My name is Shivam, and I’m from Mumbai.
Growing up in Mumbai, I was used to a very different kind of night.
Bright roads.
Traffic.
Buildings covered in lights.
Billboards everywhere.
Even when you look up at the sky, you don't really see the sky.
You see buildings.
You see wires.
You see the glow of the city.
So when I booked a Tripwaley strangers trip, I honestly thought I was signing up for a few days of travelling, meeting new people and exploring a new place.
I never imagined that the trip would introduce me to something I had never properly experienced before.
Stargazing.
And I definitely didn't expect it to introduce me to someone I would still be talking to after the trip.
Her name was Anushka.
A Trip With Complete Strangers
When I first booked the trip, one thought kept coming back to me:
"Am I really going to travel with people I don't know?"
I'd travelled before, but mostly with friends or family.
This was different.
Everyone was arriving with their own stories, their own personalities and their own reasons for travelling.
Some people came with friends.
Some came alone.
And I was somewhere in between mentally — travelling alone but hoping I wouldn't actually feel alone.
The first few hours were slightly awkward.
You don't immediately know what to say to a stranger.
You start with the obvious questions.
"Where are you from?"
"Is this your first trip with Tripwaley?"
"How many trips have you done?"
"What do you do?"
And then, slowly, those questions turn into actual conversations.
By the end of the first day, I had already met a few people who felt surprisingly easy to talk to.
That was the first thing I learned about strangers' trips:
You arrive knowing nobody.
You leave knowing far too many people.
Then I Met Anushka
There was a solo batch on the trip, and that's where I noticed Anushka.
I don't remember the exact moment when I first saw her.
Maybe because nothing dramatic happened.
There was no movie-style background music.
No slow-motion moment.
She was simply there.
But for some reason, I kept noticing her.
She seemed comfortable, friendly and easygoing.
At first, I didn't even have the courage to start a proper conversation.
I kept thinking:
"Should I say something?"
"What if it's awkward?"
"What if she doesn't want to talk?"
So, like most people in this situation, I did absolutely nothing.
At least initially.
The Trip Started Bringing Us Together
The funny thing about group travel is that you don't have to force conversations.
They just happen.
During meals.
While walking.
During bus journeys.
While waiting for everyone.
During random breaks.
One conversation with Anushka eventually became another.
Then another.
And suddenly, talking to her didn't feel awkward anymore.
We started joking around.
We talked about travel.
We talked about our cities.
We talked about random things that probably wouldn't have mattered anywhere else.
But somehow, they mattered on that trip.
Eventually, we exchanged Instagram IDs.
Nothing dramatic.
Just a simple:
"Let's connect."
But I remember smiling after that.
The Night I Saw the Sky Differently
Then came the night that changed the entire trip for me.
Someone from the group suggested stargazing.
I had heard people talk about it.
I'd seen photographs of star-filled skies on Instagram.
But I'd never actually experienced it.
Mumbai doesn't exactly make it easy to look up and see thousands of stars.
So when we went somewhere away from the city lights and I looked up, I genuinely didn't know what to say.
There were so many stars.
I just stood there.
Looking up.
For the first time, I understood why people travel miles just to experience a dark sky.
The sky felt enormous.
The stars looked unbelievably bright.
And for a few minutes, everyone became quiet.
It was one of those moments where you don't need music, conversation or a phone.
You just need to look up.
And Of Course, She Was There
Anushka was there too.
We were standing with the group, looking at the sky.
At some point, we started talking about how different it looked from what we were used to.
I told her:
"I've never actually seen a sky like this."
She smiled and said something like:
"Then Mumbai really has been hiding the stars from you."
We laughed.
And somehow, that simple conversation became one of my favourite memories of the trip.
I don't know if she realised it at the time, but I remember that moment very clearly.
Maybe because it wasn't just about the stars anymore.
It was about who I was standing beside.
A Trip Full of New Friends
One of the best things about the trip was that I didn't just meet Anushka.
I made a whole group of new friends.
People who had been complete strangers at the beginning were now part of our daily conversations.
We laughed together.
Took photographs together.
Shared food.
Made inside jokes.
And spent hours talking about things that had nothing to do with the itinerary.
By the middle of the trip, it didn't feel like a group of strangers anymore.
It felt like a group of friends who had somehow met at exactly the right time.
But I Had a Secret
As the trip progressed, I started realising that I liked Anushka.
Not just because she was attractive.
Not just because I enjoyed talking to her.
I liked the way conversations with her felt effortless.
I liked how easily she laughed.
I liked how comfortable I felt around her.
And most importantly, I liked that I could be myself around her.
But there was one problem.
I didn't know whether she felt the same way.
And I didn't want to make things awkward.
This was a strangers' trip.
We had only known each other for a few days.
I didn't want to turn a beautiful trip into an uncomfortable situation.
So I kept it to myself.
At least for a while.
The Last Night
And then suddenly, it was the last night.
That's when I realised I couldn't leave without telling her.
I remember thinking:
"If I don't say it now, I'll probably regret it later."
So I decided I would tell her.
Not through a message.
Not through Instagram.
Not through some dramatic confession.
I wanted to tell her in person.
That night, after everything had settled down, I finally found the courage to talk to her.
I was nervous.
Much more nervous than I expected.
I remember thinking about all the possible ways the conversation could go.
Maybe she would laugh.
Maybe she would say she only saw me as a friend.
Maybe things would become awkward.
But I knew I had to say it.
So I finally told her.
I told her that somewhere during the trip, I had started liking her.
I didn't have a perfect speech.
I didn't have rehearsed lines.
I just told her honestly.
And then I waited.
Her Answer
She smiled.
And then she told me something I wasn't expecting.
She liked me too.
For a few seconds, I genuinely didn't know what to say.
All that nervousness.
All those thoughts.
All those "what ifs."
Gone.
Just like that.
We talked for a while that night.
Not about what would happen next.
Not about making promises.
Just about how funny it was that two people who had arrived as strangers were leaving with completely different feelings.
And honestly, I think that's what made it special.
The Trip Ended, But The Story Didn't
The next morning, everyone was preparing to leave.
People were exchanging numbers.
Taking last photographs.
Saying goodbye.
Promising to stay in touch.
But for me, the goodbye felt different.
Because I knew I wasn't really saying goodbye to Anushka.
We had already exchanged IDs.
We had already started talking.
And now there was a completely new chapter waiting after the trip.
The journey that had started with me wondering whether I would fit into a group of strangers had ended with new friends, unforgettable memories and someone special in my life.
What I Took Back From the Trip
When I booked that Tripwaley trip, I thought I was going to travel.
I didn't know I was going to experience my first real stargazing night.
I didn't know I would make friends with people I'd never met before.
I didn't know I would spend nights laughing with strangers who would soon feel like friends.
And I definitely didn't know I would meet Anushka.
Today, we're good friends.
We still talk.
We still laugh about the trip.
And sometimes we talk about that last night and how nervous I was.
Looking back, the stars were probably the first thing that caught my attention that night.
But Anushka is the reason I remember it.
I'm Shivam, a guy from Mumbai who had spent years looking at a sky filled with city lights.
I joined a Tripwaley strangers trip simply wanting to experience something different.
I came back having seen a sky full of stars for the first time.
I came back with new friends.
And somewhere between the mountains, the conversations and that unforgettable night under the stars, I found someone who became much more than just another person from a trip.
Sometimes, you book a trip because you want to see a new place.
And sometimes, you return with an entirely new story.
This was mine.
