Imagine this:
âYouâre meeting up with your old university gang in the evening. You know dinnerâs on the cards, but youâre not sure whatâs on the menu. Youâve got your own preferences, sure, but tonight youâre in a âgo-with-the-flowâ mood. Your friends pick a spot, you order something new, and boomâpleasant surprise! You discover a dish youâve never tried before, and the company makes it even better.â
If it hadnât been great? No biggie. A bad meal is just thatâa bad meal. You brush it off, maybe rinse it down with dessert, and move on. No lasting consequences.
Now letâs scale that up a notch.
âPicture yourself in a brand-new country. Youâre meeting loads of peopleâlike 10x more than your usual social circle. Chances are, youâll click with at least one person. Maybe itâs a deep connection, maybe even a âthis could be somethingâ moment. So, you go with the flow again and decide to explore it. Welcome to what they call Travel Romance.â
Itâs fun, itâs exciting⌠until itâs not.
More often than not, these stories donât come with a fairytale ending. Maybe youâre on different paths, or someone doesnât want to take it further. Whatever the reason, one person almost always ends up feeling a little more attached than the other. Cue heartbreak.
And letâs not ignore the real-life complications of ahem multiple connections. Itâs all fun and games until someone brings up the possibility of STDs.
No one wants to come back from their dream trip with more than memories, right?
At least, not me! And thatâs exactly why I steer clear of travel romances.
Some might think itâs because of my cultural upbringing. I mean, helloâKamasutra! For a while, I thought so too. I believed the reason I couldnât fully embrace the carefree, âgo-with-the-flowâ vibe of relationships while traveling was because Iâm Indian.
I even gave it a shotâtried to fit in, loosen up, and change the way I viewed relationships. Be more fluid, more in the moment.
But over the years, Iâve realized this is just who I am, and you know what? Thatâs totally okay.
Honestly, I believe this approach works better for me. Itâs got nothing to do with anyoneâs characterâitâs purely about my own mental and emotional peace. And for that, Iâll happily skip the whirlwind romances.
âGo with the flowâ isnât just about relationshipsâitâs a whole vibe, and one that I donât apply to most of the things in my life.
My career, for instance. Most people around meâmy parents includedâare convinced Iâve made some pretty irrational choices. From their perspective, Iâve jumped off the deep end more than once. Leaving stable, good-paying jobs early in my career just to chase this crazy dream of traveling and remote working? Yeah, I get why theyâd think that was a little out there.
But hereâs the thingâtheyâre wrong.
What looked like impulsive decisions were actually calculated risks.
No loans hanging over my head
no mouths to feed,
And a family thatâs self-sufficient.
Plus, Iâve got the skills to land a full-time job anytime I need.
So why is it so hard to believe I can thrive without a standard 9-to-5?
I didnât just âgo with the flow.â I planned, I calculated, and I acted.
And those risks? Theyâve brought me here:
22+ countries under my belt
40k+ followers on Instagram
25k YouTube subscribers
Sitting in Thailand, typing this newsletter, and building my marketing agency
Itâs not been all sunshine and cocktails, but itâs been real. And I have been pretty transparent about this journey.
So yeah! taking risks have worked out well for me.
If I were going with the flow, I would be working the standard 9-5 job like everyone else and honestly there is nothing wrong in it, if thats the life you desire.
For me, I have craved different. Always.
Thatâs there yâll
There are a lot of major stuff happening in my life currently and I choose this platform to talk about those events first. So if you have read my newsletter, do drop a comment so I know what resonates with you?
How do you feel about going with the flow?
Would love to hear your opinion.
Hi Kriti
Nice đ