My Favourite Travel Articles That I Read In 2016

I have read a lot of blogs (mostly travel or related to blogging) this year. To tell you the truth, some were just plain boring or stupid. But there were some that left a mark and I wanted to recount some of them. I will stick to only one blog post per blogger in the spirit of getting you the most diverse set of blog posts. I am including the ones I read this year; even though some of them are from previous years. So there you go, in no particular order, some of my favourite travel articles that I read in 2016:

Chasing Monsoons

Scariest Moments on the Road

In this post, Shivya from The Shooting Star, narrates some of those moments on the road that left her scared. As an Indian travel blogger, Shivya Nath is someone that all of us look up to. In this post, she reminds all of us that she is just like us. When you are traveling, there will be good days and bad days. But you have to still move on and focus on the good days while the bad days are what makes us stronger.

 Dealing with Anxiety On the Road

I am not sure if it is coincidence or not. The very same week this blog was written, my life changed. I was similar to Nomadic Matt, working in a high strung work environment and one day I decided that it was not worth it. It was taking a toll on my health and I was not happy anymore. I got my call letter from IIM-B during the 1st week of February, I quit my job and decided to go help my dad with his entrepreneurship. I travelled a lot more this year and I am finally in a place where I don’t have Monday blues anymore. Even a superstar like Nomadic Matt showed us that sometimes it is worth taking a break and reevaluating your life.

20 Day Itinerary Across Europe

When I was planning my 5 week trip to Europe, I took a lot of inspiration from Kierstan’s blog (Blonde Abroad) about her 20 day itinerary across Europe.

Jailed Abroad

Coming back from a gruelling journey and then writing one of the scariest stories I read this year, Shubham’s story is like an action packed Bollywood movie. It has all the elements of suspense, drama and hence is one of the most riveting things I read this year.

Racism on the road

As an Indian traveller, I know that I do not write much about discrimination and racism. Sometimes it is better to avoid a controversial topic. But as much as it pains me to write this, I have encountered episodes of racism on the road. Also, I come from a very racist country (sorry to break the bubble, fellow Indians). We discriminate against people based on race, gender, religion, location, caste and everything under the sun. Being around such people, sometimes make me a racist subconsciously as well. What other explanation can you give for me to hold my bag closer to me when I see a person from a particular race on the train? But does that make me a racist? Yes, it does. And that is one way, travelling has helped me in seeing racism from both sides of a coin.
There were three excellent articles on racism by travel bloggers that I read this year. All three were written in response to a particular racist Instagram post by another famous travel blogger (whose name I will not take). In one, Oneika writes about how all forms of racism including casual racism should not be tolerated. In another article,  ExpatEdna writes about how she has been discriminated as an Asian while traveling. In the last one, AdventurousKate writes about how she encountered a repugnant racist on one of her sponsored trips and she asks her white readers to unite against such racists.

Some Eyecandy please!!!

Even though Gloria of Blog Abroad writes about solo travel as a black traveller, I am going to pick this one where she wrote about the 10 countries with the hottest men. This one was a fun read and all of us sometimes need a break from the usual cliche articles (or in other words, eye candy. Drool).

Stranded in Turkey during a coup

When Sonal of Drifter Planet, posted on Facebook of how she was stranded in Turkey during the attempted coup, all of us were worried. All of us breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached Germany. We all love a happy ending, don’t we?

 Do Not Fall In The Trap of Fear Mongering And Not Travel

I booked my flight tickets to Europe 2 days before the Brussels attack. When the attacks happened, few ex-colleagues and friends asked me to cancel my tickets. I am glad that I did not listen to them. In spite of a few minor hiccups, I still ended up having the time of my life. In this blog post, Jodi from Legal Nomads, asks us not to fall into the trap of fear mongering and stop traveling. Surprisingly my family did not say anything about cancelling my trip. (probably because they knew there was no point or because all of them are avid travellers).

Brussels, Belgium

Different Types of Travellers

During a recent blogger trip, I had the opportunity to meet Ami from Thrilling Travel. As mentioned in her bio, I found out that she is a restless bundle of energy and she is never idle. However, I started following Ami ever since she wrote this post about 12 different types of travellers and I have been following her ever since.

Driving Miss Norma

I am pretty sure most of you have already read the inspirational story of Norma, a 90-year-old Grandma who decided to ditch chemotherapy after her cancer diagnosis and decided to hit the road in an RV with her son and family. Even though Miss Norma died a few months ago, this was definitely a great inspirational story.

Perils of Group Travel

I have done both group travel and solo travel this year. I went to Pondicherry with my friends and went with around 20 strangers (I knew only the groom, the bride, my brother in law and my sister) to a bachelor/bachelorette party in Goa.  I was in Calicut last weekend to attend their wedding. Congratulations Nitesh and Anju.
There were moments during the first trip when I felt just like Sidin and wanted to just leave all my friends and go solo. Group travel has its advantages but I would prefer going with only a close set of friends. I am planning a group trip to Andamans with the same people I went to Pondicherry with and hopefully I won’t kill them this time around. Just kidding guys.

Gunther, Christine and Otto

This article was shared by a close friend and it is definitely one of the best things that I read this year. It is a story about ‘How a man met a woman and they set off on an epic journey across six continents in one amazing unbreakable car‘. This is definitely filled with lots of travel inspiration. It is a long read but keep some tissues close to you when you read this.

Hitchhiking and Solo Travel as Indians

Shrinidhi writes about why as Indians, it is difficult for us to hitchhike and travel solo. I agree with what he writes and hopefully, this trend will change soon.

Iceland – My Next Destination?

I think the universe is trying to tell me to go to Iceland. Over the past year, I have read so many posts and I cannot not fall in love with the beauty of Iceland. In this photo story, Matthew Of Expert Vagabond gives us some hauntingly beautiful pictures of Iceland.

How to Debunk fake stories

We read too many inspirational posts every day. When I read a similar one on the ‘Humans of Amsterdam’ page, I was not convinced. There were too many loopholes. That is why I loved this post by Mridula from Travel Tales, where she tells us why the Indian passport story in that post was pure junk. We need more honest writers like her.

Luxury Hostels

I never used to stay in hostels before this year. But then when I was researching for my trip to Europe, I read about luxury hostels here. Kash from Budget Traveller frequently writes about luxury hostels. I stayed in many of them, including Miss Sophie’s in Prague which is mentioned in the post and loved most of my hostel experiences in Europe.

Photography series

If there were two photography series that I loved this year, then it would have to be Faces of India by Indrani and Smiles of India by Sid, The Wanderer. It is funny how I never knew till few months ago that Indrani used to stay in the same building as me. Both are excellent photography series. Another person whose photography I love is that of Joshi Daniel. I would love to have him as my photography teacher one of these days.

25 Secret Towns in Europe

Brooke from World Of Wanderlust is another blogger that I have been following ever since I started blogging. Her post about the 25 secret towns in Europe inspired me to go a few of them this year.

Colmar, France

When will I go to South America?

If there is one continent that I badly want to go, it is South America. But I am pretty sure that I will have many obstacles if I told my family and friends that I wanted to go there. That is why this post by SandeepaChetan will have to suffice for the time being till I get to South America.

Traveling Solo 

I loved this post by Kristen of BeMyTravelMuse where she writes on why going solo to Mozambique was one of the best decisions she made. She writes about how a fellow traveller talks about the good in people he met while travelling. For someone who relied a lot on the kindness of strangers this year, this definitely touched a chord in me.

Chasing Monsoons in Pictures

Another photo story I loved this year was a collaboration post by Prasad of DesiTraveler where Indian travel bloggers chased monsoons in pictures.

We Carry Kevan

I saw this video today morning on how a group of friends are helping their friend backpack around Europe by carrying him in their backpack. Kudos to their friendship.

Don’t quit your job to travel

There are many articles out there that tell us to quit our jobs to travel. I know that there are many people who are actively pursuing that lifestyle but I am not one of them. Maybe in the future. That is why this post by Revati of Different Doors resonates with me.

What Happens in Maldives Stays in Maldives?

Janet of Journalist on the Run is funny and it is difficult to choose only one post by her. But this brutally honest post by her about how she shit herself in the most romantic country, Maldives is still one of my most favourite posts. I peed on myself when I was a kid in Paris and that is still one of the most humiliating things that ever happened to me.

Blogtoberfest

If you are a travel blogger, then chances are that you have already heard of Christina from HappyToWander. Her Blogtoberfest articles are a lifesaver for all bloggers. If you have not read them, then go read them if you are a blogger.

So these were my favourite travel articles that I read in 2016. But if you ask me, which were my favourite ones that I wrote, then it would have to be these two. One where I wrote about my year in 2015 and then another one where I wrote about my experience of being robbed and penniless in Europe.

Liked it, then pin it.

My Favourite Travel Articles That I Read In 2016

My Favourite Travel Articles That I Read In 2016