Mahabaleshwar — My First Proper Trip Without Parents

The journey

This Mahabaleshwar trip will always be a little extra special because it was technically my first proper trip without my parents.

I was visiting family in Pune, and somewhere between random conversations with my cousins Rhea and Karan, somebody suggested, "Why don't we just go to Mahabaleshwar?"

And surprisingly, nobody cancelled. 😂

So suddenly the three of us were packing bags and heading towards the hills.

The drive from Pune was honestly the perfect start. September meant everything was ridiculously green, there were little waterfalls along the way, clouds were hanging super low over the mountains, and every twenty minutes one of us wanted to stop for chai or pictures.

Being my first trip without parents, I initially had this feeling that we needed to be very responsible and organised.

That lasted approximately half a day. 😭

We checked into this really nice **resort surrounded by greenery**, and honestly, some of my best memories from the entire trip happened right there.

We'd originally booked the resort just as a place to stay, but we ended up enjoying it so much that there were moments when none of us even wanted to go sightseeing.

Mornings started slowly with breakfast together and absolutely no urgency to get ready. We'd sit around talking, play games, explore the property, take random pictures and somehow turn completely normal moments into entertainment.

One afternoon we came back to the resort thinking we'd rest for an hour before heading out again.

We never went back out. 😂

We ordered food, put on music and spent the entire evening just chilling together. There was no tourist attraction, no itinerary and nothing particularly exciting happening, but somehow **that became one of the best parts of Mahabaleshwar for me**.

That's the thing about travelling with cousins.

You don't really need plans.

Rhea and I could be discussing something completely normal while Karan would randomly say something stupid from across the room and suddenly all three of us would be laughing for the next ten minutes.

When we actually managed to leave the resort, Mahabaleshwar was gorgeous.

We went around the viewpoints, drove through misty roads, ate strawberries with cream and stopped for hot corn and chai whenever it started raining.

At **Arthur's Seat**, the clouds kept moving across the valley, sometimes completely hiding the view and then suddenly disappearing again. We waited there much longer than planned just watching everything change.

We also visited Venna Lake, where a peaceful boating plan somehow turned into us arguing about who was doing the least work.

Very mature behaviour. 😭

Evenings were mostly spent exploring the market, trying random food and buying strawberries, fudge and things we definitely didn't need.

But when I think about this trip now, it's actually not the sightseeing that comes to mind first.

It's our resort.

Sitting together late at night.

Laughing over absolutely stupid things.

Having breakfast when nobody was fully awake.

Coming back tired after sightseeing and then somehow finding enough energy to talk for another three hours.

Maybe because it was my first proper trip without my parents, everything felt a little more exciting.

A little more independent.

And experiencing that with Rhea and Karan made it even better.

Mahabaleshwar gave us beautiful weather and gorgeous views...

but honestly, the best time was simply the three of us being idiots together at the resort. 🤍

Favourite memory: Coming back to the resort after sightseeing and realising that hanging out there with Rhea and Karan was sometimes more fun than actually going anywhere. 😂