If you look back to when your grandparents made that rare trip to the distant shores of a ‘phoren’ country, you will see black-and-white pictures of them buried under heaps of garlands, and posing next to the 50-odd relatives who had come to see them off at the airport. Fast forward to today, when international travel is nothing that will make your eyebrows shoot into your hairline. Then why did Meenal Khanna ditch her plans to walk around France in favour of backpacking in Ladakh in July, later this year? “The airfare, visa prices and hostel rates were all amounting to just too much,” the 23 year-old tells us. “And when I was talking to a friend who had been to Ladakh last year, I realised how beautiful our own country is. If I take a train to Delhi and then travel up to Leh by road, it will amount to only a fraction of the cost (almost 60 per cent less) I would’ve spent on my trip to France. Now, I can live more comfortably, stay for more days and see much more for a lot less money. I might also combine this with trips to the Spiti and Lahaul regions in Himachal Pradesh.”

There are top hotels in Europe that don’t even change your bed linen. People in Asia are warmer and our service is superior. Italy would have cost our group almost Rs 3,50,000. For the same kind of money, you can holiday in Asia like kingsu00a0— Anuroopa Banerjeeu00a0cancelled her plans of an Italian sojourn to travel closer to homeu00a0