Anand has visited over 20+ countries, across Asia, Africa and Europe. Read tales of his adventures here: Fridge Magnet Tales
Watch the interview above or read excerpts of the interview below!
Travelling was almost second nature for Anand during his childhood, due to his father’s frequent job transfers.
“I definitely got the love of travelling from my parents. They always ensured to take us to visit different places every time we moved, even though they didn’t have to! Once I entered the corporate sphere I made sure I had a travel trip planned every year. I find that travelling really opens your mind, gives you perspective and helps keep you prepared to deal with spontaneous situations, which is incredibly useful in the corporate world!
The memories of some of his travel experiences stayed with him through the years and acted as a source of strength and inspiration.
“I am not typically a very adventurous person in a sense. But one experience that really changed me as a person was a spontaneous trip to Leh Ladakh that pushed me out of my comfort zone. It was the first time that I was ever riding on a Bullet, and it would also be with a group of unknown people. I did a test run on a friend’s bike and managed to ride it without falling. Then I told myself it was okay – I could manage a trip to the Himalayas, I just have to repeat the same test drive for many thousands of kms! So I went from Delhi to Leh, braving, sun, rain, snow and everything else! I always fallback on this experience when I’m in situations where I need to find strength in myself. I remind myself of the time I travelled difficult terrains on a beast like the Bullet without any prior experience and the memory of that gives me a lot of courage. Some other experiences like visiting a remote volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, called Azores, were also quite memorable.
While the travel is enriching in itself, Anand also finds planning for a trip to be a thoroughly enjoyable process.
“I am not typically a very adventurous person in a sense. But one experience that really changed me as a person was a spontaneous trip to Leh Ladakh that pushed me out of my comfort zone. It was the first time that I was ever riding on a Bullet, and it would also be with a group of unknown people. I did a test run on a friend’s bike and managed to ride it without falling. Then I told myself it was okay – I could manage a trip to the Himalayas, I just have to repeat the same test drive for many thousands of kms! So I went from Delhi to Leh, braving, sun, rain, snow and everything else! I always fallback on this experience when I’m in situations where I need to find strength in myself. I remind myself of the time I travelled difficult terrains on a beast like the Bullet without any prior experience and the memory of that gives me a lot of courage. Some other experiences like visiting a remote volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, called Azores, were also quite memorable.
When asked if he had a huge world map somewhere in his house with pins on countries that he has visited, Anand chuckled. While they tried to maintain a map, which didn’t work out, they stumbled upon a different idea – fridge magnets!
“We actually had a map where we scratched out countries that we visited but it didn’t look very nice. So we switched to collecting fridge magnets from different locations. Our fridge got too small for the number of magnets that we collected over a period of time so we then shifted to a magnetic board, which today serves as reminder to our multitude of experiences and varied adventures! This actually inspired the name of our travel blog, called Fridge Magnet Tales”
On realizing the importance of how his travel escapades have shaped him into the individual he is today, Anand replied,
“I think the courage to take on new experiences and new challenges is a quality that travelling definitely inculcates in you. With travel, so many things are unplanned and adventure by nature is the discovery of something new. At work, you often venture into new territories and learn and adapt on the go, so the ability to explore uncharted terrains is definitely beneficial. Travel also gives you access to many different perspectives so it helps you related better at work when you’re interacting with different stakeholders.”
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