07 April,2011 10:06 AM IST | | Payal Kamat Samant
The unruly mop's come off. With his new haircut (to be cropped shorter still), Aditya Roy Kapoor looks exactly like the charming boy-next-door that he is. The travel buff, who recently took off to Goa for a dose of unfettered fun, talks to CS about the thrill of exploring places:
Hawaiian holiday
I like travelling. Period. Be it with friends or alone. It actually depends on the kind of time I want to spend and the place(s) I want to visit. Goa's my favourite haunt. Once I was shooting in England and took off on a 20-day Europe tour. But the best vacation that I've had till now was when I went to Hawaii last year. I had the best of both the worlds - my parents were there and I got to spend time on my own too.
There were so many small islands to explore in Hawaii. And on one such trip, I met a fellow traveller and the two of us ventured to a site where an active volcano was flowing in a stream. We literally stood next to the lava, not knowing that the earth under our feet could erupt any second; but we really rejoiced in the feeling of seeing lava up close. Another memorable experience was windsurfing. I was taking lessons there. So when it was time to end my vacation, I could literally surf on my own for a bit. It was so exhilarating.
A traveller's heart
When in Mumbai, I take off on short breaks on my bike. But I haven't done the whole Ladakh route on my bike yet and hope to do it once. Actually, what attracts me about travelling is exploring beautiful people and places.
And meeting people who share my interests. I make it a point to eat local food and prefer staying in local hotels, which may not be posh. But I like to get a feel of their daily life along with taking in the touristy sites.
My mantra is to not plan too hard. I leave things to chance. This way, there's opportunity for unexpected things to happen, like a local person may take me home for ghar ka khana, or I may hitch up with interesting persons and go explore places that weren't on my must-see list.
u00a0
On my wish-list
There's so much that I want to see and experience. Though I've been to Hawaii and spent so much time there, I haven't been able to visit mainland America. I also want to go to the North Pole as it might not be there for long! And then East Europe and Africa do hold my interests. So let's see where I can manage to go and what I can do there. Skydiving, bungee jumping, white water rafting, there's so much to do and I'm waiting for a chance to jump in.
