I remember telling the guy interviewing me in my first job interview - ”I can’t really tell you too much about myself as I am yet to go and figure out who I am’. Many years later, the story hasn’t changed. That’s me – Aparna or should I say Ninja. Why Ninja?

First and foremost, its my Capoeira nickname. For those who don’t know what is Capoeira, look it up here. Baba, my Capoeira teacher gave me this nickname after I did a few cartwheels in an MTV ad as a Ninja. Ofcourse, he did mention that I play a sly and lethal game like a Ninja. Either way, I respond to Ninja just like I respond to Aparna or Apu. Ninja also stands for ‘No-Income-No-Job-Aparna’ – the name I went with when I quit my job to trip around South America in 2008. Had all the time in the world but very little money. So, just managed life with a backpack and fell in love with it. So, that’s how Backpacking Ninja came into being.

All these years later, life hasn’t changed much. I am still crazy about travel. I still do some cartwheels and capoeira whenever I find green fields. I love living out of a backpack. However, I am not on the road all the time. I am fully employed and somehow manage to take weeks off to travel in between. And, I am still a Ninja.

So, this blog is my journey…. the journey of a Ninja who is constantly in search of the perfect balance, which may or may not exist – between the corporate world, backpacking, capoeira, blogging, family, friends and everything she falls in love with everyday.