Karuna Ezara Parikh is a writer and travel show host from Delhi, where she ends up spending very little of her time. We caught up with her on one of her trips back home, to discuss everything from the time she forgot her passport at home, to the one thing she won’t leave a new country without.
Tell us about your personal style? Who are your design influences?
I like comfortable, so I go for soft fabrics and easy cuts. On holiday I like well cut harem pants, dresses that can carry me from beach to bar, crop tops, sunglasses and Birkenstocks.
For more on Karuna’s travel wardrobe, click here.
Planes, trains, or automobiles: your favourite mode of travel and the longest journey you ever took?
There’s this cheeky lyric from an old song that goes, “She says ‘don’t take the plane baby take the train cause I like it real slow'”. I once traveled the entire East coast of India by train alone. That took a while.
Best travel advice you’ve ever received?
I once forgot my passport at home in London which created a great ruckus (mainly caused by me). When I burst into tears, my uncle said to me “So what? It happens.” It’s actually been part of my approach to travel ever since. Crazy things will happen, but isn’t that why we travel?
Favourite souvenirs to bring home?
I always look for a fridge magnet in the shape of local food. So from Japan it was a tiny little sushi roll, from Spain a paella dish, and from France obviously a finger sized bottle of wine.
What do you miss most about home, when traveling?
Over the years it’s been lovers, books and dogs. And not necessarily in that order.
Favourite destinations?
Dusseldorf, Calcutta, The Andamans (oh hey Nicobar!), and anywhere in the mountains.
Dying to visit?
Cuba, Mexico, Alaska, Patagonia
Any odd travel rituals?
I carry my own water and I take a sweatshirt with me no matter where I’m going. I get cold so easily and I’ve spent too many long-haul flights when I was younger, curled up into a shivering sniffling ball. They also make great pillows.
Oh and I never travel in jeans.
What are you reading right now?
Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend and Ann Patchett’s essays – they’re mind-blowingly well written.
You can read Karuna’s writing here, and view her visual poems on her Instagram.
To view Karuna’s picks for an essential holiday wardrobe, click here, and click here for Karuna’s postcard from Israel.
