I caught the travel bug at a very early age. My parents encouraged me to take every school trip. By the time I finished high school, I had traveled through all of India from Kashmir (Northernmost part of India) to Kanyakumari (Southernmost tip of India). My passion for traveling continued once I came to the United States. My business took me to all kinds of places. Once in 2005, one of our developers and I were having a casual conversation and he said he had been to 46 states in the US. So we started counting and realized that I had been to almost 40 states. Visiting all 50 states became a goal. In 2011, I was able to visit all 50 states so we started counting countries! Visiting 100 countries became the next travel goal. I have been to 79 countries—you can see all the countries I have visited on the map here.
Growing up, my favorite poem was “Bhomiya Vagar Mare Bhamva Che Dungra” loosely translated as; I want to roam these hills without a guide. And roam I have.
Who is Raju you might ask? Raju is my nickname.
Why do I like traveling? I love meeting people and learning about different cultures. Two things that peak my interests are human behavior and an impediment to growth in a society. The local newspaper is usually my go-to source in a new place. I love to start conversations with people who are in line with me or people who are at a table next to me at a restaurant. It is fascinating how people are so different but so alike at the same time!
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Nirav Shah
Theme Song: Our theme song is Johnny Cash’s “I have been everywhere man” which I think is perfectly fitting. Come, give it a listen.