HOW TO CONVINCE YOUR TRAVEL WARY INDIAN PARENTS TO FAVOUR YOUR TRAVEL PLANS?

For the past few years, I have been pushing my limits to move out of my comfort zone to enjoy the adventures of life and reinvent myself through travel. Many have voiced out their concerns and are still against it, but I am doing it as a pursuit of education. It may not matter now but I will have a lot to take away from these experiences in the end.  All these experiences in turn add up to nourishing my knowledge and wisdom.  And that wisdom would help me in developing the required confidence to tackle all kinds of issues, both on the personal and professional fronts. Many don’t realize it because they just want to play safe.  I had never set any goals for travel until college, but I was always playing safe under my parent’s watchful eyes.  But at one point, I realized that playing safe doesn’t really help in making decisions, decisions with a clarity in thought and those which are progressive in nature.

Thus, here are some of the well tested (by me) methods to convince your travel wary parents and establish the proper rapport to bring in that trust in them and making them believe in your convictions and beliefs.

Hailing from an orthodox family, I’ve fought many battles to convince my parents for travelling, solo and otherwise. Most often than not, it has lead to them giving up on me just so, I could do as I please. I have been a rebel from the beginning, so, I must admit that my methods have been ruthlessly aggressive. Based on experience I also know that, Indian parents are most likely to oppose a lifestyle of traveling because of various concerns like safety, money, career and IT BEING NOT APPROVED BY SOCIETY.

And here’s how you are going to have to make them understand your side of the story.

1.Nurture your beliefs:

Beliefs are your faith and your assets. Of course, they don’t occur overnight. But, they concur and culminate in the end as your guiding light to help you sail through the rough turfs of life. Let me explain – I started to set small goals for myself and made sure to stick to them till I attained every one of them. It gave me the strength and confidence to take on bigger challenges, heads on. I was relentless to pursue my desires and dreams. External motivators kept pushing me forward with their flings of abuses and discouragements like “You will not be able to make it”. So, all I have to say here is that it’s all about the desire and determination you have got in you to nurture your beliefs. Doesn’t matter if you fail, keep that fire burning, keep that desire alive until you realise your dream. Stick on to your beliefs, nurture them and protect them with all that you’ve got. It will pave the path for you to discover your inner strength and determination. Eventually, your parents too, will start to believe in you. Your words will start to matter more.

2.Your parents don’t need to know everything:

Being practical becomes the need of the hour once you choose to travel alone. So, concealing facts doesn’t necessarily account to lying. Your parents are bound to bring down the roof once they become privy to the details of your plan. So, take a smart move and make them understand the reason for you travelling alone. And draw a line between discussing things which might give them panic attacks.

At the same time, gear up to face all the hassles you might come across during the trip. The immediate response might be to reach out to your parents when there is a sudden panicky situation but make a mental note to tone it down.  Just think over the issue with a peaceful mind and you might be able to salvage yourself from a breakdown. It can be frustrating sometimes, but it will give you the mental strength to overcome challenges. It also helps in building a healthy atmosphere to help you set consistent travel goals and enforce that you see them through.

I always go with my instincts when I come across such instances. It has always proved to be more feasible than worrying my parents and in turn peaking my anxiety by their constant interrogation. Remember, the bolder you are, the more they are going to trust you with your choices

3.Be in touch with your closed ones:

It’s very important to keep your parents informed about your whereabouts when you are going to travel to remote locations.  I make it a point to call them or message them once a day. It becomes my responsibility to keep them aware and thus help in building their trust. Make sure to plan ahead and in case of connectivity issues like bad network, make sure to intimate them about the same as well. At the same time, have some backup among your friend’s circles, for just in case scenarios. In most of the cases, unknown strangers have helped me in overcoming a sticky situation, so I have been blessed in a way where I have immense trust on strangers to rescue me. Nothing can come close to replacing the kindness of a stranger in an unknown land.

My followers have been my biggest assets ever. Their encouragements and kind words of positivity have been pushing me to share my experiences through photography and writing. So, they have a fair understanding of how my life works, the reason I travel and the means through which I get by and how I trudge forward with the memories I cherish with all my heart. So, if you’re a story teller, share them through your medium of expression and your followers will be inspired to find their path of glory like you found yours.

4.Find your own source to finance your travels:

You will need investment for travelling but here’s some friendly advice: Don’t depend on your parents for the same. For one, this simple act might restrict you and take away the freedom of making your own decisions and steer you away from your goals. And it will again lead to demands from them about the places you visit, the people you travel with etc, and rightly so. So, restrain from yourself from making things hard for yourself. Doesn’t matter that they are rich or well off, follow the thumb rule: To never ask them for money. If you need your independence, find your own sponsors or fund them yourself. And that would mean cutting back on luxuries and prioritising your spending but that is the only way you would thrive to achieve more in your travel goals. It can be frustrating but eventually you will get the hang of it. I save up mostly on all my freelancing gigs like photoshoots, marketing and event management to fund my expeditions.

Self-funding was the source of most of my trips before quitting my corporate job . I was very consistent in producing content and photographs and that helped me in getting published in media. No matter how hard it was, I was ruthless in pushing myself to fund my travels on my own despite the lack of funds, few years back. Slowly but steadily, I got the opportunity to associate with various tour brands and my works got published in various magazines, newspaper and websites. Nevertheless, my parents worry about the way I handle my finances, how I manage to live within my means, and compromising on essential things that I don’t prioritize over traveling.

5.Work Seriously and Never tag traveling as “HOLIDAYING”

My goal is to travel to remote locations to document and write about the indigenous culture present there and their festivals. This is the foundation of every travel plan I have ever made. I have toured extensively to record the live events through my lens and share my experiences through my content. To get there, I learnt to up my reading by making it a point to follow good blogs, books and articles which in turn helped me to write more and I started to find my own voice by sharing my travel experiences through writing. Travel blogging helped me to articulate my thoughts and I became keener on reaching wider audiences to enable me to find sponsors for the trips and organize trips as a lead.

Remember, when you are working on your goals, you may have to sacrifice certain things to get the desired result. Of course, travel is fun at times, but one needs to get serious to achieve the desired result and get more productive. It is a fun ride and I enjoy them immensely despite the challenges I have faced.

Apart from traveling, I would also recommend that you volunteer in events to build a solid network. Propose your idea to brands and find interesting projects to work on. Visit your friends and learn something new every day. Your passion alone is enough to drive you to your goals and make your work harder. Eventually, you will enjoy the flow of work.

These are the ways and means which have worked well for me. What are the methods you use to convince your parents? Let me know in the comments below.