‘Follow the Rhythm of Your Heart’: 70-YO Woman Travels Solo to 80 Countries
Seventy year old Neeru Saluja is a retired professor from Jaipur who has travelled solo to 80 countries, including some of the world's most iconic spots like the Galapagos Islands and Lake Baikal.
“I believe everyone should follow the rhythm of their own heart and not the beat of others,” 70-year-old Neeru Saluja tells me. For the last 14 years, she has been the embodiment of this advice. When her husband and former travel buddy passed away in 2010, Neeru decided to continue their legacy of love for adventure.
A staunch believer in the fact that life happens outside one’s comfort zone, this professor, wife, mother and now globetrotter has recently marked a milestone of having 80 countries under her belt. “Eighty and counting,” she reminds me, as she settles down in the living room of her Jaipur home, to recall her adventures to The Better India.
The home seems like a map in itself, bedecked with souvenirs that Neeru has collected through her trips, right from the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific to the icy horizons of the Atlantic. A personal favourite, hands down, has to be the paintings she purchased from Cuban artists, she says. “They are simply beautiful!” These souvenirs are reminders of the adventures Neeru has had so far, and the empty spaces hold promise for what’s to come.
But the question that begs to be asked is how does she do it at 70!
“What’s your secret?”
Neeru laughs, suggesting there is no secret, but an interesting story that holds the reason behind her fascination for travel.
Recalling her very first day of school when she was riding her bicycle and met with an accident that broke her left leg, Neeru says, ironically “it all started at that moment”. Months of bedrest coupled with intense physiotherapy sessions, meant she was confined to a room while the other kids were at school. The absence of a TV or any form of entertainment compelled her to spend hours looking out the window in her bedroom, where the blue expanse was her only view.
“The clouds attracted me. Now, mind you, Jaipur is a dry state so there wouldn’t be too many of them. But whenever I’d spot one, I’d find myself wondering where it would be heading next. I thought it was very lucky to be able to explore the world while I was stuck in bed,” Neeru smiles.
Being able to explore the world was a stroke of luck one shouldn’t take for granted, thought little Neeru. And today, almost six decades later, she believes the same.
From one horizon to the next
An hour (the duration of the interview) hardly suffices to hear all of Neeru’s tales about her many escapades around the globe. With each new country, comes a new story, a new twist and a new learning. Naturally, she can’t pick a favourite. “Every trip is special,” she notes.
But, if she had to pick one that taught her the most, she says it would be her first solo adventure — a Christmas cruise through Europe in 2014. The view was glorious, of course, but Neeru cherished the trip for more reasons than just the one.
“I would say the trip made me realise how wonderful it was to travel solo. Some say it is daunting, but I disagree. I realised that if one’s flights, pickups, and travel itinerary are planned well, there is no need to worry. As for finding company, well, you’ll make friends along the way. So you’re never really completely alone.”
This trip also gave Neeru perspective. “I came to see the best part about travelling solo — the freedom to decide what you want to do.” She explains, “When it’s a group or family trip, you’re bound by timelines. You’re bound to do what everyone wants to do. But, in contrast to this, there are no demands on a solo trip. You have a dual vantage — you can do the activity you please, while also having the security of being in a group.”
The Christmas cruise taught Neeru one thing — she was capable.
And the rest of her trips, she says, were memorable for different reasons.
Sharing the “most iconic” one, a Sweden trip in the winter of 2017, Neeru says it started with boarding a train from Stockholm to Abisko, the latter famous for the Northern Lights. “Trains abroad are nowhere similar to the ones we have in India. You don’t have people walking up and down. It is very lonesome and everyone is in their compartments,” she says.
On boarding, each person is given a key to the washroom — which is like a plush hotel with a steam and sauna. “On seeing how fancy it was, I decided to spend an hour in the bathroom!” Neeru exclaims, adding that to her shock when she returned to her compartment, she figured she was locked out. “There wasn’t a soul on the train who I could ask for help. I was nervous.”
Eventually, however, Neeru managed to find a way out. “Solo travelling teaches you that no situation is a dead-end.”
The excitement wasn’t over, though. “On reaching Abisko, we stayed in a snow room. It was beautiful and pristine. But the catch was that there weren’t any bathrooms in the room. The nearest bathroom was in the next building.”
Freezing temperatures coupled with no bathroom, resulted in a night that Neeru will never forget. A story for another day, she tells me.
“Every trip has an adventure which teaches me something new,” she says. “Now I have a bucket of memories that I’ve collected.” As Neeru is poised to get set with exciting travel plans this year, she says you need to take the reigns of your life into your own hands.
‘Stop waiting for someone to accompany you’
Anyone who applauds Neeru’s wanderlust spirit must know that it isn’t something recent. “My husband and I always loved to travel,” she says recalling her early years of marriage. As a University professor in Jaipur married to a man with a transferable job, travel was a necessity. The couple were always making trips to be with each other when time permitted.
Their best friend was a Vespa scooter that breezed through Delhi and Jaipur, and later on Shimla and Chandigarh, depending on where Neeru’s husband was posted.
Losing him in 2010, brought travel to a halt for Neeru who had many responsibilities to see to — getting the home constructed, the children married, and her full-time job. But once she retired and her children were settled, Neeru says she waltzed right back to her love for travel.
“I couldn’t keep waiting forever for friends and family to join. I said: Let’s do solo.”
Her journeys have been dotted with memories that will be etched on the canvas of her mind for years to come. Recalling a Trans-Siberian train journey from Moscow to Beijing, Neeru shares how the train passed through five time zones! “Every region had its own breweries and was like a world in itself.” The train also made a stop at Lake Baikal, which is the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake.
Those who wanted to were encouraged to swim. Meanwhile, she says, the crew were getting barbeques ready and singing and everyone was joining it. “It felt like we had the whole land to ourselves.” While that trip was iconic for its scenery, one of the most thrilling experiences she has had is skydiving from 12,000 ft in Melbourne.
Another trip to Nagaland, she says, was memorable for the food. “We had snails that were brewed with herbs and served with rice beer. “It is custom for the local communities to keep refilling the glasses before they run dry, and so we ate and drank for hours before we couldn’t possibly eat any more.”
But travel isn’t only about adventure and tourism, Neeru emphasises. “It introduces one to how different cultures approach environment conservation. For instance, the communities on the Galapagos Island — the world’s foremost destination for wildlife viewing — are extremely mindful of how tourists approach the place. No one is allowed to touch any of the species there, nor throw anything. There is a lot of consciousness among the citizens. If you are doing anything incorrect, they are there to point it out to you.”
She adds that another place where this climate-foreword behaviour was seen was Antarctica. “Our entire clothing was scanned to ensure that there is no speck of dust or any seed or hair.”
That being said, Neeru says each place is unique. She encourages senior citizens to experience it all for themselves. If you found our stories insightful, informative, or even just enjoyable, we invite you to consider making a voluntary payment to support the work we do at The Better India. Your contribution helps us continue producing quality content that educates, inspires, and drives positive change. Choose one of the payment options below for your contribution- By paying for the stories you value, you directly contribute to sustaining our efforts focused on making a difference in the world. Together, let’s ensure that impactful stories continue to be told and shared, enriching lives and communities alike. Thank you for your support. Here are some frequently asked questions you might find helpful to know why you are contributing?
“I would ask everyone who isn’t doing what they wish to, because of age, ‘Why are you worried?’ We all know what our end is going to be. We all know we are going to die one day. So why not enjoy the life that you have?”
Edited by Pranita Bhat.
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