An Extreme Bent Of Mind

Founder of an offbeat and expeditionary travel communty, Nidhi Salgame exemplifies the idea of courage, fearlessness and the spirit of adventure

- Manvi Pant

At age seven, Nidhi Salgame undertook a difficult outdoor journey encouraged by her parents who wanted to make their daughter independent. Little did they know she would get hooked and make a life and career out of it.

The founder and director of the off-beat and expeditionary travel community Wander Beyond Boundaries (WBB), Nidhi began trekking and mountaineering when still a little girl. At the age of 11, she went on her first Himalayan expedition. By 13, she became an adventure trip leader in the Western Ghats. At 17, hoping to study ‘outdoor education’, which was not offered by most colleges in India, she quit her studies to build her experience around real learning. “It was tough to convince my parents, but I guess I sailed through,” recalls the adventurist, who was raised in Bengaluru in a middle-class family. Her mother is a retired scientist with a PhD in dairy microbiology and her father has been an engineer with Bosch. As Nidhi puts it, her father is the inspiration behind her flawless driving skills and her passion for vehicles.

But apart from that, it has taken conviction and perseverance of her own to map this journey – from carrying her children on her back while hiking into the wilderness to even building her own jeep.