“I was 16 years old when I went on my first solo trip. I fell in love with the process. Meeting people from different walks of life, facing life all alone teaches a lot of things and I continued my journey ever since. It was scary at first because it was my first time staying in a different state staying in a budget. However, staying in hostels is probably the best thing a solo traveler can do to meet people.

I have built so many favorite memories of traveling solo! All of my time spent since the last five years traveling solo on a budget was very memorable. But my favorite experience was in Kerala exploring the backwaters and celebrating my 20th birthday with five strangers that became friends. I was living my Eat, Pray, Love.

In fact, I made so many friends from all the states across India. It is so easy to make friends. All you have to do is start with a simple Hello. I never felt lonely while I was traveling solo because it is impossible to be alone. You have so many people approaching you to find out more about you. My long-term goal is to explore at least 20 countries in life.”

• Sandeep Kumar, Solo Traveller