You get educated by Traveling.
Solange Knowles
I have this blurry memory of reading a Travel article in the Rail magazine when I was in high school. Back then I was a kid who thought reading is one of the most boring thing to do(what a fool I was), but this article got me engaged.
It was drafted by a person who traveled to a beautiful city of South India and wrote about his experience of the place, the culture, the food, the places to visit, a brief itinerary just as in your usual travel article.
I was curious to know more, so I went to the link given in the article and what I discovered next really changed my perception of travelling for forever.
That person was a travel writer being paid by the magazine to TRAVEL FULL-TIME & write about his experiences. I never knew a gig like that existed- where you not just travel for free rather get paid for it! After reading that article, all my senior year in school I used to say ‘I want to be a Travel Jockey, I will be a Travel Jockey and go places, travel for the rest of my life.’ My teachers and parents were annoyed of my “stupid” after-plans, well they expected a lot from their meritorious student (no bragging intended). Their mainstream advises over career landed me into typical undergraduate studies. But they are not to be blamed, as it was me who chose to not listen to my calling back then.
Fortunately enough I got into the Photography Club of my college and started writing captions for random pictures I took on my smartphone. This caption writing thing developed my interest in writing simultaneously. Then in the second year I got to go on my first trip with friends- I’ll reserve this trip’s experience for other posts- I documented the trip on Instagram through stories and multiple posts narrating day to day activities and experiences. I enjoyed the process- writing all the events down in my diary, then typing, selecting and editing pictures, posting over the Instagram and waiting for responses. Growing numbers on the Instagram were indeed an encouragement to continue the same for other subsequent trips.
That’s how I took my three years of college to develop my interests and skills, so as to follow my inner calling. That’s how it all started!
The Sassy Box 