There has been no looking back and I have continued to travel and adventure around the world ever since. In the pursuit, I have been to several countries and have lived and worked in a handful. I learned more from my travel experiences than anything else.
My earlier travels were through the Northern Areas of Pakistan, I was just in my teens then. I have the best memories of my life from those travels. Hats off to my parents who allowed me to travel solo or with my friends at that tender age for weeks at a time.
My father was my travel guru who helped me researching for my trips, draw maps by hand for my travels and always guided me where to stay and where not to stay during travels.
Of course, he is a well-travelled person.
Northern Areas of Pakistan are heaven on earth and for any mountain lovers those areas are a must to see. I travelled through all districts of Kashmir and the Gilgit Baltistan in mid to end 80s.
The travels were done by difference means including by foot, on jeeps, motor cycle, by buses, by trucks etc. I was able to reach far flung areas by any means possible as I was fearless, I was full of life & energy, I was curious and I wanted to learn more about life.
These travels were sometimes with some friends(s) and sometimes solo.
While hiking through the northern areas of Pakistan I only met the foreigners as Pakistanis were far and few between.
I travelled with them and really enjoyed the way they conducted themselves, they had maps and books about Pakistan that I had never seen in Pakistan. They were organized but raw in their approach towards travels and they were brave to venture out to the unknown locations in countries foreign to them. It was very fascinating for the young me.
That notion always captured my attention and I was amazed to see solo girls or boys from the US, Canada, France, Germany, UK and other countries traveling through our beautiful mountainous regions. I was able to join them on some of the adventures as a young boy who helped them in communicating with the locals. My Love for The Mountains started from here.
Years passed quickly and my traveling kept taking new turns and the most exciting one was my traveling on a motorbike while camping along the way. There was hardly anyone doing this in mid to late 80s.
There was not information available about the areas and one had to venture out to know and experience.
Every time I travelled, I learned something new. I learned about the people, I learned about life and I learned about myself and my own potential.
All these travels were done with minimum of gear as the appropriate gear was either not available in Pakistan or was too expensive for me to buy.
However, I was eager, I was passionate and I had the energy to compensate for my gear deficiency and I never let those obstacles stop me from doing some crazy and unforgettable adventures. 30 years passed but those memories are still etched deep into my mind, so deep as if I just travelled those areas yesterday.
The journey of my life just began and I used to dream of traveling through the world one day. I dreamt of backpacking through Western Europe, the Americas and much more. Soon enough the opportunities came and I grabbed them with both hands and my international travels started.
I was introduced to the world with a bang and I humbly accepted it as my fate and explored several countries of the world in the years to come. I got more and more windows to see the wider world and see how those places were.
Today I look back and I see that I was able to avail all those opportunities and feel proud to have all those adventures under my belt whether that was camping through Western Europe or North America, off road adventures through the deserts of Rub al Khali, climbing mountains in Nepal, visiting jungles in Chitwan or exploring the Far Eastern countries, overland travels through several countries or adventuring through the backcountry of Canada and the USA
Have I done everything that I wanted to do? Probably not even a little, I am just a tiny spec in this universe and I have done and seen a tiny spec of what is available out there.
I still want to dream and continue my adventures, I am more passionate than ever.
I recently started documenting my adventures on a YouTube channel, Facebook Page and Instagram.
Through social media I would be able to show this wonderful world to my audience.
I would definitely continue to reflect on my journeys and adventures in my upcoming blogs/vlogs and videos but am recalling all those memories which give me satisfaction of my humble achievements but one part of my brain tells me that my achievements are tiny and I need to do more. Therefore, the journey of my life and adventures of my being are just continuing and I am as unstoppable as I was when I was 16 years young.
I would not miss out on an opportunity of giving credit to my better-half who has joined me on many of my travels around the world and without her I would not have been able to do all these adventures.
She is not only my life partner but also a partner in all my journeys for the last many years. While I am writing these lines, we are planning our next adventure to the Arctic Ocean and we are so looking forward to that.
This is a short intro to my travel journey that is full of adventures, the journey will not end until I am kicking!
If you want to join my journey then here are links to my social media.