I am a writer, independent journalist and solo female traveller from India, on the road for 5+ years, mostly volunteering and hitchhiking my way through.

I sold and donated all my belongings, and left my hometown (Kolkata) indefinitely on 1st January 2021, to travel full-time. It has been more than five years living life on the road.

I write about human rights, local culture, and social issues, with a keen eye on marginalized and ethnic minority communities.

My writings have been published in Lacuna, Horizon, The Better India, The Traveller Trails, India Outbound, and many other magazines and publications, both in print and online.

Instagram : @ipsita.paul_

More personally, I am a vegetarian. I am prone to a healthy and green lifestyle, both physically and mentally.

I am not a party person. I love enriching and culturally intriguing conversations. I can be meaningfully social and contextually unsocial (perks of being an introverted person).

P.s. I am extremely passionate about travelling and CS is a medium to connect with the locals. Not for sex (I had to specify that after a potential attempt by a host from Punjab India).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I want to connect with the locals and learn about the country I am visiting.

Interests

Books, movies, art, mountains, and sunsets. And all things beautiful in this world.

• culture
• books
• literature
• poetry
• movies
• traveling
• journalism
• volunteering
• trekking
• people

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

Bob Dylan
John Denver
Rabindranath Tagore
Leonard Cohen
The Beatles
Eagles
Simon and Garfunkel
Poets of the Fall

Books:

Raymond Carver
Haruki Murakami
Albert Camus
Milan Kundera
Kazuo Ishiguro
James Baldwin

Movies:

Jim Jarmusch
Xavier Dolan
Wong Kar Wai
Wes Anderson
Ritwik Ghatak
Jean-Luc Godard
Woody Allen

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being on the road itself has been amazing. But if I really have to pick one experience for the sake of it, I would say, walking solo across Spiti Valley (Indian Himalayas) for 9 days covering 150 kilometers. That landscape changed my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

Shared humanity.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My take on life. My travels.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

India