Category: Travel

The Time Away Your Family Needs

Your family definitely deserves some time away. We don’t know who you are, and we don’t know what your situation is, but we just know that your family is going to deserve some time away. There’s no time like the present to start thinking about this as well, and thinking about where your family could go, and what you could do. But do you want to know why your family really does deserve some time away? It’s because we spend so much time wrapped up in the cycle of life, we forget what it means to actually be a family, and to actually enjoy time together.

5 Reasons Why Exploring Divar Islands With Blive E-Bikes Is A Great Idea

Divar Island had been standing long on my list considering the fact that I have been living in Goa now for over a year but due to some reason or the other it didn’t happen until today.. this came as one of its kind of blogging opportunity and I really didn’t know whether to say yes or no.. the issue was that this tour was supposedly a bike tour and since I didn’t know how to ride I felt I was gonna miss it yet again, but then with the kind gesture of B:Live I was made a part of the tour and very comfortably been ridden around an activa while others rode these e-bikes. My reason for choosing this tour was my belief in the concept, even if I don’t do something doesn’t mean I can’t enlighten my readers, so for all you guys who know how to ride a bike, here are top 5 reasons you must consider exploring Divar Islands and other parts of Goa with BLive E-Bikes

5 Reasons You Should Consider Goa Unlimited To Plan Your Next Goa Trip

Well, who can deny Goa being the hottest travel destination in India. Goa indeed is a favorite with both the Indian tourists as well as foreigners. It is one of its own kind of place and you simply cannot compare Goa’s charm with any other place. Goa is like a slice of heaven that you can never get enough of. Even though I have been living in Goa now for over a year, I still feel like a tourist because there is just so much to explore in Goa.

These 6 New Places To Eat & Drink In Goa, Need All Your Attention

Living in Goa is like being on a holiday 365 days, and while on holiday, exploring new and happening spots in terms of food and drinks is something that one cannot ignore. Being a blogger gives the added advantage and hence here I present to you a list of 6 new places in Goa that you should not miss.

24 Hours @Sol De Goa- A truly blissful experience!

Many a time we get engrossed in the daily hustle of life so much that we almost forget that we need to stop, breathe and live. Although I try my best to maintain the work-life balance, sometimes the drudgery of life takes a toll on me too. But trust me whenever I get an opportunity to spend some me time, travel, explore a new place, I simply leave everything aside and grab the opportunity with both hands.

Well, this is my first post of the year and it has been so delayed simply because I have been either too busy sometimes or too tired and lethargic the other times to even think about writing a blog post. In fact a past few days I had not even been keeping well, and didn’t feel like doing much anyway, but then came this wonderful opportunity that I wanted to make the best of. I was invited to cover a beautiful event comprising of some soulful jazz music and a 3-course fine dining meal and was also offered a stay at the property. Now imagine, a person who has been feeling so tired and overworked since so many days, don’t you think I would have literally given anything to get a relaxing day at a beautiful hotel followed by a luxurious meal and music and of course that is exactly what I did. I did not think twice before confirming my spot both for the stay and the event.

The property was Sol De Goa, a very quaint hotel situated amidst open green fields and a serene river. I live in Porvorim area of Goa, and the property located at Nerul was about 20 minutes away from my house. I caught hold of a pilot taxi and started my way towards the hotel. One step into the hotel and I knew I was going to have a great time. The warm hospitality of the girl at the reception gave me enough insight to gauge the quality standards that the hotel maintains. I was given a quick tour of the property and the more I saw it, the more I loved. The hotel has two beautiful swimming pools to indulge in. One of the pool is like a sun deck and the hotel’s restaurant also surrounds that area. It seemed like a perfect place to spend some time relaxing. This was also the venue for our evening event.

After touring around the property, I was escorted to my suite which spelled class right at the entrance. The moment the door to my room was unlocked, I was spellbound. The expansive living room area, with a huge TV screen and the couch that you want to jump right on to and all modern amenities seemed very inviting. As I moved further and took my first glance at the bed, I shifted my mind and wanted to jump in right there. It was just the kind of bed I adore. But then there was more, the highlight of my room was the attached balcony which oversaw the green fields and also the pool deck area. The view seemed mesmerizing enough to spend my entire day there, maybe with some music on the iPod, or a nice book and a cup of coffee. Bliss! Check out the full room tour in the link below


https://www.facebook.com/aditinona/videos/pcb.10156999280189855/10156999278684855/?type=3&theater

So all of this led me confused on what did I want to do, dip in the pool, be a couch potato, take a nap on the bed or sit in the balcony and enjoy the view. Phew!! But then I felt that given my tired state of mind and body, the bed seemed just the right thing to do. So after fooling around a bit with myself, clicking some funny pictures and posting stories on Instagram, I cuddled myself up in that cozy bed and took a short and sweet nap.

After the nap, I woke up feeling quite refreshed and ready to do more in my room and began exploring all the windows and the scenes behind them. One of the windows offered me a spectacular view of the inner pool, the other opened to the pool deck and yet another gave me a glimpse of the fields and the river. For some time, I just kept sitting by each window, admiring the beauty of these scenes.

Then I made myself a cup of green tea and headed to the balcony to witness a beautiful sunset. The feelings can’t really be put in words and sometimes you literally have to experience to believe. Well, all I can say is, it was wonderful. The setting sun, the chirping birds, the orange sky and a silhouette kind of a tree, everything was just perfect.

After enjoying the sunset, I headed for a quick bath and got ready for the lovely evening that was waiting.

As I went down at the deck, the entire setting seemed magical, beautiful table layouts, candle lights, the reflection of lights in the pool and soulful Jazz music by a band named Orleans.

It was all fantastic. As my other friends joined in at the table, we started with what I can say was a mind-blowing culinary journey and riot of flavors.

Our menu comprised of:

Cocktail

Chilli Coco Pine- a drink made with white rum, pineapple juice, coconut syrup, and green chilies and it was amazing.

Starters

Pepper Rasam- Red snapper ceviche served in a puri with chilled rasam shots.

Camembert En Croute With Tomato Thoku And Coriander Chutney

Beef Seekh Kebab

Calamari Pepper Fry

Main Course

Murg Afgani With Lachha Parantha

Meen Chettinad With Coconut Curry And Kosambri Salad

Tandoori Spiced Pork Belly With Mango Chutney

Cranberry Kofta With Lachha Parantha

Dessert

Guava Cheese And Ricotta With Profiteroles

Gulab Jamun With Gelato

Well, now what words do I use to describe the food, I basically have just one word that it was amazing. We all had a tough time deciding what was the best, there was barely a difference, each and every item was delicious. But still to give you some grading, I would say that the Camembert was the best dish of the evening unanimously for all present, and the meen chettinad came a close second. Put everything else on the number 3 and I am sure you will get an idea about the kind of food experience I am talking about.

After this hearty meal and loads of fun and conversations with my friends, I happily retired to my cozy room for a good night’s sleep. I literally slept so calmly and peacefully that I had to force myself out of the bed for breakfast. But I surely didn’t want to miss it, and hence I headed to the pool deck once again for a lovely buffet spread of the breakfast. And now it was almost time to return home, so I went back to my room and got ready once again, but this time I wasn’t too excited to get ready because it felt that my holiday got over too soon. But nevertheless, I was taking back some great memories and feeling fully charged up and already looking forward to my next visit at Sol De Goa soon.

Sol De Goa

Address:
Road Opp Bank of India, Bhatiwado, Nerul, Goa, 403114,
Nerul India , Goa – 403114.

Phone : 0832 671 4141

Reservation Phone : 9552134385

Email : [email protected]

Reasons To Finally Sell Your Timeshare

Whether you have just bought it recently or have had it for many years, it may be time to sell your timeshare. There are many reasons why people reach the point where they want to get their timeshare off their hands. Companies such as goawaytimeshare.com help owners get out of their contracts legally. It does not matter your reason for wondering how to “get rid of my timeshare,” you can find legal ways to do so. If you are still on the fence, below are some of the top reasons why other owners decide to finally give theirs up.

Lack Of Use

If you find yourself not using your timeshare each year when it is your time, you might be better off selling it. This is often the most common reason why timeshares get sold. If you don’t use it annually, it might be more cost efficient to sell it rather than keeping it. Even when you don’t use it, you will still have to keep it maintained and kept up.

Can’t Afford Upkeep

For those that are able to afford the upkeep to their timeshare and use it each year, it is a valuable asset to have. However, you may have reached a time in your life where that extra few thousand dollars necessary for the upkeep could be put to better use. If this is your case, selling it may be a more financially sound option.

Multiple Timeshares

While it is more common to find people owning one timeshare, there are some who own multiple timeshares. This is a great way to have options for where you want to vacation. Also, you may like to take more than one vacation each year. If you find you slowly begin using just one of your timeshares, it makes sense to sell the other one.

Timeshares can be a great vacation option for many people. For others, it may be an unnecessary expense that is not being used. When you stop enjoying owning your timeshare location, it is time to get rid of it and move on.

How Stellar Data Recovery Saved My YouTube Channel Launch

My Passion for Photography

Both in my professional and personal life, traveling has played a very integral part. While traveling professionally, I have traveled the length and breadth of the country and even across the globe, from deep down rural to ultra-urban cities. And even in my personal life, I have shared some of the best moments, traveling with my family. Traveling has been a great teacher in my life and the different places and experiences have taught me a lot of aspects of life. It’s strange, how even over the years, memories of all trips remain so fresh in my mind. But I have to admit that photographs have played a big role in keeping those memories intact. Especially as a blogger, photographs became important not just as to keep memories, but also to maintain my blogging and Instagram on a regular basis. Over a period of time, these photos have become an imperative part of my life and my phone is always full of different photographs collected from different trips.

Storing Pictures

Earlier days, we used to keep our albums safely and securely locked away to ensure they don’t spoil away. But today, living in the digital world, albums have become a thing of past and its all about keeping the photos stored on digital platforms, whether it’s our phone, cloud memories or the hard drives.

But are the photos always safe, when stored digitally? No, while cloud memories are often expensive to buy, we end up storing our pictures on our phone and then maybe a back up in hard drives. But have you ever faced an issue with a hard drive? Well, I have and trust me it was devastating.

My Singapore Trip

At the beginning of the year, I visited Singapore with a friend of mine, and it was my first trip to Singapore. Also, this trip was very important to us, as we are launching women based travel channel, and this was our maiden trip for our channel. So you can very well understand the importance of this trip for us. First of all, it was an international trip and secondly, more of a business value for us than anything else. We clicked thousands of pictures because we not only had to keep our personal Instagram accounts filled with it, but also the new business venture needed those pictures. And since it was a YouTube channel that we were launching, we had over 200 videos in a 4-day trip, which were to be compiled into web series and first and foremost a launch video.

[easy-image-collage id=9981]

The Panic Moment

Now imagine my plight, that when I took the hard drive to my editor, in which all our thousands of pictures and 200 videos were transferred, did not open. We checked to plug in the hard drive into different computers, but it did not read even in one. It was a moment to panic, as I realized that the hard drive had probably corrupted. All my dreams came shattering down, as I practically had no time left for my launch. I was just a fortnight away from the launch and these videos and images were so important to me. And obviously, Singapore was not a local place that I could go back and shoot again, so a chance had to be taken for data recovery. Checked with a couple of local service providers, but no one gave a guarantee of data recovery and rather scared me that the data won’t be recovered at all. I was in a total mess.

Stellar, To The Rescue

A friend of mine then told me about Stellar Data Recovery Services, she told me they were very professional and their recovery rate was very high. They provided services for all most all kinds of data recovery and they were my only recourse.
Before going to their branch, I checked and read about them online and a lot of information was available on their site itself. Their service advantages really caught my attention and I was convinced of their professionalism.

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Kinds of Services Provided

Hard Drive Recovery
SSD Data Recovery
Server Data Recovery
Storage Box Data Recovery
RAID Data Recovery
Encrypted Data Recovery
iPhone Data Recovery
Android Data Recovery
CTB Locker Virus Recovery
Laptop/Desktop Data Recovery
Flash Data Recovery
MacBook Data Recovery
Pen Drive Recovery
SD Card Recovery
Ransomware Virus Recovery
CCTV/DVR Recovery
iPad Data Recovery
Removable Media Recovery
Email Recovery
Tally Data Recovery
Photo Recovery
File Recovery
Database Recovery
Disaster Data Recovery

Why Trust Stellar

They are the only ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified organization in India. Not the one who claim on papers to be ISO certified, but the ones who practice ISO guidelines inside their data recovery operations.

They are India’s first data recovery service company founded in 1993, and Stellar can proudly boast of experienced research & development team who have developed numerous data recovery software’s. This proprietary software and tools can recover data from different kind of storage devices in various conditions. So, in addition to the expected recovery of your data, they ensure your data is safe & secure within their organization. They have a success rate of 95% on data recoveries.

The best part is that their data recovery service comes with a 100% money back policy. They work on No Recovery- No charge policy*. Which means if they do not recover data specified by you, they don’t charge for it.
They even allow you to step into their lab and see the work getting done, being completely transparent about their processes. This is a Class 100 Cleanroom lab for Data Recovery, the only one of its kind in entire India.

Process

They follow a simple process for data recovery

The Stellar Strength

2 Million+ Satisfied Customer
8000+ Partners Worldwide
In Lab Data Recovery Service Provider
Strong Presence in USA, Europe & Asia
350+ Employees
Microsoft Gold ISV Partner
ISO/IEC 27001 & ISO 9001 certified
80+ R&D Engineers
60+ Data Recovery Experts

Advantages for opting for Stellar

No Recovery, No Charge*
15 Locations Across India
Accurate Efficient and Reliable
35000+ Data Recovery Jobs Annually
World Class Infrastructure of Class 100 Clean Room Labs
Free Door Step Drive Pick Up
Risk-Free, Privacy Ensured

To Conclude

All I can say is I was really thankful to Stellar for the video and photos recovery from my hard drive that too with a quick turn around time. In fact, I also read about preventive measures for hard drive crash on their site and know at least I can be more future ready. I was able to get my video edited and the launch did happen timely without any delays and further panic.
So remember this name whenever you face such a situation. I can easily say that there is no one better than them.

Check Out My Launch Video Here

Reasons To Consider Renting A Cabin For Your Next Vacation

Family vacations don’t come around often enough. Because of this, it is important to make the most out of the time you get. There are many lodging choices to consider. While each has its own benefits to consider, there are extra advantages that come with planning a cabin vacation such as with Beavers Bend cabin rentals. They have many great cabins to choose from on their site at www.beaversbendlogcabins.com.

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Peace And Quiet

While getting a hotel room is a go-to when planning a family vacation, there is an appeal of cabin rentals that you cannot get with staying at a hotel. One great benefit of staying out in a cabin is that you will get lots of peace and quiet. Most hotels are crammed to capacity with noisy guests and events. A cabin is set out in the woods with much less people around.

Scenery

A cabin will offer you a lot of beautiful scenery to enjoy on vacation. Depending on where you rent your cabin, you could have a view of a beautiful lake or mountains in the background. At night, the distance away from the city will allow you to see the sky and stars more clearly.

Space And Privacy

Most cabin rentals will offer more privacy and space compared to many hotel rooms. There are a variety of sizes and styles that can accommodate most families and budgets. If you are planning a huge family vacation, there are cabin rentals that can fit up to 30 or more people.

Pet Friendly

If you want to bring your family pet on vacation, the best option would be to get a cabin. If you have a dog, they will have plenty of room to run around and play without worrying about parking lots and other guests putting them in danger.

There is nothing wrong with staying in a hotel on your family vacation. However, if you want a unique and relaxing experience, a cabin rental is a great choice. You will notice how amazing it really was once you get back to the city and notice the difference.

Nature’s Nest Goa- A Staycation Close To Nature!

Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers

Well on some of the days, we really wanna get away from the hustle bustle of daily life and that is one of the prime reasons I left Delhi and chose to live in Goa. Goa in itself is so peaceful and surrounded by nature that I find it refreshing me all the time, but even then, sometimes we want to go a little far away from the daily life and spend a couple of days relaxing. What better than staying close to nature for a perfect getaway and relaxation.

Nature’s Nest

I had read about a lot of places that offer accommodation in the lap of nature, and Nature’s Nest true to its name was the one name that cropped in my head. I discussed it with my friend, and she too readily agreed to the trip. We chose the Independence Day Eve as a perfect day for our mid-week adventure. Nature’s Nest is located in Surla area of Goa, which was approximately 60kms away from where we stay. Its truly surrounded by nature, its close to the Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary and very popular with bird watchers and trekking lovers, as it offers perfect spots for both.

The Journey

We set out around 10 AM from our place, as it would take us 1.5 hours drive to Nature’s Nest and the check in time was at 12 Noon. The weather was totally on our side and once you cross Ponda, the drive becomes even more beautiful. The narrow roads, with greenery in abundance on both sides, makes for a fantastic view. We added some music in the background, grabbed a couple of drinks and snacks for the way and we were all set. We reached Nature’s Nest quite on time, at 12:15 we were at the reception of the resort.

The Ambiance and Rooms

The ambiance has a very raw appeal to it and is surrounded by greenery. It’s like practically living in mud and bamboo cottages in a middle of a jungle and in one look, I loved it. The greenery seemed even more alive and fresh after the rains and as per me, monsoons are definitely one of the best times to visit this place, not that you cant visit during other months, but trust me monsoons are the best. After a warm welcome at the reception along with a refreshing Kokum drink, we were directed towards our cottage. The resort houses 10 cottages and they look so lovely.

Our cottage was named Kunjan, and once again the raw appeal of the cottage, the mud walls, the thatched roof, all reminded me of the times I have spent in the villages and it was nostalgic. The room was spacious and comfortable, twin beds, with side tables, a dressing table and an open cane shelf for keeping clothes etc. The bathroom too was very spacious and huge, it almost felt like another room.

Lunch

After settling in the room and chilling for sometime imbibing the nature, it was almost time for lunch. At 1:30, we headed towards the restaurant area and a traditional Goan lunch was waiting for us. Prawn Curry, Chicken Xacuti, Rawa Fish Fry, Veg Gravy, Bhaji, Dal, Solkadi, Salad, Papad, Bhakri and Rice, the menu was quite a big one and was perfect for both vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. It was freshly prepared and had the authentic taste of Goan flavors. Loved the kheer for sweet-dish.

More in Goa Food- Habanero- A Tex-Mex Culinary Experience

Activities

After lunch, we retired to our rooms for a power nap and returned to the activity area at 4 PM. We indulged in 3-4 activities before our dinner and they were:

Artificial Wall Climbing

Well, this one was not for me, as with my fingernails I just could not get the grip and climb even one step. My friend did try a bit, but even she couldn’t do much. So we kind of skipped this one and moved to the next activity.

Flying Fox and Zip Line

Now both of these were really fun, I had never tried a zip line before and although it wasn’t a very high or long one, I really enjoyed it. Zipping between the greens and with raindrops drenching me, it was something I really loved.

Trek to a Plateau

Well, this was an evening trail amidst nature, we trekked to a nearby plateau, the slight uphill climb was beautiful. The sounds of a peacock and a flowing stream were almost filling the entire place. View from the top point was breathtakingly beautiful. I could not manage a lot of clear pictures because it rained heavily while we went there and also some of the pics came blurred because of this reason. Nevertheless, what I captured in my mind and soul will remain with me for a long time. We also saw an insectivorous plant and a pair of Hornbills, they looked amazing as they flew from one tree to the other. Their flight looked magically beautiful.

This point is otherwise very famous for sunset, but as we were in monsoons, there was no sunset to watch, but a lot of refreshing greenery, the water stream, plants, birds, frogs, and yes the peacock. I felt so so good after this trek. Also met an Ornate Flying Snake Baby, never had a chance to see a snake so closely, it looked so so beautiful. And strangely enough, I wasn’t scared.

Night Trail

By the time we returned from our trek, it was almost 6:30, we came back to our rooms to freshen up a bit and then at 7 PM headed for a short night trail. This night trail was specifically to show us a luminous kind of mushroom that glows in the dark, so complete darkness was important.

After a walking for a short while, we reached the spot, though we were using our flashlights to walk through the dense forest, at this point, our guide, Mr. Ramesh, one of the partners at Nature’s Nest instructed us to switch off all lights and close our eyes for a few seconds. After those few seconds, when we opened our eyes we were astonished. A full tree branch, from the ground to the top was glowing, it felt as if someone had put a tube light there. We even held one of the branches in our hand, with the flashlight on, it felt like any other branch, with nothing special to notice, but the magic happened when it turned dark.

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Dinner and a Good Night’s Rest

After this night trail, we were a bit tired with the day’s activities and chose to have an early dinner. A spread of simple dishes including Kadhai Chicken, Mushroom Curry, Dal, Baingan Bhaji, Rice, Roti, and Seviyan was laid out. It felt like a home cooked comfort food, nothing fancy, but simple yet tasty. Though we had all intentions to retire to bed early as we had to go for a morning trek too, but we ended up chatting for long hours sitting and relaxing in the restaurant itself and then with some background light music supported by the music of falling raindrops on the roof, the sounds of the cricket and watching the fireflies glow near the window, we drifted into to a good night’s sleep.

More About Goa- Artjuna- A Perfect Combination of Food & Lifestyle Place

The Talde Waterfall Trek

We got up early the next morning, as, after a quick breakfast of omelet, poha, pav and black coffee, we had to leave for the Talde Waterfall Trek. We left the resort at around 8:30 AM. The trek point is about 10 minutes drive from the resort and its a 30 minutes trek into thick forest with very narrow lanes. 20 minutes of the trek is more of a straight walk, but like I said the walk is on a very very narrow lane which can barely fit one person, and the last 10 minutes of the trek are tougher with more of an uphill climb on slippery stones and rocks, but once you reach the waterfall, its all simply worth it.

The view is mesmerizing, the noise of the waterfall filled me with so much calmness that I words will fall short to explain my feelings. It’s definitely worth a visit. For me, it was my first experience of almost dipping in the water and feel a waterfall so closely. Its one of those experiences that I will never forget. We spent a good half an hour enjoying the waterfall and after capturing memories in my camera, we started on our way back. Once back to the resort, we did our check out formalities and came back home completely refreshed and rejuvenated.

This entire experience filled me with so much of positive energy that as soon as I was back home, I was raring to go for another adventure. I did not feel even a bit tired. This staycation was a much-needed break for me and although I was not very sure about anything, as everything was new for me, all I can say is I am glad I took this decision and chose Nature’s Nest.

Also Read- Exploring the Fontainhas, Goa

As per season, Nature’s Nest offers a lot of activities like Bird Watching, Jungle Safaris, Night Trails, Trekking, Waterfall Treks etc. Make sure you check with them of the available options and plan your travel accordingly.

Useful tips For Anyone Starting Hiking As A Hobby

If you have always loved being outside and have a passion for adventure, then you might be considering taking up hiking as a hobby. The fact is that hiking is a great hobby as not only is an excellent form of physical activity but it’s also an excellent way to spend more time outdoors, exploring your local area, as well as areas that are a little further afield.

Of course, like any new hobby, there’s a lot that you need to know before you head off over the hilltops to explore. So bearing that in mind, below is a guide to the ins and outs of taking up hiking as a new hobby – read on for all of the best tips and advice.

Photo from Pixabay

Learn to map read

If you can already map read, you can skip this step. If you can’t map read and don’t understand how to use a compass, you might want to take the time to learn. It’s all well and good exploring the local area with just the wind to guide you, but as you head further afield, you will need to know how to map read and use a compass to navigate across different routes.

You might be able to join a local orienteering class to learn the basics or a survival group. If there isn’t a local group for this kind of thing, you should be able to find various map reading and compass using tutorials on YouTube to follow and learn from.

Invest in the right equipment

If you are going to be hiking regularly, then you need to invest in the right equipment. The most essential item is a pair of good quality walking boots or trainers that are comfortable and designed for exercise – to learn more about this head over to biopods.com and have a browse of the designs and resources available on there.

In addition to needing footwear, you will also require a backpack, a compass, a map, a water bottle, a torch, and camping supplies for any overnight hiking trips that you might like to plan in the future. Hiking can be a lot of fun, but it’s essential that you understand the need to always be prepared, which is why investing in the right equipment is so essential.

Be safe

When it comes to hiking– or any hobby – it’s crucial that you always put your safety first. Hiking can be a great way to stay fit and get out and about more, but if you aren’t smart about the approach to hiking that you take, you could end up putting yourself in danger, which is not what you want to do.

Always ensure that you tell someone where you are going and when you should be back. If you are walking alone, share a copy of your hiking trail with a friend or relative, so that if you don’t return on time, they know where you should be. Always carry a fully charged phone with you for emergencies, so that you can contact help, should you need it.

There you have it, everything that you need to know about starting hiking as a hobby.