Hello! Ladies and Gentlemen, I happily welcome you all to GV’s Talk – a series of interview with inspiring people across the globe.
Gokul: Welcome to GV’s Talk, Sanjay & Riya! Merry Christmas to you both!
Let’s Kickstart the interview.
Can you guys tell me about your first trip that you went together since the Trip Couple was born? Anything special about that place?
S– Merry Christmas Gokul! We started off our first trip for Trip Couple by visiting the WTC.
R– Oh my god! It’s been almost two years since that trip. August 2nd week Trip Couple turns two years old.
G– Congratulations on that!
S– There is a reason why we chose World Trade Center initially because Riya arrived first in the United States in December on 29th 2015. She hasn’t been to New York before so I wanted to show her this brimming multicultural magnificent city and also this to be her first US destination to explore.
R– Moreover, my college was nearby and also Sanjay’s workplace was just opposite to WTC. For the video perspective, we found this place to be best because we already had prior knowledge about its history and also it was just a 30 mins ride on the train from home. We even knew what spots we should select for good visuals.
S– When we watched our first video on WTC we felt that we wanted to recreate in a better way. Initially, we just went around the WTC and shot the video but on the remake which we did a few months ago we had gone up to the 100th floor of WTC and have tried to get much better visuals.
Are you guys inherited with lots of money to frequently travel? What do you guys think? Is it necessary to be rich to go on a trip?
S– Haha! Absolutely not. I have a full-time job and Riya studies at the university and we live in New York. It is damn expensive to live in New York. Most of the places we travel around are in New York. Places like the NW upstate could be reached around in 3-4 hrs drive. So, it’s all in our vicinity.
R– We really don’t believe that being a traveller means you need to have frequent international trips. Exploring nearby destinations is more than enough to keep yourself educated with history and lets you know more about it. We encourage our followers to start exploring from their hometown and it could change the stigma of thinking that a traveller means a person who only does International trips. We had to turn down a lot of opportunities to do International due to financial constraints.
S– We are really not into splurge. We live a modest life so whatever extra penny we could save we use it for our trips and creating videos.
People say once you’re married or if you have kids or get occupied with work they never find time to travel. Is it just our state of mind that holds us back from travelling? What do you guys think about it? Of course, you guys are proving it wrong but still…
R– Yay! We have proven it wrong!
S– We believe that if you believe in your passion you will definitely find time to accomplish it. Saying that you don’t have time is just an excuse I believe.
R– We also split our responsibilities. Now that I am working too it is quite a task but we make sure that the job is equally split among us for instance, for a trip if Sanjay is busy with the editing stuff I take in charge of the planning the itinerary and we help each other. I believe I am lucky enough to find my soulmate who shares the common interest. Eeee.
We even make sure that we go to the movies and watch at least two movies in a month. So I believe its an excuse people make if they do not have time to travel.
S– Yes, if you are really passionate about travelling you would definitely find time for that.
R– Talking about travelling after having kids. We have examples from our trip couple community. We recently had a family coming all the way to the US from Dubai with three little kids all around the same age and they rented a car to see around the country!
S– Yes, we had Anand from Muscat who arrived in the US along with kids. There was another family who came along with kids too and travelled to Vermont and they even tried ski diving! So these all examples!
R– So yea! we don’t think these are travel barriers anymore.
Packing bags is a nightmare for many. I personally hate them though. I often do get confused about what to take along with me. How do you guys pack your travel bag?
S– I am really not interested in packing travel bags. What I always check on is whether there is a pair of dress and charge in my camera, rest all is done by Riya.
R– I don’t really hate packing maybe because I am used to it. We only have an extra pair of dress for shooting videos. Like if its a 5 days trip we carry 6 pairs. We have almost everything geared up in the trunk of our jeep. We make sure there is first aid ready for long trips and so on. We care the camera bag the most while flying. We really don’t want someone to dump heavy baggage onto the top of it. We are always on the lookout. Our clothes luggage would be somewhere else which we usually don’t worry about. Unpacking and cleaning it up after the trip is a mess but! lol!
Sanjay is it true that travel is all about unexpectedness? What would you have to say to people who do not travel in the fear of not working out as planned?
S– Many people do have fear for that.
R– Unexpectedness can happen everywhere not just while travelling. We must set our mind to be flexible. We had a lot many issues while travelling, last time we were on a tight budget and that was the time when we got charged 500 dollars for speeding ticket.
S– While visiting Grand Canyon we had to skip one part of it to reach our hotel on time and catch the flight the next day. We were quite sad for skipping that part of Grand Canyon but to our surprise, we were able to witness a great sunset on our way back which we showed on our Youtube channel. It was mesmerising!
R– On our trip to San Francisco our bag was stolen and we lost our passports and green card. We had to wrap up our travel to 5 days. So whenever you plan, plan for the unexpected and be a little flexible and have a backup if you cannot visit a particular place.
I have heard that people have misconceptions about a particular place until they visit them. Have you guys ever been astonished about a place that turned out to be just the opposite to your thoughts?
S– Yes, that has happened much time. Riya did some research and came up with a place called Catskill mountains. She said we can have a train ride through the woods. It’s fall time so we could see colours but I wasn’t much fond of the place like I was thinking why should we travel this far to have a train ride? So yea I was hesitant first but then when we actually got to the place it was so beautiful that the colour was so stunning in green, yellow, red and so on. The mountaintop view was absolutely breathtaking. Anybody could actually drive all the way up there.
R– To the contrary, we drove a lot to a place to witness some Christmas lights.
S– It was a place called Coastguard Christmas Village.
R– We drove pretty far and it did not really meet our expectation.
S– Yea we had both experiences, but usually it turns out well!
Imagine a fairy rings your doorbell and says that she can either offer 10000 Dollars or a trip to visit a place which you have dreamt about for ages. What would you guys choose?
S – We would choose 10,000 dollars. Haha! We could really have a European trip. Maybe an Iceland trip first. Then go around Finland, Norway and so on with the remaining money.
R– We could go three to four countries with our budget plans with money. If the fairy would have said that she would give 1000 dollars and then a trip. I would have chosen the trip for sure.
Tell us about your worst trip ever!
S– We haven’t had any worst trips yet. Its been only two years since we started travelling so we are still experiencing everything one by one. Our trip to Las Vegas has been one of the most memorable trips ever. We almost spend 2500 dollars for that but it was worth it.
R– Yes, the most memorable trip to cherish forever.
What you like the most and the least about Sanjay as a travel companion?
R– I think what I lack is what Sanjay has in him. So we balance each other. They have been examples. He is always cool and carefree and tries to make me happy when I get worried. I was so terribly worried when we lost our passports but he was still happy about it. Haha.
S– I tried to be cool unless it’s a dead situation. We had a trek which scared the hell out of us.
R– Maybe that’s the worst trip we had?
S– Yes! that’s it. This happened when we were so confident about doing hikes. We did 4 to 5 hikes in Pennsylvania and New York so we were pretty overconfident about doing hikes. We went to see crystal caves and then explored the caves and we started to hike around 5 in the evening. All of the sudden, it became dark and we never expected it to get so dark. The sun was setting on the other side of the hill. Soon after it became pitch dark and we had almost hiked for two hours up the hill.
R– We were so unprepared that Sanjay was just in his shorts, tees and boots whereas I was in casual wear and sports shoes.
S– I carried a lantern that was the only source of light and Riya was walking in front of me. Soon after, we heard a hissing sound and to our surprise, Riya found a rattlesnake right in front of her. She jumped backwards and fell onto me. We both were lying down with rattlesnake beside us. Riya is so scared of snakes that she almost fainted. Then we realised we have to get back to our car immediately when we found out warning signs to look out for bear attacks. We gathered our courage and kept running downhill until we reached an electric post. We stood there back to back to see if anything comes to attack us. We could hear spooky sounds and howl. I only had five per cent battery on my cell phone when I tried calling 911 for help.
R– We literally stood beneath the post for half an hour waiting for help. Believe me, it was like waiting for three hours. Thereafter, the firemen arrived and helped us reach our jeep. I was scared as hell and getting inside the jeep was heaven to me.
S– We drove for 2 hours back home and that night Riya couldn’t even sleep. We slept with lights on. Yes Gokul, this could be the answer for both the questions. Phew! A scary trip.
R– We always say don’t underestimate the nature be all prepared for the worst or at least have boots while on a hike! Haha!
Tips to have a perfect American trip?
S– I believe that the road trip is different for everyone. It depends on the time you visit. The east coast and west coast is totally different.
R– The thing you have to keep in mind is to do a bit of research on the internet. Everything is available there. You just have to spend some time on it. Make sure if your travelling on a tourist visa to the US then you have your medical insurance, medical care is so expensive here. Just a precaution. Talking about food, every kind of food is available here from Italian to Indian. Internet connectivity is great that you have access to it everywhere touristry. Another thing people should keep in mind is that do not carry heavy baggage. Most domestic flights have limitations and you have to pay extra. So carry less. People always keep in mind the terrorist interventions that have happened in the country so the security is vigilant and strict. Any unseen situations can lead the flight to be cancelled to that area. Get note of the emergency numbers and you are all going to go for the American adventure.
S- You see almost all landscapes in America that you will never go back disappointed.
Your dreams and expectations for Trip Couple in future?
S– Our greatest dream is just like all the travel lovers to travel all around the world. I always wanted to break my fear. I was always scared of heights so last time I went to a zip line which is the highest in North America. That’s the first step.
R– My fear for snake haven’t gone yet, Haha!
S– Haha! Also, create good quality contents on travel on Youtube and also spread positivity.
R– Pray for good health to travel more and spread good vibes.
Thank you so much for having your time both of you. Wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
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