Welcome to Ritu's Travel Blog <3

Greetings/Hi/Satsriakal/Hola/Ciao,

Welcome to my travel blog! My name is Ritu, I'm from the bay area, California; I'm a solo traveling woman and traveling is one of my life's passions. It is something I've always done and will continue to do for many of my days on Earth whenever I can. In recent years I've realized I have many different purposes in life, and besides turning my pain into power and purpose, I also want to share my knowledge and gifts with the world when it comes to traveling, health, art and music. This initial post is about why I'm starting this blog, my story, some wisdom and a few travel tips to get you thinking. I appreciate you being here and hope you read till the end. If you resonate with my story, please subscribe to my blog to get the latest updates on whenever I post about a new trip!

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(Ritu in an Italian castle; June 10, 2023)

So for starters, people, especially women, ask me all of the time if I ever get scared when traveling alone or how I have the courage to solo travel as a young woman. The short answer is, I've always been independent, I'm the eldest daughter in a Punjabi household (LOL), I've always loved my solitude, I am my mother's daughter and I'm pretty fearless when it comes to most things (besides spiders LOL). But in 2020 life changed drastically, not just for me but for the entire world. The world shutdown and later that year in the fall, I lost my lovely mother to terminal breast cancer. I went through a dark period where my entire reality shifted. I grew up with 3 siblings and we were raised by a single mother, I really don't know how any of us got through her transition but we did. Ma left me with many teachings, treasures and gifts in life, but the greatest gift she gave me is 3 siblings, 3 best friends. What I realized after losing my dear Ma is that life doesn't slow down for you just because it feels unbearable to go on, it isolates you from the illusions of the world to question everything you've ever known, only to come back with a completely different perspective of life. Profound grief teaches you that you can get through anything life throws at you. I missed my mother so very deeply, I experienced broken heart syndrome for months after her passing. I thought perhaps something was wrong with me and that I'd never get through her loss. But if there's anything I've gained from her loss, it's a deeper appreciation for life, value of my time, making sure I live to my full potential and love to my full potential. The saying goes that you either change due to pain or pleasure and many of us (85% of us) transform through pain. Pain is a catalyst for growth and that's why you may notice that some of the most inspiring stories present someone who experienced an incredible amount of pain, what they did to heal and give back to themselves and to the world. This isn't to romanticize suffering nor does it mean that you must always go through a great ordeal to experience a shift in your life, you can choose to change at any time. My mother's passing further helped me start working on healing my childhood wounds, intergenerational trauma, unlearning stories that didn't serve me, reprogramming my mind to have better thoughts and habits for a fuller and healthier life. All of this also gave me the strength to pursue my dreams, regardless of how big or small, because Ma didn't get to live any of her dreams. I owe it to myself and to my Mom to live the best life I can ever dream of. I also owe it to the world. When you don't live your purpose, you're doing a disservice to yourself AND to the world. But when you go towards the things you're called to and meant to do, you shine your light and inspire others to do the same. I live my purpose in small ways each day. Whether it's going on a walk, listening to a podcast, going to school for my hobbies, studying, traveling, creating art, resting, sunbathing, playing piano, sitting in a cafe and writing this blog right now.... I live for growth and to have fun as a human being while I'm on Earth. With that being said, you are never too old to start something. It is NEVER too late to start anything. I don't care what anyone says, time and age are human concepts, like who decided that one orbit around the sun is equal to one year of our lives? Sure we're going to age either way, if anything, we as humans are time, since we age. The only time it's too late to start anything is after you've taken your last breath, but before that, that is your currency, so you decide what you want to do with it. All of us have different amounts of time currency, none of us know how rich we are when it comes to time, so you might as well do what you want with the time that you have, yeh?

The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is NOW. On a lighter note, I am fond of snapping photos and videos of my travels and have thought of starting a travel blog before but never got around to it. However, after receiving various questions and feedback from people asking me about my trips, I decided to move forward with this lovely blog for my fellow world wanderers. I will be sharing places/cities/countries I've visited and providing itineraries for activities/restaurants as well as travel tips, tricks and tools you can use the next time you book a trip! Some people are travelers, others are vacationers, but I'm an adventurer. I will teach you how to travel like a heartist<3 For starters, some common tips before traveling should include brainstorming the following: ~ purpose of travel? ~ where? ~ how long? ~ with who/solo? ~ budget: hotel/stay, meals, personal expenses ~ activities you'd like to do/experiences you'd like to have? ~ curating a list of vibes and intentions for the trip to further create the feeling of bringing it into existence ~ WRITING IT OUT & VISUALIZING (THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP FOR MANIFESTING SO THAT YOU KEEP YOUR WORD TO YOURSELF) ~ setting dates & booking one thing at a time will help you plan & prepare your trip better + budget your bills while you're away Many people have asked me how I can afford to travel so much, and they assume I must be doing something shady (LOL) to be able to have gone to many places, but the reason why I've been to the places I've been to is because of my mindset. Once I want something, my focus is on achieving it and I do it in steps. If I want to go to Italy for a month (which I did earlier this year), I'm going to set an intention and brainstorm through the list I've shared above. It starts with your mentality and what you believe you can do. If you believe there are limits then there are, but if you believe there aren't then you'll be surprised at what you can create. You dream and create scenarios in your head all day, might as well create fun scenarios that will eventually come true ya know? I start off by setting my intentions and visualizing what I want to experience for my travel(s), and the Creator helps me co-create beautiful experiences in return. That's the thing about this magical universe, if you have a wish in your heart and take steps towards it, the higher power LOVES meeting you halfway and more. I will show examples of this in my coming posts. So put out the intention, think of where you want to go, what you want to experience, feel, learn, and watch how the universe presents you with the opportunity to go somewhere. Do all of this till my next post and allow it to marinate. If you have mental blocks and limiting beliefs you'd like to let go of, I provide life coaching services and work with you to help you release patterns that don't serve you, life purpose + spiritual coaching and more; you can get in touch with me at tjsyouniverse@gmail.com for questions and business inquiries. Till next time [: don't forget to subscribe below to stay updated with my latest travel tips. My next travel post will be about Italy! We can be in wanderlust together. Thank you for visiting. Love & light.

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Ciao! Ritu<3