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How to hitchhike your way to Goa on a Rs 100-a-day budget

Ishika Ray, Heena Vasnani and Sukanya Sharma are on a road trip for nine days on a shoe-string budget of Rs 100 per person, per day

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(L-R) Ishika Ray, Heena Vasnani and Sukanya Sharma
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Sukanya Sharma (23) is a freelance content writer, and also a scuba diver. Though she is originally from Agra, she has lived in Pune and Jaipur before moving to Mumbai. Heena Vasnani (29), who is from Udaipur, moved to Mumbai in 2010. The short filmmaker loves adventure sports. Ishika Ray (35), who is from Kolkata, studied at Mayo College and completed her graduation from Pune and is an architect. 

The one thing that binds these three women of different age groups is their love for the road. The trio decided to embark on a road trip to Goa. ‘Well, what’s great in that?’, you might ask. Dil Chahta Hai had inspired enough youngsters to do so in the last many years. But these girls decided to give their trip a spin by hitchhiking their way to Goa, that too, on a shoe-string budget of `100 per person, per day.

Go tripping

Ishika and Heena met through their husbands and are now best friends. “Probably better friends than our husbands are,” laughs Heena. “It was Ishika who got us into travelling,” she admits. For Ishika, her love for road trips began by a happy coincidence. “My first road trip was to Delhi. It so happened that we couldn’t get train tickets for that particular journey, so we decided to do it by road. And I absolutely fell in love with the road after that journey. That was about three years ago. Since then I have done about 14 road trips. I really enjoy road trips because you can do so many last- minute changes to your itinerary. You don’t have to follow a set of rules or a timeline,” says Ishika.  It was Heena who introduced Sukanya to Ishika. Says Sukanya, “Since I am a freelancer, I wouldn’t go to office too often, but whenever I did go, Heena and I would bond over our love for food and travel.” And it was Heena who is the brain behind this hitchhiking road trip.

Family tales

While one would think the girls would have had a hard time convincing their families, they were in for a pleasant surprise. Sukanya says, “I had to explain the exact concept of hitchhiking and a road trip to my mom. Safety was her main concern. She kept asking us to take more people along, but eventually she came around. When it came to talking to my father, I thought he would be reluctant, but he was very encouraging. He said, ‘Take lots of picture, talk to people you meet, try the food at all the places.’ But the most excited member in my family was my nana. When he got to know that we would be living in a tent he was extremely happy. He used to work in the railways, so he even offered to map a way for us. He would keep calling me and giving me pointers.” As for Heena her friends and family almost dismissed the idea. “Like Sukanya’s family, my family too was concerned about our safety. Initially, they had dismissed the idea and thought that this is never going to materialise. But when they saw our conviction, they came around. I was worried about my in-laws’ reaction. But for my mother-in-law the idea was exciting. She was like... itne saste main you are doing it. I think for their generation budget travelling was the way to do things. They would travel very local, they knew how to get around. It’s more our generation who is used to travelling in certain comfort that finds such ideas a bit strange. But yes, safety was the biggest issue. We had to convince them that we have planned everything really well. But they have made peace with it. In fact, they are being supportive.” Ishika too was happy to have her husband on her side. “I didn’t really have to convince my husband. He was very supportive. He just suggested a few things like pepper spray leke jao. My parents though were concerned about it.”

Why a road trip?

Heena says, “We love road trips and camping. I like the idea of different kinds of travel experiences. I like the fact that you have more freedom and get to meet different people, have interesting conversations... Initially, it began with a ‘Let’s walk to Goa idea’, but then we kept talking and developing the idea. I asked Sukanya whether she wants to hitchhike. She said that she has never been to Goa. I told her that there’s nothing great about going to Goa unless we do something different with it. So, this is our way of making it really memorable.” Ishika adds, “We wanted to do a low-budget trip. We are usually a group of 30 travelling together so money is always a cost.” Heena chimes, “Ishika is the mastermind behind cutting down budget.” The trio did think of other places like Kochi and Hampi before settling down for Goa.

No baggage

The trio was excited about not being attached to a vehicle and that’s why they decided to not make it a usual road trip. Sukanya says, “With a road trip, a backpack is your only responsibility, so it’s possible to be that much more flexible. We have no major belongings. Had we decided to take a car, we would have been bound to it. Now we can do whatever we want to.” The trio plan to carry just two pairs of clothing, a water pack that holds about three litres of liquid, a body wash that will also suffice as shampoo and conditioner and a few basic toiletries. They will also carry a tent, which weighs around three kgs and powerbanks to ensure that they can keep their phones charged to keep in touch with their families and friends. They also have their roles cut out. While Ishika will look after the budget, Sukanya will be the negotiator, who will get do the talking. Heena will document the entire journey.

Planning and plotting

Not only is this trip a hitchhiking adventure, but it is a massive undertaking because the girls have planned to do it on a shoestring budget. The ladies have decided to spend `300 every day, that’s `100 per person. Ishika says, “If we had not decided on a budget, this would have been like any other trip. We would have travelled the way we always do. Staying at any resort that we wanted to, eating at places that we wanted, etc...it would all be the same. Hence the budget came into play. I got a book that was about recipes within `40. I made few of them. Then there was basic travel to consider.”

They admit that the budget changed the dynamics of the trip. Heena says, “We got so many messages from friends saying we should increase the budget and at least make it `500 or `1000 per day. People said carry theplas or something like that. But we were adamant that `100 will include, food, travel and accommodation.”

Sukanya reveals why they decided on this sum. “We Googled to see what is the minimum wages that a person can survive on. And we found out that its `37 for rural and `42 for urban areas. So we are keeping `100 per person. That should suffice. We’ll be asking people for a place to stay or tents to put in their backyard. And we will be depending on people’s kindness. We have been told that people along the coast are very generous with sharing their rice and curries. We’ll be testing that.”

Route watch

The plan involves travelling around the Konkan coast. Says Ishika, “We had to see where we could take breaks. Imagine if the first person we ask a lift for is headed to Goa. We’d reach Goa the very same day. That isn’t our intention. We chose certain places that are very scenic. Our first stop is Alibaug, then Murud Janjira, Harihareshwar, Dapoli, Guhagar, Ratnagiri, Malwan, Vengurla and then Goa. We wanted to assign a certain number of days because we also had to decide how much leave we could take.” And once they reach Goa? “We relax for two days,” sighs Heena. The return journey they say will be the usual train of bus route.

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