FOUNDER & CEO SPEAKS

I'M RISH & I'M A PROUD INDIAN BASED IN NEW ZEALAND

Welcome to One Life Travel World and thanks for stopping by my little slice of travel paradise.

There’s a quote by Anita Desai that goes a little like this, “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” How true those words ring in my own heart. I do not take it for granted that life has given me opportunities to travel. To me, it has been life’s greatest gift to travel in more than 60 countries which has shifted my perspective on my own life and culture.

But how did it start?

These few years since I packed all my stuff and moved to UK have been challenging to put it lightly. If you’ve been following along on Instagram for awhile, then you may have seen me post from time to time about how travel creates changes. Travel creates you. I’ve lived in practically main corners of the World, from India where I was born, to UK where I grown up, and in New Zealand which I call may "Home".

I first started travelling when I was homesick. Yes, you heard me right, life begins at the end of your comfort zone. There is nothing more eye-opening than travelling to a culture that is far different from your own. Rather than visually perceiving things from the outside, you come to understand the root of other people’s values and traditions, and at the end of the day, you realise just how very similar we all are. That, that connection with different people in unknown places, is a gift that lives with you forever. As a traveler, I feel so fortuitous to be able to experience so many incredible places and met so many people on the way who have touched bottom of my heart.

Travel is so much more than just ticking boxes and saying you were there. Travel is a magical moments like finding friends you never knew you were missing and smiling every step of the way. These past few years by being myself have shown me what faith can do and the doors that it can open up in our lives. Faith is something that needs to be constant in our lives. If I didn't have faith, I wouldn't have taken the leap that I did and go halfway across the world. If I didn't have faith, I don't think I would have seen the miracles, love and heard the testimonies or even know from deep inside who I am. I would have never had the courage to travel solo all over the world.

The full story of that is one that I’ve been meaning to write but haven’t quite found the words for. But travel is worth the money spent on a plane ticket because like other investments in life, you are investing into your future, a future that becomes prosperous by getting the chance to experience another culture through the locals eyes, to see the beauty of foreign places and taste the foods that are cooked from a giving heart.

If it weren’t for this life I chose I would have never experience Sky diving or Bungy Jump in New Zealand, scuba diving at Great Barieer Reef, Australia, sleeping under the stars in the desert of India, seen the friendliest place on the Earth, Cardiff, UK or spend a month exploring the Northeast USA. So far, I’ve traveled to over 60 countries and don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. And I want to share it all with you.

So, What Is One Life Travel World?

One day while I was working at my old corporate job in Auckland, I got to thinking about the day when I'll grow old, I won't think about the flashy car I bought or the 20 pairs of designer shoes I owned. I will think about that time I got lost in my favourite city. The night spent falling in love under the stars, the mornings I woke up and watched the sunrise and all the beautiful people I met along the way.

With that spark, One Life Travel World was born. It may be the name of this blog and brand, but to me it's also a goal to show you that if you optate to make travel happen in your life, it’s truly possible. I’m here to guide you along the way, whether you’re struggling with money to pay for travel, feel abstained by the schedule of a 9-to-5, or simply get stressed just at the noetic conception of orchestrating a trip in the first place, I’m here for you guys. YOU GOT THIS.

I’m just a regular guy like you. I don’t have a trust fund or an inheritance. I don’t have a private jet that flies me wherever I optate to go. Or heck, I don’t even have a girlfriend to take my photos! I’ve just learned to put in the work and get scrappy to make this life of travel happen — and I like to do it in style, even when my bank account doesn’t necessarily reflect one of a worldwide jet setter.

Through One Life Travel World, I hope to not only provide valuable and tangible information that you can utilize throughout your adventures, but I hope to inspire you to dream a little bigger and live a bit more fully.

One Life Travel World has all the details and booking portal you would need to plan a trip to a new country – itineraries, flight, accommodation, sightseeing and many more.

So, to all of us, I say, if you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and just go. Eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure. Travel to a different city, spend time in a different home than your own, be adventurous and try different food, meet and have conversations with people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

Live life to the fullest. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be. After all, you only get one life, your money will return but your time won't.

It may not mean leaving behind family and friends for peregrine lands or quitting the cubicle. You are the creator of your own life. I just hope that by sharing my story, it will inspire you to follow your own dreams and invest in what makes you jubilant, not twenty years from now, but right now in the present moment.

Let’s stop waiting for tomorrow and start living for the NOW.

Rishabh Bhateja

FOUNDER & CEO