This couple spent just ₹1.2 lakh for a holiday in Azerbaijan. How?
More Indians are holidaying abroad than ever before. The Reserve Bank of India’s data on outward foreign remittance in FY24 confirms this, as overseas travel was the primary source of outflows at 53%. This includes business travel as well, but empirical data and reports highlight the current craze among Indians for foreign holidays.
For those who want to quench their wanderlust, Mint is launching a series that will capture the costs and experiences of various international destinations through the personal stories of travellers.
Here, Bengaluru-based Navdha Khera, director at a fintech company, and her husband Kshitij Jain, founder of a travel startup, share their story of travelling to Azerbaijan:
Right before my 30th birthday, my husband Kshitij seeded the idea of our own version of the 30-under-30 list – visiting 30 countries before hitting 30 years of age! At the time I had visited 28 countries and had just 15 days to achieve the feat. The goal was to zero in on destinations that wouldn’t burn a hole in our finances and give us visas on short notice. Azerbaijan ticked all the boxes.
We began the search by looking for flights from Bengaluru to “anywhere". Flights to Abu Dhabi were unusually cheap and all flights to Baku, capital city of Azerbaijan, from Bengaluru were via Abu Dhabi. That’s how we settled on Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi.
The fact that Azerbaijan is all the rage on Instagram right now was also a major factor in our decision. It is known as a cheaper version of Europe, so the decision wasn't just about the budget – we were excited to see what the hype was all about.
Having visited 28 countries, we are seasoned travellers and managed to spend just about ₹1.3 lakh for this week-long trip. The four days in
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