Till the year 2025, I never travelled alone and never had to. But things changed this year that I never thought would happen to me. Usually, I travel with my family and friends. Here I’m not talking about roaming around a city; I’m talking about going to a different city or place, living alone in a hotel, catching a train alone, and many other things that are involved in traveling.
I was thinking of not writing this, but somehow I need to let go of my emotions that I felt during the journey. So, I recently joined a new company, let’s call it X, and during an interview, no one told me that I have to travel and that too quite frequently, not a single word.
Basically, my profile is Digital Marketing Executive, and in these 8 years of experience, I have never had to travel, as it was mostly a sales team job.
So this X company asked me to visit their site, and in the first place, I thought it was going to be one time, and after that, I don’t have to travel, so I was like, let’s give it a shot.
On 27th Oct, I headed to Rajahmundry via Vande Bharat; however, while going, I was not alone, as one colleague gave me company. It was a kind of smooth ride.
But the real struggle was going on inside me, as I never traveled alone. My inside struggle started a few days before travelling. I was confused, startled, and terrified. So many things were going on. How the hotel would be, what if something happens during the journey, and many other thoughts that were beyond my control. The icing on the cake, I have motion sickness.
Back to the story, I landed at Rajahmundry at or around 9:30 pm and headed to the hotel. The colleague knew where the hotel was; therefore, she booked a cab, and we arrived at the hotel. The hotel receptionist gave us a room key, and she went to her room and I went to mine.
There was no water bottle or water in the room (basically, they don’t provide water) . So I went to my colleague's room and asked her to call a person to bring water bottles. So she called and asked them to bring water bottles to the respective rooms. After this, I left for my room.
Someone pressed the doorbell, and I opened the door, and that guy was holding a water bottle, and I went to take my phone to transfer him money online. And he followed me. I got scared as hell. I was like I don’t have change, let’s go to my colleague's room and take money.
She also transferred money online. I told her about this incident, and she asked me Don’t worry, they don’t have that manners, just ask them to stay outside and they will.
After that incident, I was freaked out as hell and couldn’t sleep at all by imagining all the worst scenarios.
The next morning, a cab came to pick us up and we went to our site, which was around 55 to 60 km from our hotel.
I was already tired and didn’t have any energy to work on anything. Still, I managed to complete my tasks, and after that, my colleague was supposed to show me around campus, but she got busy with other stuff. So she asked someone else to show me around, and that person introduced me to important people and showed me around. After that, around 7 pm, we headed for our hotel.
Now, here comes the twist: a cyclone. Between October 27th and 30th, 2025, Andhra was affected by a cyclone, and my return train was scheduled for October 29th.
I asked my colleague to accompany me to the station the next day. She agreed, but in the morning, she didn't show up, and I couldn't blame her. She might have been tired as well.
So, while coming back to the hotel, it was already raining heavily, and the whole night it rained, which was 28th Oct 2025. 29th was my return time to Hyderabad. Trains were running late. My train time was 7:30 am, and it came at 8:30 am at Rajahmundry station.
My train was about to reach Secunderabad around 3 pm, but I reached it at 8:30 pm as the train took a different route due to the Cyclone.
Here, my partner was getting worried, and he couldn't sleep for those days. When I reached home around 10 pm, I could see a sigh on his face.
Though, while coming back to Hyderabad, I was feeling good that I handled things quite well and had a sense of relief that in the future at least I could travel alone. Well, I’m not talking about living alone in a hotel. Maybe in the future it could be possible, but not now.
I can travel to my hometown alone, as I know that after reached there, my family would be present for me, and in any unfortunate circumstances, I could call them, but travelling alone in a completely new location with no contacts would be a terrifying situation for me.
However, my husband loves to travel, but because of me, he has to plan in such a way that my health won't be affected.
Though I have a lot of respect for women who travel alone and face every situation with courage. But personally, I feel that when any lady, girl, or woman traveling alone be extra cautious. We all know traveling alone in India for women is not safe at all.
PS - Very Small Apartment Living Room Ideas
Bottom Line
I talked to the concerned person and told them that I couldn't travel, and if they want I am ready to leave the job. But travelling alone that too to another city with no contacts for now, is not my cup of tea. Somehow, management agreed. Hopefully, it will stay the same.
Again, I'm really proud of women who travel alone, but it will take time for me to build that courage. Thanks for reading.
