Why a foreigner chooses a future in India | Travel Vlog Iv | | Ivana Perkovic | TEDxGNI

[Music] you may not always be aware of it but at each moment of our lives you're standing at a crossroad one between the life that you are living right now and one is a different one a road full of adventure and full of excitement but also a lot of uncertainty and probably many changes on the 10th of July of 2017 I found myself at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport in the line for passport control with a one-way ticket to India because I decided to take that road I would like to take you on a little journey today would be but before I do that I would like to properly introduce myself namaste mera naam even a Hey hi my name is Ivana and I'm a YouTube travel vlogger this means I travel around the world I capture my travel experiences through video and I share them online with my subscribers I like to call them my online family however no matter where I travelled in the world I haven't been able to find that one thing that I found in India that one thing led me to walk out on the life that I had over here and take this road at the end of our journey today you might discover that this road might also be the road of your dreams in India but it is not an easy road I said goodbye to all of them my family my best friends the people who I love the most not knowing when I T them again I had a beautiful home in Amsterdam and I ended a seven-year relationship with a man who I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with that's a lot to leave behind for one person in one go so you can probably imagine well I'm standing in line for fast birth control and MCI map words people I am trying to process what I just did one step at a time one breast at a time and in that moment that moment when so many emotions are going off in me one of my best friends calls me hey hey how are you doing she asked me I tell her I'm so happy to hear her comforting voice so I tell her whoa I'm stressed I'm anxious I'm so excited but at the same time I'm also sad and I'm afraid she tells me you realize that you don't have to do this right you don't have to prove anything to anybody you don't have to go are you absolutely sure you want to do this I don't even have to think because with every step that I take my heart tells me this is it and I tell her I would never be able to forgive myself if i betray my heart by not following it she's one of those people who always has the most comforting words for any situation so she tells me I'm so proud of you I believe in you and you got this so I take one more step and one more and before I know it I am on that one-way road of dreams to India right now I'm guessing you're probably thinking why why would you leave such a comfortable life in the Netherlands to come to India India of all places well our journey begins where all our journey begins with our parents raise your hands if this is what your parents expect from you one get a good diploma to get a good job find a good part marry them buy a house and have children yeah I I see most of their hats good we're on the same page for generations parents have been raising their children like this because they want you to have a good future and most importantly they want you to be happy that's what all parents want for their children to be happy my parents on top of that save me and my brother from the Balkan war in the 90s brought us to the Netherlands as refugees and worked their butt off to give us a good future so you can imagine I love my parents so much therefore I decided to take that road that they pay for me however my parents and probably your parents neither couldn't prepare us for a future they never knew was coming right now I would like to step back with you to 2014 to a very low if not the lowest moment of my life I always wanted to travel so I was saving up for three years to be able to take a sabbatical on the 21st of June of 2014 I received the last paycheck that I needed to complete that travel budget I also woke up dead inside I had a burnout a burnout is a state of exhaustion caused by overwork up to a point where it affects your physical health my short-term memory was a disaster I could barely read because it was too exhausting and until this day I still have trouble writing emails my doctor asked me something that I never really asked myself and maybe you haven't either what do you enjoy doing I didn't know what to answer because that diploma that job that partner that house it was not the answer but what is it took me six months to get clearance from my doctor to get back to work I didn't I got on the first plane and I discovered I love to travel and I started filming my travels or sharing them online and I love connecting with people that way every step that I've taken in my professional and my private life since that burnout had to contribute to my happiness turns out you can make a living doing what you love at the end of that travel year there was only one country left to visit India now wait wait wait let's be real the stories that you hear about India are absolutely horrible so I was terrified but at the same time there was this beautiful Bollywood movie that I saw when I was 15 Devdas it made me so curious about this beautiful country luckily my curiosity won over my fear and I went to India I hope I genuinely hope that I can give you a glimpse of what I felt when I stepped on to Indian soil for the first time I arrived in Kerala Kochi and I got out I got on the local bus driving to Fort Kochi I just felt something actually more important the happiness I felt at peace and I felt content traveling through India I was so surprised to discover so many treasures that the news never bothers to talk about no where in the world will you learn more kindness more gratitude more humbleness more Family Values more hospitality how to work hard but also how to enjoy life to the max and I and I have to honestly say my personal favorite is how humanity prevails over rules sure you must be thinking only money talks in India but coming from an over regulated country it is so refreshing to be able to pay extra and not just here no this is not possible because the rules are the rules India teachers do something that all good parents want to teach their children how to be a good human being so a very recent example that I would like to share with you is when my dad recently came to India he really wanted to make an overnight journey with a tree I booked two tickets way in advance because we were traveling during Diwali time and on the day of our travel we were number one and two on the wait list I met Ken Joel during a Mumbai meetup because she watched my videos and we became friends serendipity has it that her whole family was travelling on that train too when we got to the train station the ticket master told us that we didn't get the tickets Kim Jo's family not only made sure that we got on the train but in good Indian fashion they fed us to death and on the next station we were able to buy our tickets my dad am II really have trouble keeping ourselves together because this is so normal for Indians this kind of hospitality this kind of kindness but having traveled the world I can absolutely tell you it is extraordinary for people to take so much care [Applause] we gotta fast forward in time to 2060 I came back from my second trip in India and I realized this country is my future the peace and content that I found in India was something I was not willing to let go and it made me decide to take that road of dreams but this is not where our journey ends by now some and maybe all of you are thinking this girl just came here to eat Pray Love to find herself especially after that burnout story and you're definitely right about the eating part because one day India will run out of paneer this paneer princess will eat it all but next to the phenomenal food I also genuinely feel a duty to share the beauty of the cup of this country with the world and not just with the world but also with Indians despite of all the horrible stories about that you heard about India there's so much more I genuinely feel that India right now is one of the most underrated roads of dreams in the world and I would like to tell you just two dreams that you can make a reality in India right now the first one is obviously travel is there anybody here who likes to travel okay is there anybody who likes to beaches yes the mountains like the Himalayas how about jungle trips and desert safari see anybody okay so how about a crazy City trip India has it all and on top of that there is this amazing transportation system with buses trains and flights being extremely affordable compared to the rest of the world you have all these apps where you can check the reviews book everything online every hundred kilometers the culture the food the language the people change if you love to travel India is absolutely a dream destination and yes even as a solo female traveler I have hundreds of videos to prove that it's okay it's safe ii dream that you can make a reality in india is business and this is something that's very dear to my heart because I hear so many young Indians being extremely frustrated with bureaucracy with the corruption with the sexism making them think a life abroad is better my own friend a very talented inspiring educated smart woman she just left for the Netherlands of all places in India lost out on an amazing future entrepreneur but at the same time she is also losing out on an opportunity to build a business in one of the most exciting markets in the world right now India has 1.3 billion people I need to repeat that again because it's insane 1.3 billion people who are getting access to cheap Internet making online business a goldmine speaking about internet daily life in India is changing rapidly making the wheels of justice turn faster and bureaucracy less because processes are being automated I don't bargain with my rickshaw anymore he can't rip me off because I just order on uber and pay with my credit card you can get your Indian passport within one day don't get me wrong however I'm not naive even in Bangalore I have to cover up my legs I get shocked reactions from Indians when they see me in bikini and I've experienced racism for the first time in my life which was actually a very humbling experience many people get forced into marriage or at the same time many marriages are being made impossible because the parents don't agree my gay friend has to hide in a straight marriage because he can't share with his parents who he really is change takes time especially with 1.3 billion people however don't let the outside world for you about the potential that India has for the future one of my favorite Bollywood movies is Swedish [Applause] Shahrukh Khan who is a very accomplished engineer in the US he returns to his nanny in a small Indian village and at first he complains about everything that's lacking and everything that's wrong in the village soon he gets put in his place because he realizes that some things don't have price tags family loyalty community sense generosity he also discovers that nothing changes by living or complaining if you are dreaming of a change in India you better start working on it yourself so next to eating all the paneer that I can find I also came to a developing India to build I came here to support India in its rise by showing the beauty of this country one video at a time by supporting the local economy by eating one paneer dish at a time we've arrived at the end of our journey right now YouTube perhaps also stand at a crossroad I'm quite sure because we stand at this crossroad every moment of our lives and I would like to share two ideas with you that might help you make a decision one your parents just want to see you happy my parents are super proud of me that I'm living the life of my dreams in the country of my dreams being content and at peace because that's what I found in India spend as much time and energy and money as you can finding out what that one thing is that you love to do because our parents grew up in different times we have so many new possibilities that we can only make them understand when we explore them ourselves and to this might help you because it's scary taking that road like I said it's full of adventure full of excitement but also lots of changes and full of uncertainty you will get afraid but the one thing that will help you is choosing curiosity over fear thank you for having me [Applause] [Music] you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 672,360

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Travel

Id: I9y_BopoDv8

Length: 17min 46sec (1066 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2019