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Shivya Nath

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All posts tagged: eco travel

How Croatia Compelled Me to Rethink Travel Blogging.

Published by Shivya Nath

Maybe this is the travel blogger’s version of a mid-life crisis.

Croatia / Europe / Responsible Travel / Travel Blogging

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My book – a national bestseller in India!

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ABOUT ME

Hello! I'm Shivya Nath. In 2011, at age 23, I quit my corporate job with a dream of traveling the globe. 2 years later, I packed up my life into a backpack and decided to hit the road indefinitely. I travel slow, seek offbeat and local experiences, stay in a place for a few weeks or as long as it inspires me, and move on.

I've done a solo land journey from Thailand to India via Myanmar and travelled overland from the Persian Gulf via Iran to Armenia. I've lived with a Mayan community in Guatemala, volunteered at a coral reef restoration project in Cuba, lived in a nunnery in Ladakh (India), and shed my fears and clothes at onsens across Japan. I hope to inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and experience the world!

What's a life of travel like?

Why I turned vegan

PUBLISHED ON:

WHERE AM I?

Currently in: India

[2020]

Jan – Mar
India

[2019]

Aug
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan

Sept
Bhutan

Oct-Dec
South Africa

To invite me on a travel blogging campaign, see my Work with me page.

UPCOMING TALKS

[2020]

27 Mar
The Economic Times Women’s Forum: Mumbai

[2019]

3-5 May
PEP: Hyderabad

6-7 Jul
Vegan India Conference: Delhi

22-25 Aug
Mountain Echoes Literary Festival: Bhutan

To invite me as a speaker, see my Speaking page.

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Covid-19. Climate change. Water scarcity. Air poll

Covid-19. Climate change. Water scarcity. Air pollution. Rich poor divide. Suffering of animals for food. Plastic-filled oceans. Internet censorship. Religious hate. Racism. Environmental destruction. Ugly politics. Patriarchy. Irresponsible tourism.

The world feels like such a mess that sometimes I want to bury my head in the ground and never surface again.

I feel guilty about having a pretty good life. About my privileges, access to opportunities, the pleasure of living close to nature, the ability to buy what I need and the flexibility to work online wherever I am.

Along with the guilt, I feel disappointed, angry and helpless. I feel an acute sense of responsibility to “fix” things in whatever way I can. Yet I feel lost, inadequate and unsure of how to channel these feelings.

I meant for this to be a positive post, but truth is, I don’t know how to feel positive today.

I don’t know how to reconcile with the suffering of humans, animals or nature and carry on with my life. Do you?

Somewhere far far away, peacock cries are the morn

Somewhere far far away, peacock cries are the morning alarm, the rain is music and the moon is the night lamp.

The sun’s first rays dance on the water. The morning air smells of wet earth. The forest is full of dancing butterflies.

The sky is a canvas. Now dark and ominous. Now bubble gum blue. Now streaked with the seven colours of a rainbow. Now painted pink and orange by the setting sun. Now a sheet of silver glowing in the moonlight behind the dark clouds. Vast, infinite.

And by night, when the dark clouds part and the moon sets, twinkling stars pop out, one by one. Slowly the canvas turns black, shimmering. Streaked now with the Milky Way, our galaxy, our universe. Somewhere far, far away.

“The message of the ghotul—that youth must be

“The message of the ghotul—that youth must be served, that freedom and happiness are more to be treasured than any material gain, that friendliness and sympathy, hospitality and unity are of the first importance, and above all that human love—and its physical expression—is beautiful, clean and precious, is typically Indian.”

So wrote anthropologist Verrier Elwin of the controversial ghotul of the Muria and Gond tribes in Central India.

The ghotul is a sort of commune that functions after nightfall, whose members are young (unmarried) teenagers. Legend has it that the first of its kind was built by their celebrated ancestor Lingo.

Within its physical confines, the members are taught both, the social responsibilities of the tribe: music, dance, respecting elders, tribal traditions, bonding over natural brews, cooking. And the individual, consensual exploration of one’s sexuality, with one or multiple partners, with or without emotional attachment. Most importantly, without judgement.

On the other hand, in the regressive contemporary society of India, even public displays of affection – let alone pre-marital sex – are considered taboo.
Many families will disown their daughters for choosing to be in a consensual relationship. But wouldn’t hesitate to forcibly marry them off to a complete stranger, whose demands she must pander to even on their first night together.

Perhaps it’s time to look past our dogmatic religions, whatever they may be, and learn from the so called ‘backward’ people, the original dwellers of this land.
I’m sure we can learn a thing or three about social interaction, sexual freedom, gender equality and the right to choose who to love.”

Spending time with the tribes of Chhattisgarh earlier this year, I gathered so many forward-thinking ideas on sexual freedom, relationships, food and sustainability.

Read about them in my latest blog post: “Ideas of Love and Life from the Tribes of Chhattisgarh.” Link in my bio or go to the-shooting-star.com ✍🏼

Then tell me, have you gathered any interesting ideas of love and life on your travels?

I can hardly believe that just at the beginning of

I can hardly believe that just at the beginning of this year (yes 2020), we were having the most surreal time of our lives in Kruger National Park in South Africa!

I could never in my life imagine witnessing a wild pride of lions (including 7 cubs) feasting on a pregnant buffalo kill. Or a pack of hyenas on the prowl. Or zebras and giraffes in such abundance. Or a black backed jackal at dusk. Or a pride of breeding African elephants bathing in the river. Or lone rhinos in the vast African bush.

By the end of that week in Kruger (and 3 months in South Africa), we were running seriously low on funds and at the end of our visa. So we left Kruger with a promise to be back later this year, to spend much longer in its vast wilderness...

One would imagine that now, without tourism, the animals would be more at peace. But unfortunately, ever since the global lockdown began, reports have been coming out of national parks across Africa and India on how the lack of tourism has led to increased poaching and encroachment.

It’s a strange and surreal world we live in. For better and for worse.

Which of your recent travels do you feel absolutely surreal about?

📷: #shotoniphone

If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s b

If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s brown, flush it down! 🚽

I read those lines again and again in Cape Town. In toilets across Airbnbs, hotels, restaurants and public spaces. It was amusing at first, but conversations with people across South Africa drove home the seriousness of the water crisis.

You may have read about Cape Town heading towards “Day Zero” in 2018. Day Zero as in reaching ZERO WATER in the entire Western Cape region - as a result of 3 long years of drought.

I heard from locals about how water usage per house was curtailed. Water pressure in the taps reduced. Bathing water was to be collected and reused in the flush. No water allowed for gardening, swimming pools etc. Many hoarded crates of bottled water. It was all very real, very scary.

Luckily rains relieved the long draught, but the water tables in the city are still low. Some public toilets offer sanitizer instead of taps, others have installed spray nozzles to reduce water. The reminder to use less water is everywhere.

And guess what? The water crisis isn’t a Cape Town problem alone. A Niti Aayog report predicted that 21 Indian cities could run out of groundwater this year and 40% of India’s population may have no drinking water access by 2030. If you live in Delhi, Bangalore or Chennai, you’ve seen the water crisis firsthand.

Globally, climate change is affecting rain and snow patterns. Glaciers that feed many rivers are receding. Floods and droughts are becoming more frequent. As with everything else, the poor will be the most affected but no one will be spared.

The water crisis has already been linked to political upheaval and terrorism. Will the third world war be about water?

It’s a scary idea, but so very real.

Do you ever think about what will happen when we run out of water?💧

Do perfect places exist?

I spent 17 years

Do perfect places exist?

I spent 17 years growing up in Dehradun, 6 years studying and working in Singapore and 2 years trying to make it as a writer / freelancer / blogger in Delhi.

When I hit the road in 2013, with no home to go back to, I was pretty sure some perfect place along the way would whisk me off the road one day.

But the lure of constantly moving, forever waking up to new horizons and fleeting yet magical connections everywhere I went, made no place feel perfect enough to commit to. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that the world could be what it is now. Closed borders, socially distanced, nowhere to go.

Now that being grounded in one place is the only choice, I’m looking at “perfection” with a whole new lens. I could complain about the slow WiFi, the frequent power cuts, the monsoon muck, the slow e-commerce deliveries, the lack of international food etc. But truth is, I’m discovering a little more magic everyday.

Lush greenery, magical sunsets (that orange and pink sky happened on the same evening 😍), rainbows, birds, an unexpected visit from a family of mongoose, fireflies glowing at night, and on a clear night, a sky full of stars! Now I’m thinking, perhaps perfection is just a matter of perception?

What about you, does a perfect place exist for you?

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