Reflections from a Solo Road Trip to Leh!

Sunil Mahajan –

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life till now: It Goes On. To my understanding, Life is a journey. And it goes on and keeps flowing. Learn from life and exactly do what it does and that is to keep moving. Recently I completed my tour of Bangalore to Leh on my 125cc scooter. The total distance I covered was 4700kms. This decision wasn’t impulsive or spur of the moment, this was on my mind for a few years and I was waiting for the right timing.

All of us will face challenges in our lives and this year bounced a few difficult challenges into my life and I was finding it a challenge to paddle across. I wasn’t able to focus on what I was passionate about and couldn’t hold on to relationships and was left alone by myself. The lonely part is not difficult, since I enjoy the company of myself. The issue being there was so much drama that happened which left me confused and doubtful about myself. I started to doubt everything I was doing and I realised that I was being drawn into a sinkhole and it was going to get worse. I had to do something to make this stop otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get myself out of this whirlpool. I had to become my own motivational person, encouraging and lifting myself from the time I woke up, till I went back to bed.

In the month of May while I was sharing with my counselor, she said that I needed to detox my mind and I needed a break from the chaos that I had going through. This gave me the idea of a solo bike ride. That was when it all began. I decided to make a trip to Leh and do this alone, many of my biker friends wanted to join, but I wanted this to be my own journey to heal and refresh myself.

Facing challenges head-on can bring a sense of satisfaction and be very fulfilling. I had to prepare myself mentally and physically for the journey. I got a lot of encouragement from both my sons, family and friends. I decided that D-Day would be 6th August 2022.

I was excited as I began to prepare for this bike trip and planned well for it. As the day was nearing, I got a little nervous, negative thoughts started to creep into my mind and I was literally fighting them with constant words of affirmation, I told myself no matter what, I need to do this. The day came, I was prepared, for this was a journey of a lifetime. The journey had its own challenges and there were moments for the need of companionship that crossed my mind, but I would fight it off. The way you face a challenge says a great deal about you. This was my journey of experiences and learnings. I constantly remind myself that the struggle is real, but never give up!

I completed my 29 days trip coming back to Bangalore more energized and feeling refreshed.

I can’t discount the support from family and friends, who constantly kept in touch with me through prayers, messages and calls.

As I look back to my solo trip, I see that I have learnt that life is so simple, we make it complicated. I have allowed to forgive myself and others of the choices that I earlier thought weren’t good. Bitter memories and prejudiced thoughts don’t define me anymore. Today, as I write this reflection, I can say that life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

This solo bike experience has taught me, nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.