National Tourism Day: Tisca Chopra, Divya Dutta, Abhishek Banerjee recall their first solo and buddy trips
From Jaipur in college, to Vaishno Devi after class 12- here are some of your favourite actors recalling the first ever solo or buddy trip they undertook.
Abhishek Banerjee

The first trip I ever took was to Vaishno Devi, right after graduating from 12th standard. I went with my friend, who is now a senior advocate. He was the more street smart Delhi boy and I was the more simple Bengali boy. He actually suggested the trip to pray for our results. I remember we stayed in Jammu at a Dharamshala, and ate some amazing food. We did the trek to Vaishno Devi temple and sought blessings. That three days trip made me fall in love with the hills. Since then, I make sure to head to the mountains whenever I can. Unfortunately, we didn’t have camera phones then, so the memories are etched in our minds rather than the camera.
Sharib Hashmi
The first time I went on a trip with my buddies was in 2009. All thrifty, we went to Pushkar first and then Punjab, and from Punjab, we went to Manali. All the three places had such different and amazing energies. We got to experience the snow covered mountains and had a lot of fun. It strengthened our friendship too. It was one of the most memorable trips of my life and we all had a great time.
Tisca Chopra
If I have to share my first ever solo trip, it was to Edinburgh, after a hectic shoot in Dundee, Scotland. But within India, it was a solo trip to Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh. I work hard, so I had felt the need then to leave the city for some nature therapy and to get the much needed me-time. It turned out to be so good, that now I count is as one among my best trips.
Aahana Kumra
My first ever solo trip was to Paris, but within India, I went to Jaipur with my best friends. She is a great swimmer, and her swimming championship national were happening, many years back. It was so fun, soaking in the culture, everything was so new for me, especially the feeling of managing everything ourselves.
Divya Dutta
My first such trip was a buddy trip in college. Two of my friends and I decided to go to Rajasthan. We first went to Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal... we had read so much about it in our textbooks, and it was as beautiful in real life. We binged on a lot of food from Choki Dhani, went shopping. Being a student, it was such a unique experience now that I think about it... staying at small hotels, hopping into any kind of rickshaw, then calling up parents in the evening to tell them how the day was!
