Highlights and Lowlights of 2025.

I’m thinking of the year gone by sitting by the Red Sea in Egypt, sipping deliciously fresh mango juice, staring at the deep blue hues of the water. Time feels as fleeting as the waves. With only 25 days to go in 2025, I want to grasp it tightly.

When I began the year in a tiny village in Himachal, I had no idea I’d be ending it in a big city that has already started to feel like home. When I began the year on a slow but restless note, I had no idea I’d be ending it with all sorts of unexpected adventures under my belt and a promise to lay roots for a while again.

Just like the mango juice in my hand, I’m trying to sip the last few days of 2025 more deliberately. But I know the juice – and the year – will be over in no time.

Also read: Highlights of 2024, a Dilemma and a Blogging Resolution

So here I am, back with my annual tradition of reminiscing:

Highlights of 2025

Un-chasing rainbows

I began the year feeling terribly disappointed in myself. For a while there, I was sure that the slow life we’d built in Himachal was it. But two years in, my restlessness crept up, incessantly throwing up ideas of other places I could see myself in. I knew it was an inner problem, and I had no idea what to do with it.

The ‘Chasing Rainbows’ retreat at Deer Park Institute, led by Dr Nivedita Challil, appeared as a lifeline I didn’t know I needed. I subsequently signed up for her 6-month Buddhist Psychology course, and began an unexpected journey of un-learning: how my mind works, the labels I hold on to, the mood states I constantly tumble through. I’m so grateful that this path found me, because in less than a year of walking on it, I’ve seen myself change in ways I never thought possible.

Also read: Questions I Don’t Want to Ask Myself at 37

Slowing down in Africa’s coolest city

On our 3-month land journey across East Africa (Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya), I was surprised that the place I most enjoyed was Kigali – Rwanda’s capital city. We felt lucky to witness a city navigating the early stages of its growth phase, with a focus on small entrepreneurs, zero waste initiatives, community-led projects, car-free zones, plant-based food, urban conservation work, car-free Sundays and women-led social enterprises. It made me nostalgic of Indian cities a decade or two ago, and the alternative paths we could’ve charted – especially in my hometown Dehradun.

Also read: Community, Conservation and Connection: Highlights of 3 Months in East Africa

Speaking on climate action in tourism at COP30

I feel so incredibly grateful for the professional opportunities that have come my way this year. I had the honor of moderating a panel at the COP30 Global Online Sessions on Climate Action in Tourism, co-hosted by UN Tourism, The Travel Foundation and Travalyst. We discussed how climate impacts are showing up in destinations around the world from Canada to Brazil, and how leaders are responding to climate challenges locally – centering not just tourism assets but also local communities.

I was also invited to speak on another big stage in Bangkok, at the ASEAN-India Forum, where I highlighted how ASEAN countries need to evolve their marketing efforts to reach increasingly conscious Indian travellers.

I’m still learning to navigate the various hats I wear now – traveller, storyteller, educator, speaker, researcher – but it feels really rewarding to see them come together in unexpected ways.

Also read: The Journey of a Thousand Miles Began With Curiosity

Reveling in cherry blossom and snow in Andorra

I can’t quite describe the joy of witnessing winter and spring in less than a week of each other in Andorra, the stunning little mountainous country sandwiched between France and Spain! One day, I was snowed in in my cozy wooden home in a small mountain village. The next, just half an hour away by bus, I experienced the cherry blossom in full bloom in Andorra La Vella, the capital city.

From my newsletter: 90% Mountains, 10% Mankind

Finding joy in creating travel films and videos on Youtube

I’ve come a long way from thinking myself uninterested and incapable of video storytelling. After experimenting with reels on Instagram, and shooting a series of award-winning docufilms, I find myself unexpectedly drawn to the creative process of long-form video and feel ready to give Youtube a real shot.

On my Youtube channel, where I’m now releasing a new video every week, I share travel ideas beyond the beaten path, create travel films on the joy of slow travel, and delve deeper into what it means to travel sustainably. I’m also learning to shed my long-held aversion to talking to the camera!

I’m thrilled to share that my travel films gained some valuable recognition this year, winning the Social Impact Award at the Bessie Awards in New York, and Broadcast of the Year (Vlog) at the Inspire Global Media Awards in London.

Check out: Weekly videos on slow, conscious travel

Learning German in a physical classroom 

I’m not sure what took hold of me and made me want to commit to 5 hours of daily German language classes for 1.5 months at the Goethe Institute in Mumbai… but life has its plans. It was hard but also invigorating, as I found my brain stimulated in ways it hasn’t been in a long time. Especially as I learnt about trenbare verbs that break apart in a sentence! Kein logic 😉

I enjoyed journeying through the process of my A1 exam, split into speaking, writing, hearing and reading – and am glad to report I passed. Now I need to motivate myself to continue climbing the language ladder.

Also read: Offbeat Weekend Getaways Near Mumbai That’ll Inspire You to Rethink Life

Slow living in wild Uganda, coastal Kenya and tropical Bali

Despite all my existential dilemmas, I’m glad that my life and work continue to create the conditions for slowing down around the world. This year, my partner and I spent a month in a small coastal village in Kenya, featuring surreal Indian Ocean sunsets, visits to community-led marine conservation initiatives, and walking amidst (and tasting) ancient Baobabs. In Uganda, we found ourselves living with a remote community by the incredible Lake Bunyonyi. And in Bali, we managed to find a stunning remote corner that hasn’t been overrun by tourism… yet.

Also read: Community, Conservation and Connection: Highlights of 3 Months in East Africa

Witnessing storytellers in my course community grow and thrive

2025 marked two years of launching my in-depth course Get Paid to Travel the World With Purpose, and I’m so grateful for the community of purpose-driven travel creators it has brought together. This year, my course members landed paid and hosted travel collaborations around the world, got featured and quoted in national media, scored their first by-lines in wide-reaching publications, and continued to show up in the digital world with their own unique voices and stories.

We also curated exclusive opportunities for the course community with brands I love – WWF, HomeExchange and conscious heritage stays! In 2026, I hope to wear the hat of an educator and mentor in more ways, for this has an incredibly rewarding experience so far.

Join our weekly Whatsapp newsletter for travel creators: Wanderlust and Storytelling

Publishing my research on climate adaptation in tourism

While working on my capstone research in Boston last summer, I almost gave up. I had no idea how hard it would be to pursue an independent research project with multiple case studies, and write a rigorous academic paper in what felt like a short span of time. The only reason I was able to push myself was to see the end of my Master’s journey, which had involved way more time, effort and late nights than I had anticipated.

But this year, seeing my academic research turn into a white paper disseminated in the tourism industry, made me feel very grateful to the ‘me’ who pushed through!

Future Proofing Tourism: A Guide to Climate Adaptation and Community Resilience for Travel Businesses was published as a collaborative effort among Regenerative Travel, Climate Conscious Travel and Aurora, with the incredible O’Shannon Burns as my co-author. We’ve shared insights from this paper at the COP30 sessions, as well as at a symposium by Regenerative Travel – and hope that policymakers and tourism businesses of all sizes will be able to use the paper to accelerate their own climate adaptation efforts.

Finding a new base in Berlin!

Who knew?! Cycling through the colors of autumn in the city, indulging in food from Uzbekistan to Gambia as a vegan, joining offline meetups and sustainability events, and warming up with Glühwein at a different Christmas Market every evening… it still feels like we’re living in a dream.

When my partner and I began thinking of our next base after Himachal, we came up blank. But the universe scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in our lap. One by one, we pieced them together, and here we are: living in a 105-year-old altbau, in a sunlight and plants-filled apartment, watching spectacular sunrises from our bed every morning (we don’t have curtains yet; long story ;-)), in a neighborhood with some of the city’s coziest cafes and most incredible vegan eats!

Lowlights

Seeing AI-generated writing everywhere

I know I can’t afford to be against the evolution of technology, but seeing social media posts, newsletters and even personal emails written using ChatGPT, fills me with deep sadness. What happens when we lose our innately human ability to communicate? What’s even the point of communication when we let a tool express our thoughts and emotions?

For a while there, I felt totally stifled. If all writing is going to become AI-generated, and if all ‘human’ writing is going to be used to train AI, why should I bother showing up?

And yet, as a writer, what else can I do but continue to write?

Witnessing global climate inaction

This year, our planet’s coral reefs hit an irreversible tipping point. Scientists declared a 99% probability that we’ll irreversibly lose all warm water coral reefs within the next ten years or less. HOW THE F*CK IS THAT NOT A GLOBAL EMERGENCY?

Instead, we continue to fight mindless wars, imprison climate activists, watch communities around the world fend for themselves in the face of extreme weather events, and let people who’re literally destroying humanity (and the species we share this planet with) run free. *Deep breath*

I suppose it feels like a big deal to bear witness to the climate emergency unfolding before our eyes, but then I try to remember that we are just monkeys on a spaceship. Now here, gone tomorrow!

Your turn, what have been your highlights and lowlights in 2025?