Duluwa Talks
By Duluwa Talks
Presented by 5 Nepali solo women travellers
Duluwa Talks Mar 17, 2022
Episode 45: World tour as a couple and realities of influencer life with Madina
In this episode, we catch up with Madina from Khan Quest, who is on a world tour with her husband Kyle. They came to Nepal after learning about the country from a server in Dubai and when her #tiktok comments were off the roof with people asking her to come to Nepal. She started travelling just before the pandemic with her husband and their channel has been growing since. In this episode, Madina shares about how contrary to popular belief, marriage brought her freedom and what life is like travelling with her husband and being recognised on the streets as an influencer. We also dive deep into the realities of full time travel and how Madina has had a range of experience when it comes to women's everyday life realities around the world.
Make sure you listen till the end for a fatafat rapid fire with Madina!
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Episode 44: PhD life, sibling travels, and making a city your own with Juni Singh
In this episode we have an economist and scholar Juni Singh joining all the way from LA. Juli and Juni chat about experiences of travelling the world while building a career in academia, making different cities her own and travelling Europe with her sister. Don't forget to catch the fatafat rapid fire at the end!
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Episode 43: Living your travel dreams is a choice with Eileen McDougall
In this episode, duluwa Juli caught up with Eileen to talk about how Eileen balances working for 6 months in London and travelling South Asia for the rest of the year. As women, the added social obligations could restrict us from living our travel dreams. Eileen is living those travel dreams and goals, but we seldom hear the realities behind the dreams - this episode brings you exactly that! Eileen shares about her experiences as a Westerner in South Asia, and the challenges of being a travel writer as well.
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Episode 42: How accessible is tourism in Nepal? with Nirmala Bhandari
Travelling in Nepal with a disability is challenging - from the lack of facilities to people's demeaning behavior. Nirmala, a para-athlete and traveller shares stories of her travels around Nepal with a prosthetic leg, and compares them with her experiences traveling abroad. Her will power, courage and persistence to change people's perceptions of disabled people is inspiring! Make sure you listen till the end for a fun new segment of Duluwa Talks too ;)
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Episode 41: Unpopular travel opinions with Team Duluwa
Episode 40: Travelling in search of identity with Catalina Koe
As a child of mixed cultures, Catalina has travelled across Asia and Europe in search to belongingness, and acceptance. Growing up she struggled as a "half Thai half German" child, never fully belonging to either cultures. What does it mean to be "half" any culture? How does it shape one's identity? Why do we yearn to travel and experience cultures? This conversation between duluwa Juli and Cat is an exploration of these questions and more.
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Episode 39: How is Nepali tourism recovering from COVID-19 impacts with Dakshina
In this episode, Dakshina Khadka, a tourism entrepreneur and avid traveller shares her experiences of working in Nepal's travel and tourism industry. From being involved with Ghumante then Honeyguide Apps and now starting her own venture, Dakshina shares her learnings and experiences along with how she sees the industry recover from impacts of the pandemic.
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Episode 38: Being the fittest woman in Nepal with Padma Thapa
In this episode duluwa Juli chats with Padma about how physical fitness correlates with headspace and her journey of being the fittest woman in Nepal. Padma shares how a small town girl turned her life around dedicating to physical fitness and strength, and continues her dedication even as a wife and mother.
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Episode 37: Ethnic stereotypes and culture shock with Ovy
In this episode, our host duluwa Juli chats with Ovy about her solo camping and travel experiences across South East Asia and how she dealt with ethnic stereotypes. As an Indonesian in Taiwan she would often be approached as a labor worker and not just a traveller. Ovy and Juli delve into their experiences of ethnic stereotypes and culture shock in the UK as well, and how they deal with it as travellers.
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Episode 36: Summiting Ama Dablam in her periods and travelling as a vegan with Prakriti
In this episode, Prakriti from India (folks on Instagram know her as @itisinthename) shares her journey of summiting Ama Dablam during her periods and how easy it is to travel as a vegan in South Asia. For someone who began her mountaineering journey less than a year ago, Prakriti recently summited Ama Dablam, being only the second Indian woman to do so and aims to climb more mountains in the future.
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Location credit: Hostel Nextdoor
Episode 35: Applying ‘Yes Theory’ in life with Sophiya Maharjan
In this episode, Sophiya shares about Yes Theory and how they have influenced her adventures. Our host Juli met Sophiya a couple years ago as a result of one of Sophiya’s decisions to seek discomfort, and this episode is all about their journeys as members of Yes Theory community and how gendered it can be to say yes to adventures.
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Note: this episode is not sponsored by or associated with Yes Theory in any way.
Episode 34: Anxieties of studying abroad with Menuka Gurung
This episode is a conversation between our team’s Chevening scholars Juliana and Menuka as Juli completes her Chevening year and Menuka starts hers. Chevening is one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships and we’re proud to have two Cheveners in our team! In this episode, Juli and Menuka discuss the realities of living abroad, from travelling during a pandemic to mental health living away from home and everything in between.
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Episode 33: Power, Perspective and Possibility with Jill Wheatley
This episode features an exceptionally inspiring woman's story of surviving a traumatic brain injury and finding solace and strength from the mountains. Jill shares about going from being an outdoor educator racing bikes in the Alps to getting hospitalized for 2+ years to climbing mountains with only 30% vision. She has been learning to find strength in her scars as she continues to adventure the Himalayas and inspires us all to conquer the mountains of our minds.
Content warning: mentions of eating disorders and PTSD
Check out Jill's blog: http://mountainsofmymind.com
Episode 32: Why Nepali youth migrate abroad? with Sumita Lama
Alongside Nepali youth migrating for work to Gulf countries, a big number of young Nepalis migrate for studies and seldom return to Nepal. Is the reason behind not returning just limited to lack of employment opportunities? The motivation to migrate goes beyond money-making opportunities and is deep-rooted in our social norms. In this episode, Sumita shares her story of migrating abroad, finding her traveler self, and relates to thousands of Nepali youth whose motivation to migrate is for a sense of liberation and freedom.
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Episode 31: Financial independence and women’s mobility with Sonika Manandhar
For today’s youth born and raised in Kathmandu, it’s common to have questioned “Where is our ‘gaun’?” as a child. In this episode, entrepreneur Sonika shares her journey from a young girl looking for her ‘gaun’ to combatting her fear of road travel, to building a business that empowers women’s financial independence in the transport industry. Hear from her how financial independence has empowered women drivers of safa tempo in Kathmandu that she works with. To check out more about Sonika’s business check https://www.aeloi.com/
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Episode 30: Facing gender stereotypes with Arati Subba (Spot the Yellow)
In this episode, our host Juli chats with Arati, as the two short hair women share experiences of facing gender stereotypes in their travels and how they deal with such situations. Arati sold all her belongings in London to go on world travel with her partner but has been locked down in Nepal due to the pandemic. She started her Instagram spottheyellow to share her travel stories wearing her yellow dress around the world.
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Episode 29: Convincing parents to let you travel with Sikha Agarwal
Girls and women in Nepal still have so many restrictions to step out of their house for work, study, and even more so for travel. The social restrictions exclude women and girls from experiences that teach valuable life lessons and develop their personalities. In this episode, listen to the journey of a young Nepali girl from the Terai who stepped out of the social restrictions with her family’s support and has now built a travel blog on social media. Sikha aka nepalinakkalinomad shares her journey of evolving as a travel influencer.
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Episode 28: Health tips for travelers with Naviya Kafle
Taking care of your physical and mental wellbeing while you’re on the road might not be your top priority, but it’s very much essential. Hear from wellbeing enthusiast Naviya on how you can take better care of your wellbeing when you’re traveling with some simple tips.
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Episode 27: Growing up in a travelling family with Roni
In this episode, Roni shares about being a traveler baby, touring the world with her family, and what it’s like to be on the move. At age 8, Roni left Israel with her family as they sold everything they had and left without a return ticket. From homeschool experiences to the concept of home and identity, Roni shares with us her family adventures around the world and her aspirations for traveling on her own as a teenager.
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Episode 26: Building Women’s Travel Community in Bangladesh with Sabira Mehrin
How does a woman who was restricted to travel abroad for a conference by her family go on to build an award-winning female travel platform? Hear from Sabira Mehrin, founder of Wander Woman Bangladesh! In this episode, she shares about her travel aspirations, challenging family restrictions, solo travel perks and fails, and her journey of building a community in Bangladesh.
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Episode 25: Traveling as a volunteer with Gaumaya
Voluntourism can be quite controversial for ethical matters but when done right it’s also rightfully rewarding. In this episode Gaumaya shares how traveling as a volunteer opened up her mind, from immigrating to the UK and then traveling across Africa. Gaumaya also currently runs “Khula Akash” a Nepali Youtube channel dedicated to travel and volunteering related videos.
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Episode 24: From Miss Nepal to full time traveler with Prinsha Shrestha
Prinsha Shrestha always dreamt of traveling the world growing up. In 2015, when she was dethroned from her title of Miss Nepal Earth, she went on to live her dream as a flight attendant for Emirates. In this episode she shares about her life at Emirates, living her dream of traveling the world and what it takes to take charge on her own and live her dreams, even if that means making some sacrifices.
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[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 23: Why girls need relatable role models with Nikki Nembang Limbu
When you see someone like you, with similar looks and context, doing something extraordinary, it makes you realize that you could do it too. In a world so diverse, it’s important to have relatable role models who inspire us to take on unconventional paths and strive for more. In this episode, Nikki shares her journey from volunteering at a cycle race to cycling competitively herself, and what keeps her striving for more.
This is the final episode of our “Women Who Cycle” series, and we’re ending the series on a youthful and hopeful note.
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[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 22: Cycling is an expensive sport with Jamuna Thapa
In this episode of Women Who Cycle, Jamuna Thapa shares with us what it’s like to be a Nepali athlete not based in Kathmandu, why she continues to pursue this expensive sport, and how she confronts criticism from society. More often than not, especially in cities outside the capital, cyclists find it difficult to get the training and gear required to further their careers. Hear from a small town girl aiming to change the mountain biking scene in Pokhara.
[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 21: Mental Health as an athlete with Nishma Shrestha
In this episode of the Women Who Cycle series, Nishma shares what goes behind an athlete’s race life. Nishma is a champion in downhill cycling. We often see media portray winning athletes for their medals. What does it take for them to win those medals? Listen to a gold medalist share her quest with anxiety in mountain bike races across Nepal and abroad.
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[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 20: Road Safety For Women With Indira Rana Magar
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[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 19: Does cycling affect sexual health? with Usha Khanal
Cycling takes a lot of physical strength. Have you ever wondered what goes into becoming a national cyclist, physically? Perhaps it's different for women? Being on the bike in extensive terrains for an extended period of time, could affect one's sexual health? We hear from Usha about the health side of being a cyclist in this episode.
Follow Usha on instagram: ussaaknal
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[Women Who Cycle Series] Episode 18: The story behind the Mountain Queen with Nirjala Tamrakar
Path breakers across history have struggled to make their way to the top. To kick off the Women Who Cycle series, we have Nirjala Tamrakar, the Mountain Queen with us! In the episode, she shares her path-breaking journey as a pioneer woman cyclist representing Nepal in many international competitions including the World Cup!
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[Mini Series] Episode 17: No money to travel? hear her out with Anisha Gurung
This episode is sponsored by Supply Support Nepal
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[MINI SERIES] Episode 16: Don't travel for Instagram with Sony Gurung
How often do you see a picture on social media of someplace beautiful and you just wanted to go there so you can have a good picture to post? We've all been there. We all have posted pictures and waited for likes and comments. But is that what we should travel for? In this episode, Sony Gurung shares how solo travel changed her life from traveling for the 'gram to traveling for her soul.
This episode is sponsored by Supply Support Nepal.
[MINI SERIES] Episode 15: COVID trek to Panchpokhari with Sony and Anisha
Two cyclists went on a trek to one of the most adventurous and risky trails of Nepal: Panchpokhari, Sindhupalchowk during the COVID lockdown. Hear from these girls how the locals reacted to seeing outsiders in their villages, and how tough yet memorable this monsoon trek got for them.
This is the first of a 3-part Mini-Series with Sony and Anisha, sponsored by Supply Support Nepal.
Episode 14: The one with the team
We've come a long way since our first episode. We wanted you to get to know us as a team better so this episode is about us duluwas: who we are as individuals and how we came together as a team. We also answer some questions you asked us on Instagram!
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Episode 13: Nepal's First Photojournalist to Summit Everest with Purnima Shrestha
Nepal's First Photojournalist to Summit Everest
Purnima Shrestha became the first Nepali Photojournalist to summit Mount Everest in 2018, she has summited Mount Manaslu and Mount Ama Damblam since then. This climbing season while she is locked down in Kathmandu, Purnima reflects with our duluwa Juli how her professional and climbing careers have been in rather male-dominated industries. From being mistaken as a tourist in her local Nepali adventures to contributing to the New York Times, she shares with us stories from her vivid experiences. She also encourages more young girls to follow their dreams and work smart to achieve their goals.
This episode is supported by Travelling Nepal Tips
You can follow Purnima on
Instagram: Purnima_sth
Twitter: poornimasthresth
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Episode 12: "How to travel as a student? (in India)" with Nikita
As a student, we get so many chances to travel but our budget could restrict us. When we start working and build our careers, we might not get as much time to travel even though our budget allows. How do you make the most of student life to travel? In this episode, Nikita shares with us her tips for studying and traveling in South India - from spontaneous road trips to ones that cost only 1000 rupees. She urges all students to make local friends and have the company of travelers to make the best of your student life abroad.
Niki's instagram: @nikii.dangol
Sattya: https://www.instagram.com/sattyamedia/
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Episode 11: Riding past gender norms in India with Varsha Godara
What do you see when we describe a woman from Rajasthan, India, who is a mother of 3 daughters? Perhaps you envision a timid woman with a shawl over her head covering all of her face, working in the kitchen, and serving the family? This Rajasthani woman is definitely NOT that.
In this episode, we chat with a solo motorbike rider Varsha, from Rajasthan, India who is shattering gender norms to pursue her dream of traveling on a motorbike. She shares with us her experiences of riding around India and encourages every woman out there to travel and fulfill her dreams.
This episode is sponsored by SwitchBack Nepal. Check them out for quality riding gears for performance, safety & durability.
Connect with Varsha through Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/varsha_godara_/
Episode 10: "Walking the Great Himalayan Trail" with Suvi Ahonen
Being in the mountains for an extended period of time, walking treacherous trails that lead to breathtaking destinations, is not easy. Hear from our guest for this episode, Suvi, joining us all the way from Finland, to share her experience of walking long trails like the Te Araroa, Pacific Crest Trail, and most recently half of the Great Himalayan Trail. A wonder woman in the mountains, Suvi has been working in the outdoor and tourism sector all her life and shares insightful tips for anyone looking to hike longer trails.
Host- Juliana Shrestha
Edit- Binita Jirel
Social media- Menuka Gurung
Episode 9: "What's wrong with travel?" with Madhu Yamini
In this episode, our duluwa Juli is in conversation with a conscious and minimalist traveler: Madhu. Madhu shares about how as a traveler we can all take conscious steps towards maintaining sustainability in the ecology and the economy we are traveling in. Start your conscious traveler experience today, get the travel kit from our sponsor for the episode, Eco Sathi Nepal at www.ecosathinepal.com
Episode 8 : Travel for Mental Peace with Aneela Shaheen
In this episode, Aneela Shaheen joins us from Pakistan to share her love for travel and how it has become one of the four most important components of her life. We have our own reasons for why we travel, most of it leading to our personal mental peace. Be it a getaway from noisy cities or a break from monotony, travel brings a sense of mental well being. During this pandemic, Aneela shares some practices for the traveler in us to keep well mentally while we are restricted to travel around and stay in.
This episode is supported by THE MISSING COUNSELOR
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Episode 7: Travelling Slow when Solo with Nirvana Bhandary
We've all dreamt of packing our bags and traveling the world, haven't we? Hear from someone who actually did, that too solo! Nirvana Bhandary aka "Wandress of the Universe" shares highlights from her 15 month long solo travel around Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East where she discovered cultures different from her own.
Follow Nirvana on Instagram to hear more about her travel stories and all the amazing adventures she is up to!
Episode 6: Let's talk periods and travel
“How do you travel on your periods?”, is a common question women travelers get from their girlfriends.
In this episode, we share the experience of outdoors and travel with Kripa Dongol, an outdoor educator, and conscious traveler. We dive through her experience of using a menstrual cup while traveling through rural Nepal, and share a few tips on how you can make the switch to sustainable practices for menstrual hygiene while traveling and otherwise.
Epsiode 5: Nobody will tell you this about solo travel
Say hello to one of our Duluwa Shanti Rai!
She is the winner of Solo Expedition Challenge conducted by NepaliTravellers in 2018. Her 90 days of solo travel throughout Nepal has widened her perspective of traveling. Travel isn't always pretty! It isn't always comfortable! Yet, it has made her more aware of herself. In this episode, she has shared her passion for travel with some uncertainty that happened in between and how she is excited to march on her further travel plans.
Episode 4: Ice Climbing Festival with Rejina Tamang
Rejina Tamang is one of the winners of the Solo Women Travel Challenge 2018. She is a student and also a certified guide. In this episode, she is taking us on her journey to the second ice climbing festival. This was the first time she did ice climbing, skiing, and got a deeper taste of adventure.
Episode 3: Binita Jirel's FIRST Mechi - Mahakali cycling trip
Binita is a free spirit traveler. Born and raised in Jiri, she moved to Kathmandu to pursue her high school and her curiosity to learn took her to different places like Chitagong for undergraduate, South Korea for exchange program, Dolpa for 6 months teaching fellowship and solo travel through Solo Woman Travel Challenge.
Recently, she completed 22 days of Mechi- Mahakali cycle ride, this was her first time in Terai region and she is going to conquer for The Great Himalayan Trail on March 2020! And understand the geography, culture and the people of that region.
Episode 2: 50 days of Tarai with Ujala Shrestha
Ujala Shrestha, an artist and traveller, shares about her experience of exploring her own country Nepal, after solo travelling in India and South Asia. She traveled for 50 days in the plains of Nepal (Tarai) researching for her art project, and indulging in the realities of her country.
Episode 1: The Asian perspective by Syifa Adriana
Meet the Duluwas
Here's a short introduction of our podcast. We are 5 passionate solo travellers! We are all winners of NepaliTravellers Solo Women Travel Challenge.
Nervous yet very much excited to share and explore travel stories with our audience in coming day