Planning for a tourist Schengen visa? Go DIY. It's not as hard as it looks

 Do you have upcoming plans for Europe? If you're like me, you must have watched tonnes of YouTube videos, Instagram reels, on how to apply for a Schengen visa, what documents are required, and what if my visa gets rejected? These videos and reels tend to scare you rather than help as most of the videos try fear-mongering to increase watchtime. I was in the same boat as I was planning for a trip to Austria in April 2024. I came across a lot of influencers on Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube, who try to offer their help and assistance but for a fee. Otherwise, they won't answer your query and refer you to their videos and reels. It's not all bad in the influencer space. I came across some really helpful videos as well, which I'll share in this blog.  

A Drive from Jaisalmer to Longewala and Tanot Mata Mandir

Longewala Checkpost

There might be very few people in India who are not aware of Longewala. Longewala holds a special place in Indian history. This is where the battle of Longewala took place and was one of the first major engagement between India and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. JP Dutta's movie Border was based on this battle.

A full day trip at Ramoji Film City

If you are planning to visit Hyderabad for a vacation, or you stay in Hyderabad and looking for a one-day outing place, then think no further and book your tickets for Ramoji Film City. It is recognized by the Guinness Records as the largest film studio complex in the world, spanning 2000 acres. The film city has natural as well as artificial attractions which cater to all age group, from kids to adults. We were on a three-day tour to Hyderabad and decided to visit the film city on our 2nd day of the tour. I had already booked the tickets online but the film city also has ticket counters at the parking area. The general day tour ticket is Rs 1250 for adults and Rs 1000 for kids. There's a premium ticket as well which was for Rs 2350. We were staying in Jubilee Hills and Ramoji film city was quite far from our hotel, so we tried leaving as early as possible. Google maps showed that it would take us around 1 hour 30 minutes. We went through Nehru outer ring road and took an exit as per the maps and finally reached the entry gate.