About

I'm Abhi Pandya — 23 years old, UT Austin McCombs graduate (master's degree), and someone who has had a hard time staying in one place for very long. I've visited over 30 countries, backpacked through more than 10 of them, and I'm working toward something most people think is a little ambitious: every country in the world. I'm serious about it.

The way I travel matters to me. There's a difference between being a vacationer and being a traveler, and I think about that distinction a lot. I'm not interested in checking off landmarks or staying somewhere comfortable just because it's familiar. I want the version of a place that most tourists never see. A few years ago I spent two days moving through a cave system in Vietnam — not a quick tour, a real multi-day underground experience. That's the kind of thing I'm chasing. The stuff that takes a little more effort, a little more willingness to say yes to something unusual, and that you won't find on a highlight reel.

Outside of travel, I'm a climber, a hiker, and generally someone who needs to be doing something active or I go a little stir-crazy. I've been hiking since I was a kid. I'm into extreme sports. And I just got my scuba certification, which has opened up a completely different way of seeing the world — one that happens to be underwater. Staying lean and fit isn't separate from how I travel; it's part of what makes it possible to move the way I do.

This blog is for people who feel the same pull. If you want to escape into the world — really experience it, not just photograph it from a safe distance — then you're in the right place. I'll write about the trips, the food worth going out of your way for, the trails, the dives, and whatever else ends up being worth talking about. No fluff, no sponsored roundups of the same fifteen tourist spots. Just what it actually looks like to go somewhere and mean it.