It’s 2018. Vipul, a 20-something sophomore student was on his first international trip to Boston. He checks into a hostel in the city after a grueling 24-hour hackathon. He looks up at the reception and there is a quote embossed in big letters. This quote changes his purpose behind traveling. It said:

“Be a traveler, rather than a tourist.”

Let’s goto X is my new series on Mixster in an attempt to enable people to do just that.

Who is a traveller?

There are definitions and there are debates around this topic. But, here’s my take.

A traveler “lives” in new places for a period of time. During their stay, they go beyond the conventional activities performed by groups of people. Interacting with citizens, learning the language, and understanding the social-culture fabric that binds communities together with unspoken rules. Covering every special point in an area holds less interest for them and they are driven by the simple rewards of meeting people, learning new skills, and building relations.

Before this, I traveled for the sake of traveling. But since then, I have tried to build my life around it. Professionally, I work remotely with a side benefit: I can work from anywhere in the world. Financially, I find myself checking out trips more frequently than mutual funds. Personally, I make friends easily and travel solo. I am humbled to have had the opportunity in life to be a traveler more times than I have been a tourist.

I recognize the privilege and it has been a good life.

This will be where I will be documenting my trips from now on. I am not a travel influencer (yet) and don’t intend to be just yet. My purpose behind documenting trips is for myself to relive them whenever I want to. If they end up helping someone else, then I consider it a win-win.

“Let’s goto X” is my new series on Mixster which documents my travel to places around the world. No, Mixster is not pivoting into a travel influencer blog disturbing the peace with constant posts about “7 places to go this fall” But, my aim is to provide an opinionated take on the trip I just took. And, how you can do it.

The documented version of these trips is meant to provide hidden details, tips, and mistakes that should really aid a person undertaking a similar trip. So, following my aim of being a traveler and not a tourist.