From a Yellow Passport to 90+ Countries: How an Expired Dream Turned Into a Life of Travel

A Summer Call That Changed My Destiny

It was the scorching summer of 2000 when my father called me for something unusual. I walked into the room, clueless, only to find him sitting with a man I had never met before, Saxena Uncle. He was my father’s old colleague from a cement company, now living in Kota, the city that had a passport office. Back then, applying for an Indian passport was a serious affair. There were no online forms, no instant appointments, and no shortcuts.

To my surprise, my father wanted to apply for mine.

I was confused. Why would a jobless engineer need a passport when I couldn’t even get a decent job at home?

But my father saw something I couldn’t. He carried a quiet belief that I would fly someday, that my future extended far beyond the boundaries I could see at that moment. Sometimes, your future does not depend only on luck, marks, or education. It depends on a parent’s vision and their prayers. That belief becomes invisible wings long before you learn how to use them.

At the time, it felt unnecessary. Almost illogical.

But that decision would later give birth to the story of my passport and why I call it my yellow passport travel story will be explained later.

The Struggle Before the Take-Off

The early 2000s were a tough time. The dot-com bubble had burst, jobs were scarce, and fresh engineers like me were stuck between unpaid internships and fading hope.

Yet my father carried a quiet belief that someday his son would work abroad and travel internationally. While I slogged through a one-year apprenticeship for experience, he and Saxena Uncle took care of the paperwork. The passport process took nearly eight months, long enough for me to forget about it completely.

Little did I know that small blue booklet would one day change my life.

My First Passport: A Symbol of Hope

By the time my passport arrived in 2001, I had already moved to Noida for my first sales job, selling telephone machines door to door. My father called excitedly and said, “Your passport is here.” I told him to keep it safe as I never imagined that whether it will be used anytime in near future.

Life moved fast, from Noida to Mumbai and that passport quietly gathered dust.

It wasn’t until the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that I began thinking seriously about working overseas.

In 2009, destiny played its card. I got a job in Qatar, and that decade-old passport finally received its first stamp. It was greatly delayed, but never the full stop to your travel dream.

The Lost Mumbaikar Says:

“Sometimes what feels like a delay is just the universe setting up your runway”.

A Yellowed Passport, But a Golden Beginning

My father had kept that passport safely, though years of heat slowly turned it yellow with age. Just imagine, a passport issued in 2001, but technically used only in 2009. Nine long years resting in the dust of Morak quietly transformed a white passport into one with yellowed pages. That is why I call it, my yellow passport.

And yet, despite its age, it carried no stamps, as untouched and hopeful as my excitement when I finally landed in Qatar on February 14, 2009. Old on the outside, brand new on the inside. Just like the journey that was about to begin.

My first visa and first residency permit brought a thrill that is hard to describe. The following year, I visited Dubai, and suddenly that forgotten document became a book of dreams.

Three pages filled. Fifty-seven more to go.

When a Friend’s Tease Sparked My Wanderlust

Years later, when it was time to renew my passport, I met my friend Vivek in a parking lot. Seeing my excitement, he joked and asked why I looked so happy.

When I told him it was expiring, he smiled and said:

“Count your passports by pages used, not by expiry dates.”

That line hit me hard.

I decided right there that I would never let a passport expire half-empty again. That was the day the traveler inside me was born.

Travel changes your mindset because it is not just about places; it is about perspectives.

A Mentor, a New Job, and My First Schengen Visa

After a few years in Qatar, life took another turn. My three-year contract was coming to an end, and I knew it was time to move forward. I wanted to change jobs, but at that time, switching employers in Qatar was not easy. That was when someone recommended Mr. Arif Mahdi.

More than a recommendation, he became a mentor and a big brother. He helped me move to Dubai. In truth, the desire to work in Dubai had already taken root during my last visit there as a tourist.

What felt like a limitation in Qatar quietly became my landing path to Dubai. Sometimes, rules don’t block you, they redirect you. 

Arif Bhai (as he became like a brother) sent me to Germany for training, which meant applying for my first Schengen visa. But he did more than send me on a work trip. He encouraged me to travel Europe, to step into a few more countries while I had the chance. That was the moment; my caterpillar years quietly ended, I was preparing to fly.

To be honest, the opportunity alone was not enough. He gave me the push, the belief, and the permission to dream bigger. If travel gives direction, mentors give wings. Germany may have been the destination, but that encouragement became my takeoff.

When that visa was stamped, it was more than permission to enter Europe. It was my official entry into the world of international travel.

The Transformative Power of Travel

Today, I have filled eight passports, visited 90+ countries, and inspired my family to travel as well. Together, they have covered forty countries themselves. Travel taught me more than any classroom ever did.

It built confidence, empathy, and resilience. It taught me to manage time zones and temperaments, adapt to cultures, and find comfort in the unfamiliar.

The benefits of travel go beyond movement. They include broader perspective, greater creativity and adaptability, stronger relationships, reduced burnout, cross-cultural empathy, self-awareness, and the reminder that the world is vast, yet deeply connected.

Coming soon: I am writing a detailed blog on the life-changing benefits of travel, with stories, tips, and real-life lessons from my 90 countries travel journey.

Your turn

1. Did you apply for your first passport with a plan or like me, with just a dream waiting to take flight?
2. Which country earned the very first stamp on your passport and how did that journey change you?
3. Did your passport get used immediately after you received it, or did it sit quietly for years like mine, waiting for the right story to begin?