Priyanka Gupta

About a decade ago, I graduated with a B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD). In 2016, five years into an evolving investment banking career, I quit my job. Now I’m an itinerant writer. On my blog On My Canvas I write about alternative ways of living and exploring. My aim is to live by asking why rather than blindly following someone before me. And while I’m out challenging the norms, or if we may say, looking at things more with curiosity rather than habit or tradition, I share and write what I experience and learn. I read a lot of science and books (and science books), too. Personal growth ideas, cruising through the choppy waters of our emotional selves, writing tips, cultural biases, meditations from individual books, and travel narratives — you will find them all on my blog. Welcome!

Myths About Nomadic Life I Shouldn’t Break

I haven’t gone out of my friend’s home, where I sit and write here in Bangalore, for three days, apart from a small walk that I did to the grocery store because I wanted to eat something better than lifeless noodles with invisible vegetables. Ironically, today I am writing about 100 days of my nomadic life.

I thought that being nomadic means staying on the road 24×7, and maybe, you feel that way, too. I will get to that, but first, let us go back in time to understand how my digital nomad journey started.

I chose this life for I wanted to be location independent. I wanted to be able to travel whenever I yearned to see a new place or live in a jungle where I could only hear the crickets whistle and the leaves rustle instead of the incessant blasting traffic of Bangalore or any other metropolitan. But having a rented apartment was sort of becoming a hindrance to free movement and adding up costs without adding any value, apart from providing me with a quiet writing space with a balcony.

I thought I better spend the money which I paid for the apartment where people shut doors on each other as if they were enemies on gorgeous Airbnb’s or friendly home stays or rustic hotels in the hidden corners of the world. At least I would explore, meet interesting people and have some meaningful conversations, and live life at my own pace.

So I gave up my room in the Bangalore flat and packed my bags to wander freely while working online. The whole idea was to move slowly; I have never found any joy in visiting a place for a weekend or two days and then leaving it, while I didn’t even know what lay in my backyard though I saw all the famous attractions of that destination. And while exploring the world one place at a time, I could afford the lifestyle of a digital nomad because of my writing portfolio.

But I have come to realize that not having a permanent location is not about traveling all the time. It is about moving with a choice.

This nomadic life has put up all sorts of choices in front of me and let me be honest with how I feel about them.

english open doors camp in santiago with my students volunteering in chile

Covid-Related Travel Update, Jan 2024: Chile is open to international tourists. Visit the Chilean government’s official website for travel-related information and regulations. Don’t forget to read the government’s rules to be followed in public spaces here. My guide to Chile visa would be helpful for Indian citizens.

What does this Teach English in Chile guide contain?

मेरी और आपकी महफ़िल

मैं : तुम से पागल को मिल के कुछ यूँ लगता है सनम ; यूँ खुद से गुफ्तगू , हम यूँ ही कर रहे थे | आप: खुद को पागल तो कह दिया तुमने यूँ ; पर कैसे बंया करे , कि तुम्हारी हर गुफ्तगू में हम शरीक थे| मैं: क़ायल यूँ तुझ पे, ऐसे …

हमें तो अपना नाम कुछ पन्नो पर छोड़ जाने की इच्छा है!

कहानिया और क़िस्से तो बहोत सुने, पर अब ख़ुद के बनाने की इच्छा है, दूसरे कवियों के शब्दों के साथ तो मैं बहोत उड़ी, पर अब औरों को उड़ाने की इच्छा है, वक़्त के साथ खिलवाड़ तो बहोत किया, पर अब उसको सर-आँखो पर बिठाने की इच्छा है, हम करेंगे, हम करेंगे, हम करेंगे, ये कहते-कहते …

खाली पन्ने

बहोत कापियों के पन्ने भरे है तुम्हारी मोहब्बत में, कविताएँ, कहानिया, किस्से, गाने, जाने क्या-क्या नहीं लिख डाला, तब तो सनम तुमने कदर न की, अब जब खाली ही पन्ने पढोगे तब याद आएँगे हम तुम्हें !

एक घर

घर बसाना चाहती हूँ एक तुम्हारे साथ छोटा सा, दूर उस नदी के पार, क्यारियों में लाल गुलाब लगायेगे, उस नीम के पेड़ पर झूला डलवाएगे, दीवारों पर तुम्हारी मेरी तस्वीरें लगायेगे, तस्वीरो से झांकती हुई हंसी में खिलखिलाएगे, चिड़िया मैना के लिए एक छोटी सी मटकी टाँगेगे, बच्चे जब निकलेगे उनके, उन्हें फुर-फुर उड़ाएँगे, …

रुखसत

जब भी मैं देखती हूँ खुद को आईने में, ऐसा क्यूँ लगता है कि कुछ अधूरा है, क्या है कुछ समझ नहीं आता, प्रतिबिम्ब भी मेरा कुछ नहीं बतलाता दूर तुमने किया है, समझाया भी है बहोत मुझे, काश तुम समझ पाते, ऐसे नहीं समझायी जाती ये बातें रुखसत किया जो जीवन से एक बार, …

ये कैसा जीवनसाथी मिला है

ये कैसा जीवनसाथी मिला है, जिसके बारे में सोच कर, मन को इतना सुकून मिलता है, हमने तो उलटा ही देखा था अक्सर, लोग अपने पति और प्रेमी से बच–बच कर भागते है, और वो तो कीचड़ से लथपथ सड़क पर हमारे पैरों की धूल पत्ते तोड़ कर उनसे रगड़–रगड़ कर साफ़ करता है, हमारे नाख़ून घिसना …

ubiquotous graffitis in valparaiso in chile.jpeg

Covid-Related Travel Update, Jan 2024: Chile is open to international tourists. Visit the Chile government’s official website for travel-related information and regulations. Don’t forget to read the government’s rules to be followed in public spaces here.

I went to Chile in July 2016 to teach English in a state school. I’m not a trained teacher, but I was volunteering as part of the English Open Doors Program, an initiative of the Chilean government.

All my friends, family, relatives, and acquaintances asked me what made me go to Chile. I told them I didn’t think much. They asked me if I could speak Spanish; I replied I would learn Spanish in Chile.

My family concluded my idea to travel to South America was an immature escape as the journey would leave me all alone and financially unstable. I was sucked into a whirlpool of emotional hurdles stirred by my loved ones who asserted they cared.

I was fired. I had just ended a two-year relationship I believed was my long-lasting love. The Titanic sank. I was going to be twenty-nine soon. Friends were getting married. Babies were being born. I did not know anyone in Chile. I did not speak Spanish.

Before I left, an uneasy feeling lingered in my stomach. Like the one that makes you shuffle through your pockets when you walk out of your home. Later I understood I was scared: of being alone, of unknowns, and of not knowing Spanish.

I did not know that in a couple of months I would learn the foreign language and speak it fluently.

Chile gives free ninety-day entry to most of the countries. But, of course, India doesn’t get free access, and we have to apply for a Chile visa. I was once stuck on the Chile-Bolivia border because I didn’t have any tourist visa for Chile as I had thought that India was also in the list of those fortunate countries. How wrong I was!

Having paid more than what I should have for this mistake, I decided I would be more sincere while doing visa research and would also help other travelers by updating them with my knowledge on the world visas.

A Really Helpful Read (as readers have told me): My experiential and well-researched guide to world visas for Indians

[Update 2019] : Since April 1 2019, Chile allows all Indians holding a valid US visa into Chile. So if you have a valid US visa, you don’t have to apply for a tourist visa.

Please read the official message of the Consulate of Chile: