And before signing off here is a panorama I took from my iPhone 5 today while reviewing the location for our instameet. See you all there. Enjoy! #instameerdoon #nofilter #travellerchris

The Start
This is probably the most easy thing. After researching about Instameets I found its simply when Instagramers meet at a preferred location and have a blast. This is exactly what we were able to achieve. After knowing the experience of @the_storyteller I was motivated to do one. So I started looking up places in Dehradun, India. Dehradun is a very small town and is loaded with scenic natural beauty. After searching for the sweet spot I finalised Forest Research Institute (fun fact: there is only 1 in India). This beautiful location is a perfect blend of symmetric architecture and vast nature fields with unique variety of plants and trees. (View the whole itinerary above) 

Difficulties faced 
It is almost next to impossible that an event happens without any difficulties. For me everything went well apart from the volunteers. It breaks my heart to tell this but one of the instagramers (I refer to them as 'x') who motivated me to do this meet was not available themselves on the day #surprise. Most disappointing fact of all was that the person did not even inform in advance that they would be unable to join. I completely understand that plans can change and emergencies drop but a small text never hurt nobody. The main problem here was that we spent 45mins extra waiting for this instagramer 'x' which simply delayed our entire plan. But thankfully it all went well in the end.

Things to keep in mind
1. As an organiser you must communicate your meet details well. Instagramers who are eager to join are always looking for details which are most important such as: 

• Meeting Place
• Time/Date
• Theme (if any) 
• Itinerary if you involve additional activities such as a photowalk.

2. Design a poster. It does not have to be all fancy. Simply giving out the event details in a form of a photograph works equally well. I used Photoshop and photos I took from my iPhone as a backdrop (as shown above). You can use phone apps such as Over or Phonto to add text over images.

3. Share it! Share your meet on social media and if you are really good at it, try to get other pages,users share your event. I was lucky and had a good support from fellow instagramers especially @indiameets. This way you reach more and more people who would likely be interested. 

Final thoughts
I believe that this is a great way to socialise and meet new and like minded people. The most fascinating thing that happened through this meet was that I met my childhood school friend Kislay after almost 10 years. Now thats what I think made this meet even special. 

Below is a  photo from the meet. We took this shot at the end of the day, many left early and we could not get them in this frame. But I thank all who joined and made this meet a memorable day.  

(This "Post Experience" section was updated on 23rd Jan 2016 on a request for Indiameets)
If your wanderer is still hungry for all things travel then explore more here.

Many times in life I have found myself in horrible moods for microscopic problems. We've all been there, its annoying and certainly time wasted for nothing, and hey! Who likes stress? Not you. 
After travelling I realised it's about 3 things: perception, perception and perception. If I want my dream job and fail every time the only thing getting me any closer is trying again, not stress not an unhappy mood. I realised this during my travels in Milano, Italy.
​
It was a hot day in June, I arrived mid day and had to leave for Cinque Terre by evening. I had no accommodation in Milano. I had visited the Dumo and the Galleria already. I went back to the Central Station, and thats when the bomb dropped on me. No train tickets until midnight! I did not book any tickets, obviously and now I was on a station with no place to go, no ticket, no english and a lot of running around with a 15kg backpack. Honestly the staff at the Milan Station is of no help what so ever, I talk to every person I could for about 2 hours with no success. I was running out of time, the heat had got me, I drank a lot of water and so I took a piss. I relaxed myself and walked out of the toilet and there it was. My saviour was right there relaxing next to his bike. A  young italian boy flipping through his phone, thankfully with good english. He told me I was searching through the trains which are usually booked (also thanks to the Expo 2015) so I must get on to the local train. So I did, it took longer, was extremely hot, super slow and also broke down half way.But eventually I did reach Cinque Terre. 

Pre- conception may prepare you for the upcoming but might not always lead to as expected. When I visited Cinque Terre in Italy. My visuals were fabricated with colourful saturated photos of a town on a rocky hill. Something like this:

With sky high expectations I trekked for an hour to reach to one of the town which looked like this:

And oh boy was I not disappointed. It was a total turn off, which should not have been the case because every place adhere its own beauty. So next time, no google images before traveling. Maybe Lonely Planet though!

Hands down the most important lesson I have learnt. The less "stuff" you have in your travel bag the better you travel and you will never fall short of anything. Just a few pair of clothing, sanitary, a pair of shoes and shades and duh! You are all set. But if I run out of clothes? Laundry service at literary every corner in the world. But what if you run out of your favourite body lotion? Well all do the same job anyway and hello we live in a globalised world so at most destinations you will be just fine. ​

Last week in Cambodia I met a guy from Switzerland. Guess what he had for 4 weeks of travelling. A small school bag which was so thin it seemed empty and most importantly a guitar. Could it get any better. Its like me travelling from my home to a friends home who lives 10 miles away from where my school is. Imagine travelling with so less for a month. I said " Is that all you have, that bag right there, the small one?" And he said the same, "You don't need much when travelling". I could not agree more. 

Ok, we all hear this a lot in any random conversation. Especially when we see someone drowning in the power of money or someone with almost nothing at all. But we all have been there. Thinking, is really money everything? or nothing at all? 
When it comes to travelling, money is needed, but it all depends how much? I travel a lot of places, I have probably visited the same place where your uncle from London was last summer. Although he spent £1000 for a week and I did the same in 500. I am doing everything the same only my standards remain pretty low. And so when it comes to travelling it all depends on how you want to spend those saving you did for years, because after those magical days of travelling, the only thing that remains are the priceless moments you had and the amazing people you met. Money is no where down the memory lane, at least not in mine. 

Travelling the world is fine, but do you know what is happening in the process. You explore yourself too. When I was exploring all those amazing places, later I realised it was a lot more than simply traveling alone. 

Let me clear out that I myself have never travelled for free, although I have managed to get free 5 star accommodations and high class meals while I was in China recently. The focus here are the people I met who actually did travel countries for free, with free transport and free accommodation. Free transport? Hitch Hike or simply Blah Blah Car and Free stay? Couchsurfing! I met a guy from California who hitchhiked for almost 90 days and couchsurfed along the way. I will probably be posting an interview with him soon, so stay updated. This simply means its all about right people at the right place at the right time. 

Many times I found myself in situations when I am telling tales from my travel chronicles and end up igniting a fire inside the listener who want to travel the same. But, but? They always end up saying, " I want to travel places, spend enough time travelling BUT when I have saved enough" or "when I am more settled in life" are you kidding me? seriously thats your plan? No! The moment is now especially when you are young. Who knows if I will be settled off in 2 years time, or save "enough" before I travel
because when is enough? Here is a superb article saying why you should travel when you are young. It says:
"You have very little responsibility so go and travel. When you get to 30, you’re going to want to travel slightly differently, spend a little more, do slightly more expensive things, eat at slightly better restaurants. So work for a year and save enough money to experience the world on the cheap.
How do you know what you want to do if you don’t know what’s out there to do?

• Don’t just travel to the obvious places.
  Travel to the tough places.
  Travel to learn.
  Travel to discover.
  Travel to the places that will challenge who you think you want to be."

- NIC HARALAMBOUS

Are you still doubting to make your dream travel come true? If not, great but if you are stilled overwhelmed by the idea then read more. 

Summer of 2012 I finished my high school and it was time for college. But where? The question is quite common in a teenager's life especially when you live in a country where you choose the college first and the course of subject later. I was in the same situation. I didn't know what city I would go to and what college I would choose. But never had I ever imagined in my wildest dream that I'll end up in the city of London. So thank god I have an elder sister. To be honest she did most of the work for me. I was just... riding along, and so it began. 
A new country, new culture, new university and new... well you know the rest so I'll skip that part. The student life in London can be summed up in 5 simple words; best time of my life. It is the best student place to be especially if you have an amazing campus with rich culture like Brunel University, and no they did not pay me to write this. It truly is one of the best campuses in London. I have had very very special moments here, words can't express the utter calmness and joy felt whilst on-campus. It was not a complete student dreamland,  some of the faculties were annoying but some  were absolute gold, but hey there are always two sides of a coin. Here are some photos expressing what words cannot. 

Fast forward 2 years later, March 2015. This is how my travel experience began. I knew I'd finish exams by the end of May but what happens after? Since past 2 years I was rushing home like a child but not this time. My flatmates had been planing various trips in Europe but it never really happened. So we dedicated ourselves this time and I committed myself to a solo trip to Prague. The plan was to tag along with my friends in Paris and Amsterdam after. But who knew I'll catch a travel bug forever. Back in the months of March and April I had to submit my final year project, give my exams in May and also work to save enough to travel. 
Those were long nights, finishing work at 3am, reaching home by 4 and going to bed by 5, and attend a lecture at 10! But when the shifts finished at The Marriot, I knew I was a step closer to Prague because pay day was near.

I spent hours and days and months in this entire process and all those hours can be summed up into 3 golden rules:
​1. Organize
Every time I'm having a chat with a fellow traveller and have to pull out my blue plastic folder with a bit of organised paperwork I hear from the other end "dude you are so organised" and "I wish I was as organised as you" No jokes, these are real comments people pass at me. Here is why I do it.
In May 2015 when I landed in Paris for the first time past midnight, there was no help. My friends booked an apartment on the highest floor they could find in Paris with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower. Sounds cool right? But here's the catch. When I landed in Paris I had no sim card or internet to make a call and the apartment building had a passcode.