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Moving to Goa: My life-changing decision of shifting base and leaving chaos behind

Komal Bhatia Tiwari

Moving to Goa: Just two years ago I was living in Delhi, with my husband, working with a leading bank as a Relationship Manager. A job, full of unrealistic targets, a relationship full of expectations, roads full of traffic jams, a family full of judgments, a sky full of smog & weekends full of alcohol. Somehow I could not be at peace and was always yearning for solace. 

Then one fine day, we (me & my husband) took a leap of faith and made ‘the big move’. We moved to my favorite holiday destination in India; Goa. I took a transfer in my job & my husband came along due to work from home situation. 

Goa holiday
Sun basking in Goa

After a few months of moving, I opened a cafe & bar in Vagator in Goa. Life took a 360-degree turn. A few more months after I started my venture, I quit my position at the bank and kissed goodbye to corporate life. 

The challenges I faced

If you want to live close to the beach, you got to pay a high price for living. A decent two-bedroom apartment can cost an exorbitant amount of monthly rent. Being a tourist destination, nobody wants to rent out homes for the long term as renting out to tourists earns more revenue. Cheaper options are available only if you settle for an old building or decades-old Portuguese construction. 

There are no taxi aggregator mobile apps or the luxury of availing of home-cleaning, home saloon service in a few phone taps. All you can do is rely on private service providers charging non-competitive high rates. 

Goa Beach
Beach day in Goa

Availing of good medical facilities is a challenge. There is just one good private hospital, 30 km away from the tourist area although there are other average hospitals available close by. By good, I mean private corporate hospitals; the ones we are used to going to in large metros. 

What made me fall in love with Goa 

Population & pollution is quite controlled in Goa which means less traffic, clean air to breathe, open spaces, clean roads, calmer minds & better relationships.

Quite sooner I realized, my “North Indian” appearance made me stand out in most situations especially when I tried to mingle in the crowd as a local.

The best part of living in Goa is the clean air to breathe followed by magical drives along landscapes full of beautiful, water bodies, paddy fields & tropical coconut palms. 

Weekends included sunset-gazing, taking a dip in the sea followed by soaking in the sun. I felt people in Goa (tourist or non-tourist) are much happier & non-judgemental. So there is an inherent sense of freedom and you can simply be yourself. It goes without saying; the nightlife is super chill here and there are so many activities to indulge like live music, night market, heritage walk, music festivals, water sports, social dancing, etc. 

Why I want to continue living in Goa

An added benefit of living in a famous tourist destination is that it is frequented by friends and acquaintances. I meet more friends now than I earlier did living in Delhi.

To sum it up, living here gave a new definition to my lifestyle as the living quality has improved considerably. 

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