Dolcy D’Cruz
With women being as independent as men, they have the power
of money and the confidence to travel the world. For many women, it is always
precaution and proper planning that rules the roost. Keeping this in mind,
Women on Wanderlust (WOW), a travel club, was founded nearly ten years ago by
Sumitra Senapaty, exclusively for women who love travelling. Roberta D’Costa
from Nuvem is one of the travel buddies with the travel club. Spending time
between Jamshedpur, where her father and brother run the family business, and
Goa, where she runs guest houses in Nuvem and Arossim, Roberta finds time to
travel to different places according to her preference of time and place.
Informed nearly 3-4 months in advance, all this animal lover and yoga
enthusiast has to do is pack her bags.
A part of WOW for the past three years, Roberta had the
opportunity to travel to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Har-Ki-Dun in Uttarakhand
and even Morocco in North Africa; her next trip will take her to Bhutan in
November. “I learnt about the organisation from one of my friends and found it
interesting. They organise tours for women across India as well as the world.
It is for women who want to travel but hesitate doing so, either due to lack of
company or family who find it difficult to match schedules,” says Roberta, who,
as a travel buddy, is responsible for a group of maximum 20 women.
WOW also arranges for trips on cruises in Europe besides
trips to Cambodia, Europe and South America.
Interestingly, Roberta has already travelled most of the places alone
and finds it engaging to relive those experiences, now in a group. “I fell in love with travelling when I was in
boarding school in Shimla. I had to travel from Jamshedpur, where my family
lives, to Shimla. The first year, my father accompanied me but the next two
years I travelled alone. After schooling, I moved to Mumbai for further studies
and then to Bangalore for college. I also attended a wedding in Nagaland, and
accompanied with a friend, I travelled to places like Shillong, Assam,
Rajasthan, Kerala and Kolkata,” says Roberta, who recently got back from
Ladakh.
Roberta has been on four trips to Ladakh with different
groups and as WOW has a fixed itinerary, it makes for easy planning. “It is fun
meeting new people. The women in the group usually have different preferences.
Once, in one particular group, our youngest member was an 11-year-old and the
oldest was in her 60s. Some are more adventurous and want to try out different
activities, the local food and explore more of the region while some prefer
home cooked meals. So we find a balance between everything,” adds Roberta.
WOW provides tickets and visas for their clients except for
countries where individual interviews are required for visas. During her
eight-day Morocco trip, she reserved one day to explore by herself. “I usually
speak to locals who are willing to tell me about their culture and also take me
to different places.” In the future, Roberta hopes to try paragliding and
windsurfing.
