I started this website in 2011 with a goal to help you with everything you need to travel right, right after the world was picking up the pieces from the global financial crisis. Since then, we’ve seen many travel hazards, including volcanic ash, health outbreaks and airspace blockades which have challenged travel, but none in the way that CoVid-19 has.

All through the CoVid-19 pandemic, we have kept you informed on all the latest news that pertains to the CoVid-19 pandemic to make sure that you have all that you need to travel. This included everything we could lay our hands-on with respect of visa issues to repatriation flights for stranded Indians and the restart of domestic travel over the past few months. But the reason you come back to us is not just the reporting we do, but the real-life experiences we put out there which helps you, our readers, to travel better.

I know there is a stream of concerning and alarming headlines out there, but travel hasn’t ended as we know it. I’ve felt this way every day that I sat at my home for the past five months. But as I sit on the couch at the Hilton Shillim typing this out, I’m even more confident than ever before that more the things will change, the more they will remain the same.

My trip was a fairly last-minute decision, which came about once we realised that the resort was open and we were able to get the necessary travel approvals in place. We did a deep-dive in our heads on all the safety protocols that were put in place, and the fact that common concerns with respect to hotel stays were going to be satisfactorily addressed.

And once we were here, we were reminded about why we love to travel so much in the first place. It is not just about the excitement of going to a new place, it is about interacting with people, in ways which it is not going to be possible in the near future with conferencing tools.

As much as it is about mask discipline at the moment, it is about being together with your loved ones and taking in the sights and sounds of nature so that you can rejuvenate yourselves.

As much as it is about sanitizing everything before a meal, it is also about service with a smile, whether you order a coffee or a whole Sunday brunch at your table.

The travel industry will bounce back from this, just like it has done many a time before. For the one thing that I am even more sure of is, going places brings people together, and this break we took from travel will mean we will cherish it, even more, when we can get back to it.

To borrow a line from the text that keeps rotating from my television screen every minute here at the hotel,

Our smiles may not be seen, but they shall be surely felt. 

And that is the only reassurance I need to be in my natural habitat, on the road.