In 2011, Shivya took a two-month sabbatical from her job at Singapore Tourism Board, went on a flash-packing trip around Europe with a friend, and volunteered in Indian Himalayas. At 25, she sold most of her possessions and decided to live a nomadic life. She's been traveling the world without a home for four years now and shares her stories on The Shooting Star. Growing up in a protective Indian family in Dehradun, a small town in India at the base of Himalayas, her parents never liked the idea of their daughter traveling alone.
Quote: "I only gave my parents a tempered version of what my life was like, until I had actually figured it out. I also never asked them for money (as often happens in India), proving that I was financially independent and responsible for my own decisions. During my first two-month trip, I saw, experienced, and lived more than I ever had before, and decided to quit my corporate job with the dream of traveling the world on my own terms. Being on the road, sometimes people respond with fear and negativity, but sometimes they feel inspired and tell me how they would encourage their own daughters to travel alone too. A lot of people think I'm crazy when they hear I'm traveling alone, they tell me how unsafe and scary it is, then go out of their way to ensure I'm safe. It's this kindness of strangers that keeps me going."
