What is "wheels on our feet" all about?!

Wheels On Our Feet captured our eyes not because of its name. But because of the story behind it! This initiative started out when travel-loving couple Jayanta and Deepa started documenting their escapades. It was born to be a blog that inspires people to travel and to help them with their travel plans.

Says Deepa, “Wheels On Our Feet had been playing on my mind for a long time. It came about from years of eulogising to our friends about our trips, and from guiding family and friends with their travel plans. That’s when we felt that we could start blogging and help those beyond our known circle…”

Both of them have regular day jobs, apart from an extremely active life on the socio-cultural circuit. Jayanta is a St. Stephens and IIFT grad, now working as the Head of Enterprise Business, West in Microsoft Mobile Devices. Deepa is a Cost Accountant and works with WNS as a Finance & Accounts Solutions Consultant.

They say that as a family, they are maniacal about travel.

“One of the reasons we probably married each other is because of our mutual love of new places, new experiences, local food, local shopping, clothes, jewellery, exploration and discovery. In our first year of marriage, we travelled to 13 Indian cities (using every conceivable ‘long weekend’), earning us notoriety both within extended family and friends. Our folks accused us of having ‘wheels on our feet’ -- after all, we simply couldn’t rest from travel. And that’s how the name for our blog came about.”

Over the years, the travel bug has grown. Deepa’s pregnancy did stop them for about 6 months, but as soon as their daughter turned 3 months, they hit the roads again. Niharika, the couple’s daughter has travelled with them since she was all of 3 months old!

“From a trip to pouring Matheran all wrapped up in her blanket in June 2008, to climbing 1200 stairs to see the ancient city of Sigiriya in Dec 2015, Niharika has been with us on every single trip. We have never, I repeat, never left her home with her grand-mothers. And thus, have successfully created a Frankenstein – she too gets extremely impatient if we do not set out frequently enough,” says Deepa

So where would these jet setters who have "wheels on their feet" choose to call home? Especially since they have been to so many places the world over?

Deepa responds, “we count not what all we have seen, but what all remains to be seen. We are yet to take that coveted trip to Ladakh. North-East India is also largely unexplored. Someday, we want to muster the courage to do the religious circuit (courage, since it is extremely crowded) of Uttar Pradesh just to see how religion moves our country.  Suffice to say, we treasure what we have seen so far – the grasslands of Maasai Mara, the valleys of Bhutan, the lakes and meadows of Switzerland, the hills and Himalayas from Uttarakhand, the forest quiet of Coorg, the natural and religious bounty of Sri Lanka, the history-rich Egypt, the highlands of Scotland, the style of France, the Bard and his town Shantiniketan, the bio-diversity of the Sundarbans, the layers and layers of history in Italy, and so many more. And yet, the hunger has only grown…to discover more, to see more…”

At this juncture, Deepa shares her views for single women travellers. Since they have travelled extensively with their daughter, across varied terrains, Deepa wants to give a shout-out to parents who feel parenthood grounds you:

“No, it doesn’t. Simply get out. You will be amazed at how your child adapts, even when she/he is an infant or a toddler. We have woken up our toddler daughter even at 3.30 am for flights, telling her ‘berate jabo’ ( which means ‘we will go travelling’, in Bengali), and she has hopped out of her bed, finished potty (at that early hour!!), brushed and bathed with a smile and hopped onto flights!”

Sums up Deepa, “it’s a short life and we have a long list of places to see, experiences to experience, food to taste…So start NOW. Soon, your bones will be too old to take that arduous walk to see the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, or the 2-hr hike to the Tiger’s Nest in Paro, or to walk around the entire day to see for yourself that Rome wasn’t built in a day, or trek the hills of Uttarakhand to see the sunrise in the Himalayas, or sit down in the middle of the Thar listening to the Sarangi player wrapped in blankets since the temperature had plunged to zero degrees….”

Kudos to this couple with "wheels on their feet"...let the journey continue!