: ‘A Bike-Turned-Food Stall Funded My Solo Rides to 10 Indian States, Myanmar Nepal’ #IndiaNEWS #Food On 1 April 2021, Pala, Kottayam native Jibin Madhu packed a bag with a few clothes and other

‘A Bike-Turned-Food Stall Funded My Solo Rides to 10 Indian States, Myanmar Nepal’ #IndiaNEWS #Food
On 1 April 2021, Pala, Kottayam native Jibin Madhu packed a bag with a few clothes and other necessities and left his home in search of a job. While his Yamaha FZ had a full tank of petrol, his wallet had just Rs 5,000. But he was certain that a steady, full-time job would never work for him as he wanted to explore new things. So, he decided to spend many days at different destinations, work somewhere for not more than a month, earn money and travel to another place.

However, his ‘short’ trip was extended to one year, three months and 17 days, where the 24-year-old visited Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and even crossed Nepal and Myanmar, turning it into an ‘international, all-India’ trip.

Interestingly, his parents and friends came to know about this adventure through his Instagram posts and YouTube videos, and they tried to talk him out of it. But even with limited amenities and overcoming extreme climatic conditions, he explored new territories on his two-wheeler.

“From when I could remember, I was interested in travelling. Nearby hills, rivers and tourist spots were the destinations then and it slowly expanded,�? says Jibin, the hotel management graduate. “Since I was a teenager, an all-India trip was always my dream. �?

Jibin Madhu the solo traveller.

“Having said this, I had no prior experience of taking such a long journey alone. I thought bagging a part-time job would be easy but that was the toughest part of the whole trip. It was only after meeting 14-15 people that I got to work in a dhaba, that too with meagre wages,�? shares the rider.

A two-wheeler food stall

When finding jobs at different locations became a task and his wallet felt lighter, Jibin decided to make use of the available resources to start a food stall on his bike. He had a kerosene stove and a few utensils along with some Kerala matta rice. He purchased some more items to serve noodles, bread omelette and tea to travellers on his route. The kitchen was set up on the bike’s top box where water and fuel were stored. Everything felt simple as he had prior experience in a kitchen.

“In the high altitude areas of the eastern part, there are barely any food stalls. I began my business here and it was an instant success. I bought the ingredients from the valleys. When Keralites visited, I served them boiled rice too and I earned Rs 500-600 per day from my two-wheeler food stall,�? says Jibin.

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He also adds that it was during the ride that he saw many people running such stalls on their vehicles.