Welcome, fellow seekers! I'm Sumeeta, the heart and soul behind Sumeeta Seeks. If you're the type of person who craves mindful travel experiences, engages in spiritual exploration, and is dedicated to personal growth, then you’ve come to the right place.

After traveling to over 50 countries, I realized that what I was really searching for was a deeper understanding of myself. My travels were a catalyst for inner growth. They ignited a lifelong passion for learning, and I’m sharing what I’ve learned to empower you.

My mission here at Sumeeta Seeks is to help you build a deeper connection with yourself.

Get to know me quickly

LOCATION:

Austin, TX (my hometown). Before moving back to Texas, I lived in NYC, LA, San Francisco, and Dublin, Ireland.

EDUCATION:

B.B.A. Finance, UT Austin; M.B.A., Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (don’t worry, there’s no boring business stuff on this blog!).

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK?

I do marketing for technology companies. I’ve worked at Twitter, LinkedIn, and Disney.

This blog is my passion project. I do it because I LOVE it. I’m an ENFP so I get really excited when I learn new things, and then I get excited all over again when I get to share those learnings with others!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION?

India. Besides the fact that my parents are from there, the country is a mind-blowing combination of spirituality, culture, ancient sites, and amazing food.

WHAT’S YOUR TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY?

My travel philosophy is to plan well and then leave room for magic to happen. I believe travel can be meaningful, spiritual, and aid in the process of self-discovery.

I’m an advocate for the type of travel that radically transforms - the type where you immerse yourself in another’s world, are humbled by how little you know, and begin to see life from a new lens.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE BOOKS? 

Yes! I love reading (and writing) about personal growth, self-love, and spirituality. My current favorites are Untamed, Many Lives Many Masters, and Autobiography of a Yogi.

WHAT WILL I LEARN HERE?

You’ll find a collection of posts to help you explore your inner and outer worlds, or what I like to call spiritual travel.

This includes:

• Tips for cultivating self-love including affirmations, quotes, songs, and exercises

• Yogic principles for growing your inner peace

• Motivational interviews with inspiring individuals

• Travel recommendations for spiritual hubs like Mt. Shasta, Esalen, Big Island, and India

• Articles on transformative experiences, such as a Mayan womb cleansing, a cacao ceremony, and a Latvian sauna ritual

• Simplified packing lists so you can focus on the parts of travel that really matter

Get to know me a little better

MY STORY

I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. My parents emigrated from India, and raised my brother and I with a mixture of American and Indian values.

Even though I’d never ventured out beyond our little Texas bubble, I was an innately curious child. My mom says my favorite question was “But, why?” (cue adorable baby voice). I wanted to understand why the moon only came out at night, why I couldn’t do what grown-ups did, and most importantly, why I couldn’t have cookies for breakfast.

Everything changed when my mom got a job at a major airline when I was seven. All of a sudden, I was flying cross country solo to visit my grandma, taking 4-day excursions with my family to London and Paris, and transforming my childhood curiosity into full-fledged wanderlust.

MY EUROPEAN CHAPTER

By the time I graduated college, I was ready to get out of Texas! I started feeling an acute awareness of how limited my time here on earth was. And, as an explorer and seeker at heart, I was determined to see as much of the world as I possibly could.

I spent a few years living in NYC. Being in that environment with so many dreamers made me start to believe that anything was possible.

With this newfound self-belief, I found the courage to move out to Dublin, Ireland to study theater. While there, I took full advantage of any vacation days I had by traipsing all over Europe.

Snapshots from Europe:

MY FIRST SOLO ADVENTURE

I came back to America, and moved out west to Los Angeles. But after a couple years, I started getting itchy feet again. Feeling anxious about time slipping away, I decided to take action.

I spent my free time sprawled out on the floor of my local bookshop scrolling through travel guides, photography books, and blogs. Up to that point, I’d only traveled with friends and family. But, reading stories from solo explorers convinced me that traveling alone was an important rite of passage.

My decision was made: I was going to backpack alone around Southeast Asia!

I spent four months roaming around, living hostel life, and making new friends from around the world. I immersed myself in local cultures, attended rituals, rode motorbikes on unpaved mountain roads, and did homestays in the countryside.

That trip changed my life and transformed who I was from the inside out. I’ve never looked at the world the same way since.

Snapshots from Southeast Asia:

DISCOVERING MY PASSION FOR YOGA

When I got back from Asia, I moved to New Hampshire for grad school. It was also at this time that I started attending yoga classes regularly.

It was a stressful time in my life, but for that one hour of class my anxious mind went completely silent. I felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in a long while, and I was hooked.

That was the beginning of my lifelong love affair with yoga. That passion has taken me on several yoga retreats to study with amazing teachers from all over the world. It also motivated me to deepen my own practice by completing a yoga teacher training.

Studying yoga around the world:

MY SEASON OF ENDLESS WANDERING

After my solo adventure in Southeast Asia, travel became my central focus. That adventure had given me some of the greatest moments of my life, and I became obsessed with chasing those highs again. I spent all my money and every break I got out exploring the world, from Africa to Europe to South and Central America.

I created a color-coded spreadsheet where I listed out every single country and travel experience I wanted to accomplish in my lifetime.

• Hike the W Trek in Patagonia? Check.

• Go on a safari in Africa? Check.

• Celebrate the end of the world with the Mayans in Mexico? Check.

• Go cage diving with sharks? Check.

The list went on and on, and the more I traveled, the more I wanted to see. I had an insatiable drive to do and see it all.

On the practical side of things, I had finished grad school and was working a full-time job in San Francisco by now. I would sit at my desk and stare at that spreadsheet day after day, and wonder how I would ever have the time to complete everything.

Snapshots from trekking the globe:

MY SPIRITUAL TRAVEL AWAKENING

Everything came to a head when I decided to take a year off to travel the world. I was afraid to do it, but I realized that if I didn’t prioritize my bucket list, it was never going to happen.

So I gave up my rent-controlled apartment, sold all my belongings except for two suitcases’ worth, and set off to do all the things I had spent years dreaming of: hiking in Switzerland, surfing in Portugal, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, cooking school in Tuscany, and exploring art in Berlin. I also added one more important leg to the journey: backpacking around India.

The year before, my grandma had passed away. She was a huge influence on my life, and the key connection I had to my Indian heritage. I realized that it was up to me to build my own connection with India, otherwise it might slip away forever.

As I worked my way through Europe, I found myself getting frustrated that I wasn’t reaching the same highs that travel had given me before. No matter what incredible things I saw or did, nothing filled me up. I felt hollow inside, but I kept pushing on because I felt like I would fail if I didn’t cross everything off my list.

When I arrived in India, I arranged to study yoga for six weeks with Saraswathi Jois, daughter of K. Pathabi Jois. I woke up at 4am every morning to practice yoga for three hours, and then the rest of my days were free. I needed something else to do with my time.

While searching for something to beat the boredom, I saw a Facebook ad to study yoga philosophy. The next day, I was sitting on the floor of a man’s living room as he began his lecture: Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1.

All of a sudden, everything made sense. It was like I’d finished connecting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and I was suddenly able to see the whole picture. My unquenchable desire to wander the globe, the dissatisfaction I’d felt in Europe, the restless energy coursing through my body…had all conspired to bring me to this very moment.

I didn’t need to search anymore. I had found what I was looking for.

Snapshots from India:

THE START OF MY SELF-LOVE JOURNEY

I continued my studies of yogic principles, working my way through the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Upanishads. I ultimately came to the realization that all my wandering was stemming from a desire to know myself: Who am I and why am I here?

I still can’t answer those questions entirely, but I get closer everyday. And my relationship with traveling has changed as a result. I still love exploring (and always will) but I don’t need it anymore.

When I do travel, I strive for it to be conscious, mindful travel that progresses my inner growth. Some of my favorite recent experiences have been: a Shamanic women’s retreat in Guatemala, an Ayurveda retreat in India, and multiple silent meditation retreats. I’ve also started enjoying staying local during holidays, catching up on reading about spirituality and the divine feminine.

In line with my pursuit of spiritual travel, I visited Ubud, Bali in 2019. While there, I signed up for a self-love workshop out of curiosity. That ended up being the start of my self-love journey, a topic I write about extensively on this blog.

During the workshop, I noticed how unkindly I was talking to myself in my thoughts, words, and actions. It was a painful revelation, and I vowed to do better.

At the end of the workshop, she told us to tell the group something we wanted to do, but weren’t doing because we were afraid. My response was to start a blog - something I’d been wanting to do for years, but hadn’t because I was scared to put myself out there.

I committed to myself and the group that I’d launch a blog within six weeks of that day. And that was the beginning of Sumeeta Seeks!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. I hope this blog leaves you feeling rejuvenated, inspired, and ready to embark on your own transformative journey.

If you’d like to say hello, drop me a line :)

With love,

Sumeeta