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Travel! For some it’s an express of freedom, for some it’s an addiction. For me, it has become a part of my life. I travel because I get to experience so many new things, a lifetime of memories in few days spent in great company of strangers and self, in a place full of beauty and new perspectives towards everything. When I use to dream of travelling, it was to depart on a journey of my lifetime at some awesome touristy place however after doing some ground works I could only manage to scrape together few thousand bucks to take that first step into unknown and hence the farthest I could go was to Himachal Pradesh, a beautiful state in north. To not be completely alone in my quest here I decided to take part in a trek organised by an NGO. Hampta Pass, a crossover trek between Kullu and Lahaul Valley. This trek covers different landscapes, from lush green meadows to barren lands of spiti. One look at the itinerary and the decision was made. Quick bookings for trek, transportation and stay later I was all strapped to leave for my first ever solo trip outside of my city. It was monsoon when I started from Mumbai to Delhi, from there I took an overnight bus to Manali. Early morning when the first lights broke, outside my window I could see tall snow capped mountains in the distance, close yet so far, next I see winding roads I had heard so much about. Our bus was cruising at a comfortable speed and in that moment I experienced calmness take over me, I could still feel the same thinking of that moment. For the first time I was experiencing a landscape so vast and beautiful. Mountains, winding roads, and gushing Beas was all I would be enveloped in for next few days and I knew it just wouldn’t be enough. I will be returning and soon. Starting our trek from the interiors of a small village for the first time I experienced sweet apples, farming is the main occupation here, every house cultivates Apple trees and it was closing the harvesting season in that village. However that spoiled apples we get in our city for me forever. We reached our first camp site at around lunch time, it had started to drizzle resulting in temperature dropping making evening colder than what we were used to. It was also last village inhabited on our path, after this we lived in shared tents. Village consisted of few houses and a home run cafe with an amazing view of the valley. Greenery extended for as far as eyes could see. Canopy of tall pine trees on either side of the path, I had hoped to have gotten lost there. On our trek to next camp site we came across a huge man made structure in those Nature dominant lands. A dam, it was humongous up close however it was overshadowed by the mighty mountains that surrounded it. On the way to our last camp site we braved the chilled water and crossed a water fall on foot, losing my grip I took a dunk too in that icy cold water. However all forgotten as we were blessed with an open sky at our last campsite on the Kullu side and we spent our night under the stars, millions and millions of them shining down on us. Another first here, I saw our Galaxy, Milky way with my naked eyes. Till date I did not think that was even possible. The pass was at an altitude of 14035 ft., my head was going crazy due to High Altitude but it could not dim the joy of fulfilling my first ever commitment I made to myself, to see myself through this trek. In this moment I realize just how important that was for me. It gave me courage for many Firsts of my life. I spent next morning by the Glacial lake in the valley of Lahaul, blessed I got to enjoy this beauty all by myself in complete peace. I returned with bundle of memories and I would forever thank myself for being so courageous.