About me

Hey all, its me Jerry again and this is my story.

Let me start with my name—it’s JERIL JOSEPH VADAKKAN (Call me Jerry). I come from a place known as God’s Own Country in India called Kerala. But I live in Singapore, and it’s one of the reasons why I travel around Asian countries a lot…

The only person who used to call me Jerry was my sister, and we were exactly like Tom and Jerry from the cartoons, like most siblings (Even her email ID is Tom & Jerry). During my first solo trip to Nepal, I met someone from Australia, and he introduced himself to me as, “My name is Bentley, like the car.” In return, I responded, “Name is Jerry, as in Tom & Jerry.” After that, I kept saying that to everyone during the entire trip, and now it’s much easier for me to introduce myself like that. Thus, the name “Jerry’s Worlds” was born.

If my memory serves me right, the world of travel, hikes, and outdoor activities opened up to me when I was 10. I joined the Scouts and Guides back in school, and the main reason I joined was to gain some extra points for my finals. But somehow, it turned me into the person I am today…

My first hike was at 10, and we used an actual compass and signs to navigate our way to the final point. Of course, it was a small hill near my house. That 984-foot hill became my first summit in the long list of summits to come. 😁

Five years in Scouts provided me with a lot of such hikes, and my favorite part during this time was the campfire sessions. I don’t know how many campfires I had during this period, but it’s a shame that I only had 3 to 5 campfires after the Scouts, spanning 14 years—way fewer than those 5 years. (Need more campfires 🔥)

The next big change in my life came in 2016. After completing my first year of diploma studies in Chennai, I was selected to continue my education in Singapore. On April 17, 2016, I boarded my first international flight. Even though it wasn’t a vacation trip, the excitement of going to another country to study and make a living, along with being there with friends from the past year, was exhilarating.

In 2017, I came back to India for a small holiday. Things had changed. I had become a different person. See, when you live in India, you don’t do part-time jobs as a young person like in other countries, so you don’t have money to do the things you enjoy. You constantly need to ask for permission, money, and prove yourself capable before leaving. Before leaving for Singapore, I only went to places with my cousins. I couldn’t do anything unless my cousin brothers were with me—whether it was going to a new mall or swimming in the pond. I can’t entirely blame my parents for this… maybe they would have let me go if I asked. The idea of doing things alone never crossed my mind, so I never thought to ask. (I did my first solo trip in 2023—took a long time to fall in love with solo traveling 🥰)

During those small holiday gaps in 2017, I told my parents, “I’m going for a one-day bike ride with my friend.” To my surprise, they simply said yes. See, one year in Chennai before moving to Singapore and making money through part-time jobs helped me prove to them that I was capable of handling things on my own.

It was a fun trip—going to see a waterfall in the woods, combined with some trekking and a lot of good memories. My friend, Binto (you’ll hear a lot about him), and I lost our way on the road and in the woods, rode in the scorching sun, and even had a flat tire. But it was an awesome trip filled with lots of memories. 😍

The next trip happened one year later. I completed my studies and surprisingly got a job too. I came back to India to get my visa approved and step into the corporate world. It wasn’t just me and my friend; it was a bike trip with a bunch of my friends to a place called KERALAMKUNDU. The most memorable part of this trip was receiving my visa approval email during a tea break. Everyone was happy 😊

In November 2018, I was excited for many reasons. This was a trip me and my friends had been planning for some time. We booked an overnight camping trip in the deep corners of beautiful Wayanad, a place named 900 Kandi. This was my first backpacking experience. I also bought my first phone from my own salary. So, a lot was going on…

We packed ourselves and waited for the bus near my home. I had always liked taking photos, but with my new phone (Pixel 3XL), I started to take a lot more pictures. We met some amazing people there—just pure souls. We spent the entire night talking, sitting in the cold waters of small rivers in the deep forest, exchanging stories around the burning logs (my first campfire since 2011). We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and took a small trek in the woods. It was perfect and holds another memory for me. This is the trip where I started recording videos and made my first travel film. 🤩

I had been having a rough 8 months at my first job just before this trip. It might have been because it was my first job, and I didn’t know how to react to the people at work. I gained nothing from that job except sleepless nights and bad memories. I still hate the songs I used to hear during that time—it brings back those memories. The only good thing that happened during those 8 months was that they eventually ended. The first thing I did when I returned from the trip was submit my resignation letter.

2019: A New Year, A New Beginning

I ended 2018 on a high note with a job offer from a company I would come to love (and still work for today!). I had a month off before joining, and naturally, I headed back to India. January is one of my favorite times to visit—the festivals, the energy, and the constant celebrations make it such a vibrant experience. During my stay, I managed to squeeze in a two-day car trip through the forested routes of Valparai. It’s a popular destination for bikers, known for its natural beauty and mysterious vibes that left a lasting impression on me.

The year kept growing stronger. After starting my new job, I decided to make time every weekend to explore Singapore’s hiking trails. Despite living in Singapore for three years, I had never explored much beyond the cityscape. In fact, I hadn’t even seen the Merlion statue! So, a few of my friends—who also worked in the same company—decided to explore all the hiking locations in Singapore, and it felt amazing to discover the beauty that had been right under our noses.

This sense of adventure led us to plan our first international trip.

Don’t get your hopes too high, though—we’re talking about Malaysia. Even though it’s just a bus ride away from Singapore, none of us had ever visited before. So, we got our visas and rented a car for a four-day road trip, heading straight to the heart of Malaysia.

We started from Johor Bahru (JB), the closest point to Singapore, and made our way to Kuala Lumpur, stopping at various locations along the way. We visited the Petronas Twin Towers, explored the Batu Caves, and took a detour to Genting Highlands. We had been living under the same roof for years, but this trip created memories that would stay with us forever.

As the travel bug bit harder, we planned our next trip, this time with a larger group of friends. Almost our entire batch joined us, and we set off for Thailand 🇹🇭. It’s impossible to cover an entire country in just a few days, so we chose to focus on Phuket, one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations.

We rented bikes and explored the island, and I crossed off a bunch of activities from my bucket list. I had never done anything adventurous before, but Phuket gave me the chance to try parasailing, bungee jumping, zip-lining, and even scuba diving—all within a few days! It was an experience I’ll never forget.

The Big Leap: India, 14 Days of Adventure

After returning from Thailand, I felt like I needed more. Up until then, my longest trip had been only 4 or 5 days, so I decided to go bigger—14 days. Since my budget didn’t allow me to go for an international adventure, I chose to explore my home country, India.

There was a destination I had always dreamed of visiting—Kullu Manali, one of the top places every traveler in India dreams of. During that time, everyone was talking about it, so I called my friend, Binto, back in India.

 Me: “Oru trip poyalo?” (Wanna go on a trip?)
Binto: “Evdeeka?” (Where to?)
Me: “Athokinde nee indaa?” (Are you in?)
Binto: “Ha, eedhu pothikanelum njan unde.” (Yeah, I’m in, no matter what!)
Me: “Enna vaa Delhilu meet cheyyam.” (Let’s meet in Delhi!)

He took a 48-hour train journey from Kerala to Delhi, and we greeted each other at the Delhi railway station. From there, we hopped on a 12-hour bus to Kullu Manali.

It was the early days of February 2020, and though rumors of a virus in China were circulating, we weren’t too concerned. We were excited to travel, but we took precautions—buying masks and wearing them while roaming around Delhi. Little did we know, we were probably among the first people in the streets of Delhi wearing masks (we all know how that turned out).

Visiting Kullu Manali was a dream. We had reasons of our own for coming here—our first multi-day backpacking trip, hiking to a beautiful homestay (Tentgram, Kutla), and the best part—seeing snow. Having spent 90% of my life in South India and the rest in Singapore, I had never experienced snow before. It felt like stepping into a whole new world.

My friend Binto decided to start vlogging for his new YouTube channel. I wasn’t a fan of the idea at first; it felt like it would take away from the pure joy of experiencing the moment. (Little did I know, I’d end up doing the same thing in the future!).

Himachal was a real eye-opener for me. We connected with the locals, heard their stories, and joined them on hikes and other fun activities. I had never hiked up a 3000-meter mountain or camped in the snow, but here I was doing both. It ignited a passion that would burn inside me for years to come, changing my life forever.

We had planned for a 14-day trip, with 7 days in Himachal and the other 7 days in Varanasi, the cultural capital of India. But then, the news of the deadly virus spreading from China began to dominate the headlines. The possibility of borders closing and getting stuck in India grew. It would have been easier to return to Kerala, but returning to Singapore was becoming more uncertain.

So, we made the difficult decision to cut the trip short, skipping Varanasi (I still haven’t visited it). It was a sad ending to a beautiful journey, but looking back, it was an unforgettable adventure.

A World After Covid-19

Year 2022. A lot had changed in the last two years. The world came to a halt. Covid wiped out my entire 2020 travel plans, but things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Looking back, I can say I didn’t waste those two years. In terms of travel, yes, but in terms of personal growth, I didn’t lose much.

In 2019, I met a beautiful young lady from my new job. We started to get to know each other, and it turned into something more. After seven months of ups and downs, she finally said yes. We continued our relationship during the Covid period. Luckily for me, we enrolled in our degree course just before Covid hit, so everything moved online. The only reason I joined the course was because of her—I knew I wasn’t capable of studying again. But to my surprise, we both completed the course successfully. I was happy I took the course because it allowed me to stay productive during the Covid lockdown, which, as I mentioned earlier, wasn’t entirely a waste.

Fast forward to September 2022: we’re getting married. 💒 After all the laughter and fun on our wedding day, there was one more thing every couple needs to do: the honeymoon trip. By this point, I had become somewhat of an expert in creating itineraries. I spent hours researching places I wanted to visit, figuring out the best things to do in each destination. I was traveling independently, without an agency, because I believed that traveling with an agency would take away the freedom and flexibility to explore. I don’t like being tied down. So, I created my itinerary to explore the islands of Bali, Indonesia.

It was supposed to be a six-day trip, but after enjoying it for a couple of days, we decided to extend it to ten days. My wife, Akhila, loved every bit of it—the locations, the experiences, and biking through the entire island. It turned out to be a perfect honeymoon trip. Still, she was a bit upset about something. Before Bali, my last trip had been to Himachal before Covid. Even though I didn’t vlog the entire trip like my friend did, I decided to take some footage so I could create a cinematic video of my Himachal trip, and I did. During the Covid period, I had managed to acquire a new camera—the Sony A7III Alpha. So, I planned to make a montage of my Bali trip as well. But while I was recording footage during our honeymoon, she started to feel a bit uneasy. I couldn’t blame her; I came to Bali to spend time with her, not with my camera. 😁

The Big Change

After spending a good amount of time in Bali, we were both pretty tired, but my hunger for travel was about to soar. There was something I had wanted to do for a long time, something I had been telling Akhila about doing in February. Of course, she didn’t take me seriously, until I booked my tickets.

I booked a 20-day trip—an adventurous journey to conquer the base of the highest point in the world: Everest Base Camp. I had been dreaming of doing this for a long time, but it’s not something you can just jump into without preparation. You need to be mentally and physically ready for a journey like this—a journey that was going to change me in more ways than I could imagine.

After extensive research, I was 100% sure this trip would change me forever. So, I told Akhila and the rest of my family that I would be a completely different person after this trip—a man who was pumped to travel even more. And so, it happened. I packed my bags and left for Nepal.

Nepal greeted me with numerous challenges: lost luggage, canceled flights, and countless other obstacles. It was shaping me in ways I had never experienced before. And on top of it all, I was alone—my first solo trip. I started making friends from the flight itself, gathering everything I could from others, and after enduring freezing temperatures and high altitudes, I finally reached the base camp. The excitement overwhelmed me, and I don’t even remember what I did once I got there.

Before reaching Everest Base Camp, I had made a decision: I should start a travel vlog (something I had been poked about since 2020). My initial plan was to vlog in English to reach a wider audience. But after failing a few attempts to speak English in front of the camera before starting my trek, I decided to quit trying in English and switch to Malayalam—my native tongue. I spent time researching the next locations I would visit so I could vlog properly, even preparing a list of things to say when I reached Base Camp. But as I mentioned earlier, the excitement got the better of me, and I forgot everything.

When I returned from Nepal, after completing a successful solo adventure, I knew I had a lot to focus on, especially my YouTube channel.

I started my YouTube channel back in 2016, around the same time I began watching YouTube. Growing up in a village in a third-world country, my exposure to technology was slow. Even though YouTube had already been established for a decade and many knew you could make money from it, I didn’t even know what YouTube was at first. Once I understood it, I created a channel and uploaded a movie song.

My first upload was in 2016, and my next one came four years later, after my Himachal trip. Up until I uploaded my Everest Base Camp video in 2023, I posted a variety of videos—travel, cinematic, documentary, animation, and pretty much anything I could try. I was excited to create the life-changing video of my Base Camp trek. The video turned out well, and I still love it. But since I vlogged everything in Malayalam and the channel had been around for so long with various types of content, I decided to create a new channel entirely dedicated to my travel vlogs in Malayalam. I named it VadakkanTrekTales (I’m still posting videos there, if you’re interested, take a look).

I needed to travel more, to feed my hunger and make more content. 2023 was a huge upgrade for my travel life. I kept traveling: to Nepal in February, Bintan Indonesia in March, Munnar in April, Java, Indonesia in August, and finally, Sumatra’s jungles in December. I traveled with Akhila, with friends, and also solo.

Visiting my sister’s family in Abu Dhabi marked my first trip of 2024. Akhila and I had a great time in the UAE, visiting the top attractions in Dubai, and Sharjah’s safari was one of the best. I couldn’t complete the trip without some adventure, so I rode the world’s longest zipline—a 2.8 km stretch, reaching speeds of nearly 150 km/h. That was the moment of the year. 😁

I visited India a couple of times before my next adventure. My mind was craving something bigger. Even though I had traveled after Everest Base Camp, I hadn’t done anything particularly challenging. The desire to push myself to my limits, combined with the excitement of meeting new people, made me book my next ticket. I pushed myself to travel to a country where I would be challenged in every way possible—physically, mentally, and culturally. Planning for this trip was different from any I had done before. Language was a problem, plans were minimal, and to explore more freely, I booked a 20-day solo trip to the Land of the Rising Sun: Japan.

Japan – A Country to Visit At Least Once

Japan is one of those countries you should visit at least once in your lifetime (I know, everyone says that, but let me tell you why). It’s a place where you can experience everything. The people are unbelievably kind, the places are stunning, and the food is out of this world. From nature lovers to city explorers, everyone will find something to love here. It’s probably a country I could see myself spending the rest of my life in (I’ll update you on that in the coming months, you’ll see why). It’s perfect in so many ways. I have so many fond memories from the locals, and I even got a tattoo to remember one of those experiences. Let me share the story (I can’t skip this part).

I visited Japan in mid-July during an unbearably hot summer—the hottest one in years. To make matters worse, I was lugging around a 15 kg backpack, which wasn’t easy (only myself to blame). One afternoon, I was waiting for a train, drenched in sweat despite being inside an AC room. I was doing my best to cover up the sweat with a towel (apologies if my sweat made you uncomfortable, please bear with me).

That’s when an elderly man sitting next to me handed me a “Harisen” (a Japanese paper fan). Even though I initially hesitated, he insisted I take it. He even took out his own fan to show me how to use it to ease my sweating. When his train arrived, I returned his fan, but he refused to take it back. He said I could keep it and use it for the heat.

There was no need for him to do that. I was just a random stranger at a train station, but he went out of his way to make me feel comfortable in that intense heat. It was such a kind gesture, and moments like that stayed with me throughout my trip. People went out of their way to help me—directing me to my destination, offering me drinks, inviting me inside. These beautiful memories will stay with me forever whenever I think of Japan (I’d love to hear your own travel memories in the comments below). That’s why I love this country.

After spending an unforgettable 20 days in Japan, I came back with a suitcase full of good memories and countless stories to tell. My next trip was planned to Krabi, Thailand, with friends. We had an amazing time—exploring new places, trying different local foods (yes, I ate a few insects), and revisiting the Phi Phi Islands after my first trip to Thailand in 2018.

As 2024 came to a close, I was preparing for my final adventure of the year, to a place I had been longing to visit for a while. I decided to ring in the new year there for a fresh start. By this point, I hadn’t posted any new videos to my channel in months, and to be honest, I had been a bit lazy. But I decided it was time to push myself further with my travel plans for the upcoming year. I had also been diving into the world of blogging and was planning to launch my new travel blog after my January 2025 trip.

On December 31, 2024, I landed in Taiwan—an underappreciated gem in Asia. Taiwan is less touristy than many other destinations, and like many who visit, my main reason for coming was hiking. I had always wanted to summit Yushan, Taiwan’s highest peak. After celebrating the best New Year’s Eve of my life and exploring much of the country, I finally completed the Yushan Summit (3,952 meters) with my friends. As I mentioned earlier, Japan is one of my favorite countries, but Taiwan felt like the perfect place for me. It offers everything—nature, safety, culture—without overdoing anything.

When I returned from my 10-day trip to Taiwan, the first thing I did was create this website. I want to share my journey and my stories with all of you—not just the facts, but my personal experiences, my thoughts, and how I felt along the way. You’re all a part of this journey.

My wife once asked my mother if she was afraid that I go on all these adventurous solo trips. My mother replied, “I don’t know about all these things, but one thing I’m sure of is that no matter what happens, he’ll always come back home.” Every time I go on a trip, these words echo in my mind. To explain why she said that, let me take you back to my first-ever solo trip—not the one I did in 2023 to Everest Base Camp, but something I did much earlier, and much younger.

It’s 2001, and I’m a 5-year-old who holds his mother’s hand wherever he goes. We’re visiting my uncle’s new house for his housewarming party. I’ve never been there before that day. After the party, we all decided to go to a movie. Since my mother didn’t want to join, I went with my cousins and aunts.

After the movie, as everyone was heading out of the theater, I somehow ended up going out through the door on my right, while my cousins and the rest of the family went out through the left. Once I was outside, standing in the crowd of people coming out, I couldn’t spot any of my relatives. I couldn’t find my sister.

I wandered around for a while, not knowing where I was headed—I just kept walking. I eventually walked out of the crowded area in front of the theater and onto the road. Did I stop and wait for them? No. I just kept walking. I’m not sure what was going through my mind at the time.

After walking for a while, I came to a 4-way junction where I could change my direction. I don’t remember what prompted me to take the left road, but I chose it and continued walking. I still remember the sound of a dog barking from a nearby house and the small drops of rain coming down from above.

I kept walking, not knowing anyone on the road or where I was going. I just walked—God knows what I was thinking. After some time, I saw a familiar face standing in front of a house. It was my mom. I walked straight to her, and to my surprise, I found myself standing at my uncle’s new house. My uncle later asked about the family members who were with me, only to discover they were still searching for me near the theater, thinking they had lost me.

That was the longest 1.7 km I’ve ever walked. It felt like an endless journey with my tiny legs. You have to understand the difficulty of finding a lost 5-year-old child in India in 2001, especially without the help of Google Maps (which wasn’t available yet). I would have never recognized the house if I hadn’t seen my mom because I’d only been there once.

I did something similar again when I was about 10. I had a torn note that I was supposed to give to the bus conductor, and I was afraid he’d scold me for it, so I decided to walk the whole way home instead. By the time I got back, much later than expected, my mother was standing outside the house, waiting for me. It was my first solo bus ride.

When I was 13, I told my mom I’d be going to my cousin’s house for a function after my class. Of course, I got lost on the way there, and once again, she was waiting for me, long past the time I was supposed to arrive.

Looking back, I realize I had some crazy adventures even before I truly started my solo journeys. That’s why my mom always said she knew I’d find my way back home.

So, once again, I invite all of you to be a part of my journey and my stories.

If you’ve made it this far, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. And don’t forget to subscribe!

See you on the next adventure…