SWBT - Single Woman Budget Traveler

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SWBT - Single Woman Budget Traveler

A Single Woman Budget Traveler trying to find out, really just how far can a solo woman go on a budget. I also write, do photography. I am Sanjukta Basu

Rudyard Kipling had said, “He travels the fastest who travels alone”

But, not many women travel alone. The world has known many great travellers and adventure explorers but how many of them were female? And how many in India? Most women travel with their better halves, friends, families or groups of likeminded traveller but never alone. Women are advised not to, because the roads are not safe, th

e space outside the home is not safe. Ever wondered, just how unsafe? Is it possible that it is only a perception? While traveling is never as easy to implement as it is to contemplate or theorise it is particularly difficult for ‘single woman traveling alone on a low budget in India’

The mission:

Time for one woman to find out, first hand, just how difficult is it for a woman to travel alone? Is India really that unsafe? Are some cities or towns or states more unsafe than others? Are the locals friendlier to a white skinned foreigner than to an Indian woman? Do they judge you for being single? She will be traveling to the lesser known places on a shoestring budget myself to find out answers to these questions and have a first-hand experience in traveling alone. The rules

The most important rule of this mission is to make sure that this is really a journey to explore the unknown on a low budget, so the destinations are going to be lesser known places rather than the tourist hotspots, she'd travel on public transport instead of private cabs etc. The documentary

It is important that every step of this mission is documented by the traveler. So her experiences on this journey shall be documented on a Live travel blog on a day to day basis as long as there is internet connectivity. She would keep notes of every minute details of the journey from start to end, including what hotels she is staying to where she is eating. In addition there would be a photo documentary to find out

- How gender-balanced are the roads? How much outdoor space do women occupy?
- How many women do we see on the road and during which hours? So the photos would be not only of the beautiful places she would visit but also the ordinary roads, railway stations, bus stops, roadside dhabas, toilets etc. Perhaps its more fun to travel in groups than alone, but in case a single woman wants to travel alone, she should feel motivated and safe about it. That's the culture I am trying to bring by this project.

19/09/2024

Last evening in London. I just had to go and see the Big Ben again.

05/08/2024

While planning my UK trip, I had two-three specific to-do lists on my mind. One of them was to visit an English pub. The British pub culture is a thing. You just have to experience it once.

There is a pub in every nook and cranny of London and other cities and the pub going norms are very different from what we have in India. For one, there's no loud music in the pubs. Two, you can take the kids to a pub. Unlike India, the English pubs are not a space for men to hit at or letch at women or make lewd gestures. A woman sitting alone in a British pub is not considered an easy target for r**e and molestation.

Pubs are the primary social location in London. The city largely shuts down by 6 pm and the pubs are the only place to spend time out. Most shops and markets including cafes, grocery stores, super markets etc. close by 6 to 8 pm. The pubs hold license to run till 11 pm to later in night.

Pubs are not bars. They do not serve fancy cocktail. Pubs are not restaurants they do not serve fancy dinner. Most pubs traditionally serve lager, ale, spirts and no food at all. It was very confusing for me to understand what is what. They are varieties of beer I guess, but I still do not fully know. It is totally acceptable to hang out in the pub with your kids. They serve soft drinks for kids or those who are supposed to drive after the evening out.

I visited a traditional pub in Newcastle with my colleague, his wife and kids. It had a very grungy appearance but there was no music at all. Just a bunch of people talking and laughing loudly. Men and women from a diverse age, some sitting alone while some were in groups.

One particular group consisted of 10-12 men women in the age of 60s to 70s. They were in party dresses. The women were in florals skirts, satin frocks, long dresses, with fancy hats, and cute bows in their hair and the men were in formal suits and tuxedos. It was obvious that they were celebrating something.

After sometime, a lady in a beige satin knee-length dress with a flower tiara came and offered us a box of cake. "It's my wedding cake, we have a lot extra will you like to have some?" She said. We immediately congratulated her on her wedding but there was an obvious hint of harmless curiosity on our faces or tone. She probably sensed it and said, "Well! Yes. I am a 70-year-old bride, and that's my wedding cake."

70-year-old bride and groom were throwing their wedding reception at the English pub with no music but heart full of laughter. This is why I wanted to visit a British pub. I wanted to see it for myself just how cool and progressive the culture is. I told myself that maybe, someday, if I am living in this culture, I may still find that one thing I never found in India. Romantic love.

I did not want to do dumb touristy things like taking photos of English people at a English pub but you can see the groom somewhere in the background in the selfie.

30/07/2024

I visited London, Edinburgh, Scottish Highlands, Newcastle upon Tyne and briefly transited through Warsaw, Poland and Fiumicino, Rome. Nowhere did I see big ugly hoardings carrying the thobda of one particular politician thrust upon the entire public sphere. Only in India this abomination happen. The moment I came out of Delhi airport terminal big ugly hoardings of Modi. London didn't have a single political hoarding. They don't have any big ugly hoardings at all for any purpose. The cities are so aesthetically appealing. Like a painting. Newcastle is even more beautiful than London.

12/04/2024

"For women solo backpackers more than commercial market related information we need information from peers, co-travelers as to what they learnt during their travels. We don’t need so many apps and web portals for hotels, bus and train bookings. We need information on whether we can book hotels and homestays as a walk-in customer, what are the local people’s attitude, what documents do they want to see..."

I would be visiting the city of Vijayawada in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India for an academic conference and my first thought is what other places I can visit backpacking around Vijayawada? When…

08/02/2024

https://womennews.in/uttarakhand-draft-uniform-civil-code-bill-reactions-from-womens-group-moral-policing-unacceptable/

Uttarakhand Women’s Group Rejects Draft UCC Bill

Women's groups in Uttarakhand register strong protests against the Uniform Civil Code Bill.

Criminalizing constitutional behaviour and moral policing unacceptable, the group says.

Positive and progressive aspects of Muslim law not incorporated.

Gender-Based Discrimination Faced by Women Within Hindu Family not Addressed

The Law is Silent Regarding Christian and Parsi Communities, Adoption and Guardianship, Transgender, Q***r rights.

Read more: https://womennews.in/uttarakhand-draft-uniform-civil-code-bill-reactions-from-womens-group-moral-policing-unacceptable/

The Uttarakhand women’s groups and representatives reacted sharply to the Uttarakhand Draft Bill on Uniform Civil Code and rejected it in toto. A Bill criminalizing constitutional behaviour, and introducing moral policing is unacceptable, the group proclaimed. The Women’s group observe that the ...

10/01/2024

Very proud and happy to share this training manual 'Promoting Online Safety of Women Journalists in India: A Manual for Trainers' authored by me as part of a project by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and UNESCO! The manual covers important topics such as gender trolling and its impact on women's online space and identity, legal frameworks, stakeholders' roles and responsibility, case studies on trolling and training tools and activities. It's available for free download. Apart from authoring the manual, I also contributed to this crucial project as a Resource Person in a series of workshops.

I have worked on the issue of online gender based violence for a number of years now with a PhD research on the topic and several workshops and Conference presentations including the Digital Citizen Summit, 2018 as a Panel Chair and as a Speaker at Netizens For Democracy, 2019. As an expert in this field, I offer workshops and guest lectures on Women's online safety, women and digital media and related topics. Please feel free to get in touch with me for speaking engagements.

Excited to share that the training manual 'Promoting Online Safety of Women Journalists in India: A Manual for Trainers' authored by me as part of a project by…

14/11/2023

I wrote this article on LinkedIn which sheds a light on Feminist engagement with internet in Indian context based on my PhD research. Please read and share.

Feminist Engagement With Internet In Indian Context.

In the Western context feminist scholar Jodi Dean has an excellent theorization of 3 stages of feminist engagement with internet but in Indian context there is no documented theorization. This article briefly sheds some light on the topic based on my research in women's space on internet in India.

23/09/2023

Those who missed the live chat yesterday with Paromita Bardoloi can watch it here.

In this feminist space Author Paromita Bardoloi and Feminist writer Journalist Sanjukta Basu will talk about Indian men...

22/09/2023

Hello all, please follow the Women and News India WhatsApp channel. This is my own initiative to report on the State of being women in India.

21/09/2023

Set the reminder now.
This week's Feminist Space Paromita Bardoloi and I Sanjukta Basu will talk about Indian men's favourite sport Mansplaining. Two recent viral tweets, Deepika Padukone kissed Shah Rukh Khan and whole bunch of men started explaining why it's a problem. Adult confident woman smoking in public, men start explaining. Seriously, why men so insecure?

In this feminist space Author Paromita Bardoloi and Feminist writer Journalist Sanjukta Basu will talk about Indian men...

23/08/2023

One day old girl child found stuffed in bag and abandoned.

A one-day old girl child was stuffed in a bag and thrown away in Delhi's Fatehpurberi, reported Times of India. The child was alive and crying which was hear...

28/07/2023

By solo travel on a budget as a backpacker women can challenge how spaces are gendered, reimagine and reclaim public spaces. Learn more on regular conversations on Instagram. Follow on Insta.

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