The pandemic has largely been a period in which people have been holed up in their homes for over a year now. There’s not a single soul who hasn’t wished to get out of the four walls and go on a vacay.
A couple from Kerala has actually made it possible despite the constraints and risk.
Harikrishnan J and Lakshmi Krishna, two travel enthusiasts and best friends who fortunately married each other are living the life they have always dreamt of. The Thrissur-based couple is on a journey across India in their own car where they dwell and cook and take bath in petrol pumps.
For over two years now, they had been posting their travel stories on their Youtube channel, Tinpin Stories. Initially launched to just document their honeymoon travels in Thailand, with time, the channel has become an ultimate hit after they set out on their car journey in October 2020.
The wandering souls shared their story with LifeBeyondNumbers recently.
“Our love for travel resulted in a backpacking honeymoon trip to Thailand in May 2019. We enjoyed the trip so much and started TinPin Stories, our YouTube Channel, as an excuse to travel,” said Harikrishnan to LifeBeyondNumbers.
Harikrishnan is into marketing and Lakshmi is a graphic designer. But their knack for travel was such that both of them went to the extent of quitting their full-time jobs based in Bengaluru in the same year they got married. Having garnered 1 Lakh subscribers on Youtube and thousands on Instagram and also selling merchandise and asking for contributions on their website, the couple has managed to generate slight revenue. Though Lakshmi left her job, she still continues to freelance. But nothing happened overnight!
“Only because our families are completely supportive, right from our decision to quit full-time jobs to traveling in a car during the pandemic, we are able to pursue our travel dreams. But the lockdown derailed our travel plans and became a key reason why we decided to travel, cook, eat, and sleep in our car. Also, it helped us cut our costs. Initially, we had thought of international road trips but the closure of boundaries made us stick to Indian states,” said Harikrishnan.
The car that they are using is actually a refurbished SUV – Hyundai Creta. As they decided to make a home in the vehicle, they added additional headrests for the backseats, fold the seats, and spread a mattress to convert the backseats into a bed. Likewise, a car inverter solves their power problems. To make things even more minimalistic, Harikrishnan and Lakshmi packed 10 pairs of clothes each, minimum cooking essentials, a bucket and a mug, and of course, a laptop to edit videos, for the journey.
View this post on Instagram
On the road, the two take turns to cook and drive with Google map serving as their primary guide. Language being not a big barrier, they also talk to the locals for further help. They have been mostly preparing their meals on the roadside, sometimes accepting invitations from villagers to dine with them. But that doesn’t mean they don’t eat out. Once in a while, they do eat at the dhabas.
They have been parking their car in petrol pumps every night where they also fall asleep. It is there where they use the washroom in the morning to freshen up.
Nevertheless, there were occasions when the two have also checked into hotels briefly.
“So far, only a few times. That’s also when we get to do most of the laundry,” said Harikrishnan with a laugh.
And guess what, their detailed planning and simple living has actually cut costs and made them spend less money. The budget has always been vital for them as they have been on these trips only on the basis of savings and minimum income from freelancing and social media.
It was on October 28, 2020, when the amazing couple set out on the journey from Thrissur, Kerala. So far they have traveled above 10,000 Km across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and are now touching the Himalayas and are situated in Rishikesh. Yet that’s now how they planned things as a 60 days journey has now crossed 100 days.
They did have a small hurdle due to COVID when in late January, they were forced to live at a relative’s place because of the curfew in Rajasthan. Rest has been all smooth and adventurous! With this, the two want to emphasize that India as a country is completely safe for travel.