Introvert Decides to Travel the World After Being Inspired By a Picture on Reddit

Routine can be one of the most dangerous things to happen to us, and it can happen to us very easily. Once we get into a habit, one that is comfortable and easy, it can be difficult to break out, to be spontaneous. But when we do, amazing things can happen. Just ask Rishdeep Thind.

Thind, who describes himself as an introvert (or, rather, described), found himself in the clutches of a life of routine. According to his blog, 360backpacking.com, Thind had dreams of traveling the world during his teenage years. But due to his naturally shy nature and the comfort of his marketing job and regular lifestyle, Thind figured they would stay just that: dreams.

Then he saw this picture on Reddit of a man smoking a cigarette relaxed in a hammock overlooking the coast of Thailand, and everything changed for Thind.

Instantly, all those dreams and goals came rushing back, and he too came face-to-face with himself as a person and what he wanted out of life. He decided to summon up the courage and reach out to the Redditor who had posted the photograph, and eight months later, the rest is history.

His life-changing adventure began in Mexico. Soon, he realized that his initial fears were nothing compared to the joyous experiences he has had up until now.

“It reignited the passion I had as a teenager to go travel the world, something that I’d lost the passion for because you get stuck in a routine life,” he told Insider.

Leaving proved to be very difficult; Thind had a great job that he had spent years working at, and family and friends he cared about dearly back home. But he felt he owed it to himself to at least try.

Using a 360-degree camera that reflects Thind’s inherent need to see every angle of the magic the world can provide, Thind’s first stop was in Thailand, where he spent three amazing weeks by himself, meeting new people and trying new things.

“You can literally approach anyone because they’re all in the same boat as you,” he said. “They’re all traveling alone. They all want to interact with each other, as opposed to back at home if you were to approach a random stranger,” he told Insider.

His travels have resulted in him bursting out of his shell, meeting like-minded people, and having amazing experiences, some that have even taught him a few lessons.

In Cuba, he found himself lost without a phone and without an address to the casa he was staying in. Eventually, after searching around in a foreign land with nothing but his ability to communicate, he found a relative of the owner of the casa, who led him in the right direction. This experience provided further proof that his introvert nature was evaporating; if he had been back home, he might not have been able to get over the fear of asking for help.

“That was obviously a super scary moment, but it was a great story to tell because of the way I overcame that,” he said. “Once you’ve been in a situation like that, any other situation from that point seems pretty easy to deal with. You have to have those experiences.”

In an effort to share his experiences, Thind posted his story on the same Reddit board where he first encountered the life-changing photo of the man on the hammock. Soon after, he began receiving messages of more people who, just as he was a few months prior, found themselves stuck in a life of routine and who were yearning to break out and experience new things.

“That was kind of the only reason why I started the blog, because I felt like I needed to give back,” he said. “My story has already inspired at least one person to do it. I hope that it’ll inspire more.”

Rishdeep Thind has become much more than an inspiration; he has become a source of hope, one that will continue to shine as he continues his trek across the world.