Her first solo trip was three days in Pondicherry with a bicycle, a notebook and a very good guesthouse.
01
Nervous at first
I had never travelled alone. Jai Travels asked me a few plain questions: did I want company at meals, did I want a guide, how did I feel about riding a cycle at six in the morning. They planned around my answers, not their template.
02
Mornings on the rocks
The best hours were at dawn on the seafront, before the crowds. I sat on the rocks with a flask of coffee and wrote three pages in my notebook. I had not written anything by hand in years.
03
The last evening
On my last night the guesthouse owner cooked dinner for the few of us staying. We ate under a tree and talked until late. I went home lighter than I have felt in ages, and planning the next solo trip.
