Get to know us
Our story and the beginning
Welcome to our blog and thanks for taking the time to get to know us. We are the Six Happy Feet Family – Mahesh, Abhilasha and our daughter Shanaya. We are from India, which we love everything about! However, travelling the world has been an important part of us starting from our first trip to England and Scotland in 2007.
As newly weds on a one-off trip with heavy non trolley bags and stars in our eyes, we wandered and discovered the sheer joys of the world beyond. Those two-weeks ended up setting us on a trip of lifetime, wanting to see more of the world. Since then, travel has been our escape that we have always looked forward to, mostly for the thrill of the trip to see or experience something new and at times just to retain our sanity in the face of intense demands of life.
We grew up in small towns in India and suffice to say that travel bug didn’t run in our genes. We are a working couple and dabble with demanding full-time corporate roles at the intersection of People, Planet and Profit. Since the last four years, both of us have been working in different cities in India and only see each other over the weekends. Shanaya is a regular school going kid who is particular about following her school calendar almost always. So, this makes planning a trip a bit of a process, starting with coordinating three sets of holiday calendars, flights from two different cities etc. However, this whole process of complicated planning is what gets us excited even before a trip commences. This is something we seem to have perfected.
Travel and us
We believe travel has helped us gain a very different perspective about the world, by exposing us to diverse cultures, people and ways of life. It has enriched our lives in many ways and made us empathetic and full of gratitude.
Our travel preferences have evolved over the years. We think we are more spontaneous and live-in-the-moment now in our travel than when we started. We’ve never been big spenders, but have moved from budget travel to value traveller now, given how we want to get an immersive feel of a destination covering food, heart of the location vibes, cultural orientation and unique experiences. We have slightly moved away from ticking every monument and structure on the list to now hunting the best views, sitting in the middle of squares to watch the world go by, chase the best pizza or gelatos and wander aimlessly into small alleys to see where it takes us. We now avoid crowds, chase sunsets and go for unusual and unique experiences.
As we bring up Shanaya, we wanted her to have a worldly orientation and travel exposure in her formative years and we are fortunate that she is turning out to be a travel-happy kid. We have taken her with us in biting cold arctic winter nights to chase Northern lights, road-tripping across Iceland, canoeing into the caves to see the remarkable bioluminescent planktons and many more experiences that she cherishes.
What to expect from Sixhappyfeet
Our blog is all about sharing our travel stories and experiences with an aim to inspire more families to venture out and see the world. We have travelled with Shanaya since she was two years, parents in their mid-60s and with many different groups of friends and we have always had a phenomenal time. Planning a trip on your own is so much fun and gives better flexibility on the budget. We believe planning a trip is not as daunting or time consuming as it made out to be. Researching elements of a trip doesn’t take as much time as many people think.
We have always planned, booked and executed all of our trips though the power of the internet which has made travelling easier and democratic. The world is a beautiful and adventurous place waiting to be explored. Through this blog, we want to nudge you to take charge in planning a trip and take off. Travel doesn’t need a reason, just an inspiration may be, and that’s what we are attempting to do.
Let us introduce ourselves
Abhilasha
Critic of Six Happy Feet family
Hi – Abhilasha here. I grew up in various cities of India and thoroughly enjoyed growing up in small towns across India. I now live in Mumbai with my extended family and have a full time corporate job in HR. Travelling is pure joy to me and chasing the next destination is truly my calling. There is a world out there that I haven’t seen and experienced and that’s what I dream about. I am the official researcher in the group and I love to make the itinerary of the day. I love to sit in town squares and coffee shops to get a feel of the place.I like to do trips within a budget and can be miserly about expenses.
Mahesh
Tour manager of the Six Happy Feet family
Hi – Mahesh here. I grew up in the salt lake city of Sambhar and have strong ties to the diverse and culturally rich Rajasthan – the place I was born in and spent formative years. After college I have spent a considerable number of years in Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore which gave me a good feel of ‘many Indias’. I am the official motivator of the group and am always influencing friends and family to join us on our trips. I want to see every exciting place, castle, monument, park, city, festival that exists in the world. I believe that ‘God is in the details’ and can be annoying about covering all bases in planning.
Shanaya
Intern of the Six Happy Feet family
Hi – I am Shanaya who loves to get up early in the morning, enjoy french fries, ice-creams and pasta. I love travelling and I am also the official book keeper of every trip. I can dabble in different currencies to remind my parents of our budget every day and still keep some money aside for my crunchy and cold bites of gelato. My absolute favourite trip has been Finland and Phuket. I have travelled to 14 countries and have ended up visiting a few twice (Paris actually thrice!) because of my parent’s obsession with those places and sometimes the ability to find a cheap connection from a specific city. I hope to backpack the world when I grow up.
Travel-O-Meter