Sudha Mahalingam remembers something her mother told her, many years ago when she was a young girl growing up in Chennai. “Sudha, if you want to bathe in the sea, you can’t wait for the waves to subside.”

Later, on a trip to Mahabalipuram with her family, she saw gypsies, and all she wanted was to join them. “I couldn’t stop thinking about how a whole new world had opened itself to them through travel, and I wanted to experience the same,” she shares.

Today at 73, Mahalingam has travelled to more than 74 countries.

Armed with her backpack, travelling to remote locations with no booking, and living in youth hostels on a shoestring budget, the former journalist found freedom in the unknown.

“All your life, you are told what’s best for you, the things you can and cannot do, how certain places are safe and others are not. Travelling helps to put these preconceived notions and stereotypes to the test,” she says.

“It helps you not only discover yourself but also develop confidence and identify your strengths. It teaches you to draw upon your reserves and tackle crises too,” she adds.

One of her first solo trips was back in 1996, when she travelled to Kailash Mansarovar on a 32-day trek. She recalls how her youngest son, who was a five-year-old, slept each night with her saree wrapped around his form for a peaceful night’s sleep when she was away.

“It taught me a lot about myself, especially my hardiness. It helped me learn that I could do things alone,” she says, adding that it also made her fearless.

The backpacker believes in packing light by repeating a few pairs every day and ensuring to carry enough pairs of undergarments.

Proper shoes, her camera, its lens, and tripod are the absolute essentials. They help her document her travels after all.

Over her journeys in the last two decades, trekking hills, exploring the ocean, walking through crowded streets, and camping on crowded sofas in dorms and youth hostels, Sudha has made friends from across the world.

Some stay in touch, some move on. But each of them has a different story, each fascinating in its own way. While her children became used to her often being on trips, they have been her strongest support.

The fearless explorer also moved on to writing a memoir of the adventures and misadventures of these journeys in a book, ‘The Travel Gods Must Be Crazy’.

She ends with a message for women travellers, saying, “All limits are self-imposed. If you dream big, you will go places.”

You can read about her adventures here.

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