“For me, travel has always been a source of inspiration. Exploring new cultures, cuisine, history of a place and the way of life is very intriguing and while I’ve traveled a little bit in and around India, life seemed to always get in the way.

Then I met Dr. Vipin, an eye surgeon, his travel stories enthralled me. He told me how he would bring back souvenir magnets from the places he had visited and how he has a massive magnet wall in his house.

I had to see it to believe it. When I visited his place and saw the wall, I was taken aback by the magnitude of his collection. I shared his strong resolve to share this magnet wall and the travel stories associated with them with the world and the best way would be to pen a book.

The title Around the World in Magnets came naturally but the process of compiling and writing the book took three years. After all, it isn’t easy putting together over a decade of travel which has resulted in 370+ magnets from over 40 countries!

After several iterations we agreed upon a template for each magnet and wrote about it – Vipin delving deep into his travel memories to recollect the stories and I, researching and learning about each place. Once the writing was done, we still had a long way to go.

Each magnet was photographed in great detail as the book’s main focus was on these beautiful pieces of art. When it was time to compile the book, we paced ourselves as we wanted this to be the go-to travel book for our fellow travelers.

When the books first arrived and we opened the boxes, Vipin and I were in tears. We could finally share our love for the travel with something tangible.”

• Viduushii Duggal, Author