27 trips in India. This is excluding Sajna’s solo trips.
Little wonder then that Sajna, the only fellow from Kerala, fit the bill perfectly when Aao (‘come’ in Hindi) Hostels, a Bangalore-based start-up for travellers’ hostels in India, selected her for their fellowship. She and each of the seven other ‘fellows’ will cover almost 22 destinations in 15 days – all on a shoestring budget of ₹500 a day.
The eight fellows who are travelling in India on a shoe-string budget courtesy of Aao Hostels
“We had a set of questions for applicants that asked them about articles on their trips, whether they would be able to travel for 15 days at a stretch and the like,” says Anant Deep, one of the co-founders of Aao Hostels.
Sajna’s style of travel suits what Aao is trying to promote. It was one of eight start-up companies to receive a grant of ₹40 lakh from the Karnataka government at a hackathon called ‘Pitch to the Government’ to implement innovative ideas to boost tourism. It called on digital nomads who would be willing to travel, fully sponsored, while documenting their experiences as articles, photographs and video recordings using online media.
Sajna’s trip starts from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and ends in Meghalaya, with stops at Allahabad, Gaya, Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Kolkata and more on the way. “The whole idea is to show that backpacking allows one to explore places on a budget. This is not for the luxury traveller. We can stay at any place that is a hostel. Transport and accommodation from one city to the other is covered by Aao while there is a cap of ₹500 on daily expenses at each destination,” Sajna says over phone from Allahabad.
“Share taxis and auto rickshaws keep travel cost to a minimum as do non-AC restaurants for food. Leftover money can be carried forward. Then maybe I can wave down an auto rickshaw just for myself.”
Six out of eight fellows, including a Costa Rican, are women, something Anant says did not happen deliberately. “We were surprised too. The plan is for 15 days as per funds earmarked for eight fellows. This is a pilot project where we have made advance bookings for accommodation and transport.”
Sajna is travelling light – regular jeans and tees, with an extra pair of sandals in case Meghalaya is in the mood for rain. But what the environment conscious traveller does carry are sheets of paper, previously used on one side, and a pen, to make notes so that recollection is easier when she sits down to record her thoughts at the end of each day.
After marvelling at architectural splendours in Allahabad’s searing heat, she can’t wait to arrive at the cooler climes of Meghalaya to wind up her trip. “This is self-inflicted punishment. What most people don’t know about me is that I am prone to laziness. Everything that I do is so that I don’t stay idle," Sajna adds with a laugh when asked if packing so much into her days wears her out. Apparently, not.
For Sajna, the travels are a continuation of the trips when she accompanied her father as a girl. “My fascination with places began with the many photographs my father would show us after he came home from work. As a lorry driver, his work would take him to far off places where he would click photographs that I later gaped at. He would take me on one-day trips! The other places remained a dream as basic amenities were hard to come by on long drives.”
Aao’s concern about Sajna travelling through Uttar Pradesh did not stop her from visiting the state anyway. Safety is an issue Sajna has broached in one of her blog posts, mentioning the precautions she takes when venturing to places alone.
The travel fellows can suggest states and fit in sightseeing trips, keeping the budget in mind. Numerous trips later, India is now too small a country for Sajna who is almost apologetic about it. “I have Rajasthan and Punjab left to see but now when I look at the map, I have visited almost all the states.”
Sajna’s upcoming plans include devoting herself to Appooppanthaadi on a full-time basis, freelance travel writing and software coding, making more time for volunteering with a local NGO and a ‘secret project’ she plans to reveal in a few months.
