The life and mindset of an individual who has traveled the world

For most people who have a 9 to 5 job travelling abroad is a luxury. Most people either travel on work or take a vacation once in a while. To check off visiting most nations in the world is not everyone’s cup of tea. At the same time, it requires funds, knowledge, and a systematic approach to travel anywhere more than 20 countries in the world.

On my all-India cycle tour, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Sidd (asked not to disclose the full name) who has travelled to 169 countries and continues to travel to date. Based off from West Bengal, Sidd has settled down in Goa where he has a rented house that he uses to host people travelling from all around the world on Couchsurfing.

I stayed with Sidd for 3 nights in his house, during which time I learnt a lot about what is required to travel around the world. How to fund one’s travel, why should one travel, and what the mindset of an individual has to be to travel, are some of the questions to which I got the answers.

Sidd was mostly reluctant to share everything about himself. I could mostly catch glimpses of how his life was and how his current lifestyle is. With whatever little I could collect, I found him to be easily one of the most interesting people I have come across during my journey.

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The mindset of an individual who has travelled the world

It looked like Sidd travelled the world to live more of a lavish life. Be among the artistic, rich, and powerful people. He didn’t seem to have hung out with the ordinary. All the stories he quoted of his travel had well-noted figures. He has developed contacts during his travel that will help him settle in any part of the world. Sidd wants to be among the wealthy and hates the idea of dying poor.

When Sidd was in 12th, he told everyone he wanted to do business. He was clear from the start that he wanted to make money. His mom wasn’t so impressed and forced him to get educated. He studied only because he was forced to. Meanwhile, when he was studying in college, he used the college library to educate himself about business. Right after completing his education he sat for 3 months locked up in his room and did continuous reading after which he was able to buy two flats and an expensive car at the age of 23.

On asking how he earns today, his answer was, investing and compounding. He has all his assets invested in companies that earn him dividends and big money. To mark the lifestyle of a wealthy man, he travels. He said to me that in the near future, he wishes to grow his assets to crores in the range of hundreds and calls himself poor currently despite being among the top 0.1% of the richest in the country.

One thing that he said struck me hard. He said a war in India is due and the moment that happens the economy will collapse. So he has his Visas ready in multiple countries and wishes to leave India the moment he gets the news. He is very sure he will settle in a different country for the rest of his life once he achieves his set target of making a particular amount of money.

The lifestyle of an individual who has travelled the world

Despite the big money that Sidd makes, he lives a fairly simple lifestyle. He has a rented house where he lives alone at the age of 39. He cooks his food and spends time mostly reading throughout the day. Even while he is cooking he has the speakers right beside him listening to news and current affairs.

He has many books at home and quoted them every single time he spoke. The dirth of knowledge he has acquired seemed to be too much for me. He could speak on the history of entire humanity well and said there were people much smarter and more knowledgeable than him. He wants to catch up with them.

Every August he books a flight to a different nation and returns to India in February. He continues to work remotely from there.

The mind of an individual who has travelled the world

As I stayed with Sidd for a couple of days, I made sure I entered his psyche. I asked questions on his personal front and derived some surprising insights into the person he is.

Justifications

Sidd told me that everything he is doing today is for himself. He was clear about not dying poor. He enjoys living his life and thinking like the 0.01% of the population. He said he didn’t want to get tied up to any society-related norms.

Validations

Sidd needed no validations. He was okay with having no family by his side. He didn’t seem to care about anyone for that matter. He has a couple of friends he considers gurus because of the dearth of knowledge they have acquired in the field of business. I asked him what would happen if they had to part ways. He told that is not likely not going to happen, but if such was the case, he will let it be.

Complaints

When I asked if Sidd had any complaints, he replied saying “None. I have lived my life to the fullest. If I were to die tomorrow, I know I have done enough”.

Materialism

I remember starkly that I asked Sidd what would he do if he were to have all the money under the sun sitting by the beach. He looked at me and told me that he doesn’t need it. He told me that if I were to ever purchase the moon, I would be the loneliest person in the world. Once you go up the socio-economic hierarchy, you tend to learn about things nobody is aware of. The fact that you know things that others don’t makes you lonely. The best thing is to indulge in work and enjoy the journey rather than look for any destination as such.

I left Sidd’s place with a lot of questions in my head. Are we the 99.99% of the population who do not know about what the life of the 0.1% is, in the socio-economic hierarchy? I have heard many people say that they would continue to do the work they are doing today even if they were handed money. If you choose the work you are passionate about, does ‘Work is worship’ hold the key to the meaning of life? Probably one will never know.

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Asutosh

I am a 31 year young PhD graduate who has decided to travel the length and breadth of India on my cycle, to document the journey of meeting a vast array of people. In my journey, I intend to understand the characteristic features of the people of this nation and categorize them based on their demographics, age, profession, gender, traditions, and cultural differences.