'I sometimes feel lonely’: IIT-Kanpur graduate quit her cushy job for travel. No social circle, lower income than her peers, but in 6 years, here's what she learned

Travel can offer a break from routine, but choosing a life on the road can also come with uncertainty and unexpected challenges. For some, constantly moving between places means giving up the stability of a fixed home, familiar surroundings and a regular social circle. Yet, for IIT-Kanpur graduate Kanak Agrawal, six years of nomadic living have offered a different kind of freedom, built around trust, kindness and the feeling of belonging anywhere.

An old friend's question made her reflect

Kanak Agrawal recently reconnected with an old friend after 12 years. As they caught up, she told him about her cushy job, the startup she eventually left and her decision to keep moving to a new place every couple of months. She also opened up about sometimes feeling lonely because she was not physically close to her friends.

That prompted her friend to ask a difficult question: if she was earning only one-tenth of what her IIT peers earned and did not have a stable social circle, what had this nomadic life actually given her? Agrawal admitted that it was a fair question.

Six years on the road changed how she sees people

Her answer centred on something she said was difficult to measure financially. Agrawal said that after six years on the road, the world no longer felt scary to her. Instead, the experience had given her an almost unshakeable trust in the goodness of people. Over the years, she said, she had lost count of the strangers who had gone out of their way to help her. Some found her shelter, while others invited her into their homes and fed her. There were also people who changed their own plans simply to make sure she reached her destination safely.

For Agrawal, those experiences gradually changed the way she approached unfamiliar places and people.

'You stop bracing against the world'

Agrawal said she had never carried pepper spray or any other self-defence tool, explaining that she had never felt the need to do so. She described the effect of repeatedly experiencing kindness from strangers as a shift from constantly preparing for something to go wrong to trusting that things would work out. In her words, a person begins to stop bracing against the world and starts trusting it. That experience also creates a belief that wherever she goes, she will figure things out, and if she cannot, someone will help.

She earns less than her IIT peers

Agrawal acknowledged that her lifestyle has come with trade-offs. She said she has not earned as much as her IIT batchmates and does not have one fixed group of friends whom she meets every weekend. Her life also involves regularly moving from one place to another rather than staying rooted in a single city. But she said the absence of those conventional markers of stability has not left her feeling disconnected from the world.

Instead, Agrawal said she can arrive in a city where she knows nobody and still feel at home.

What 6 years of nomadic life gave her

For Agrawal, that sense of belonging has become one of the biggest gains from spending six years on the road. She described it as a feeling of freedom that comes from knowing she belongs wherever she is. The constant movement may have meant giving up some of the financial and social stability enjoyed by her IIT peers, but it also gave her confidence in navigating unfamiliar places and relying on the kindness of people she had never met before.

After six years of travelling, Agrawal said the whole world feels a little more like home to her, and that feeling is more precious than anything else she could have gained from the journey.

Internet reacts

A user shared that after accidentally meeting an IIT-Kanpur batchmate in Himachal, they realised they had stopped maintaining large college friend groups and did not feel they were missing out. Having made Himachal their home, they enjoyed meeting strangers, hearing their stories and moving on. They said money is a factor, but confidence that one can figure things out in a job, travel or life matters most.

One commenter called this way of living “GRACE”, saying the universe supports those who work towards what truly matters to them. Another user said travelling gave them “a sense of trust in life and people”, recalling strangers offering food, shelter, rides and extra hostel stays. Someone even couriered their lost wallet from Himachal to Bangalore.