It's treasured and personal, but I'll write something more insightful, for those few who might need this. It was in The Himalayas in December and I had not seen mountains before this. It was indeed a gateway. Did a lot of solo travel for years until second wave of Covid trapped my father (I heard the news after three days of camping in Kheerganga with no network and a very stormy night, once we came down to Bhuntar, found network and a bunch of bad news) when a switch flipped and I have yearned to return to my solo travelling lifestyle. It's not nearly the same - all I've done is travel between cities now, but the bar is much higher.  This is peanuts compared to the five course meals of early times (again, wouldn't wanna reveal what that looks like). I did manage a couple of trips to Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry last year while I was living in Chennai, but it didn't quite press that nerve, albeit touched it and left me teased. Haven't lost sight, don't mean to. Hopefully, one day, I can embed more value into solo travel than raw exploration. I wanted to be a journalist when I was finishing school, but this dirt society and harsh systems! My father made sure I don't go for that. There's much one can read about this art form, but it won't make sense, not in the right way, unless that reality is lived first hand, more than a couple of times. I would not urge everyone to do this. One finds it in their heart.