She’s got serious travel plans!

Traveling alone is quite fun but can be quite challenging but not for Dr. Sudha Mahalingam. She has been tagging along with her husband on work trips for years. She took those trips as an opportunity to explore these unknown places. Her husband often opted out of these adventures, so Mahalingam would visit the touristy landmarks with a local guide. However, she did not enjoy these planned trips and packaged tours.

According to Mahalingam, packaged tours are quite predictable, and “they show you what they want to show not what you want to see,” she added.

About two decades back, she quit her job in journalism and shifted her career focus to energy research. After the switch, she began receiving invitations to speak at international conferences in oil-producing countries and the world opened up for her.

Mahalingam at the age of 70, has visited 66 countries across continents and has penned her explorations in her blog titled ‘Footloose Indian’ as well as in her book ‘The Travel Gods Must be Crazy.’

Her hectic schedule means she virtually has no time to plan the trips that have brought her into a few tricky situations. 

From landing in the Czech Republic without a visa to searching for vegetarian cuisine in China to getting locked inside a monument in Iran, her travel story is full of twists and turns. 

Since the pandemic hit, her travel plans have been on hold, but as soon as the world fully reopens she plans to train to sail aboard one of the famed Clipper yachts that is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mahalingam adds that “Some years ago, I met the Clipper team at Belfast in Northern Ireland and while I’m still fit and able, I’d like to do one leg of the Clipper Round the World Race.”

Among other places, Mahalingam plans on visiting  Colombia, Patagonia, Chile, and Argentina in the future.

She says that even if she checks these three off her list in the next few years, it will still not complete her entire checklist.

Source: Agencies