Beyond The Grid

Beyond the Grid LIVE: When Home Becomes a Moving Target

Apr 27, 2026

6 mins Read

By Supriya Sahu

Three creators. Three continents. One question nobody asks: What does freedom actually cost?

Beyond the Grid has always been about the space between departure and arrival. Episode 09 pushed that question further – what happens when there is no arrival? When the suitcase never fully unpacks? When your children grow up knowing three languages but no single place to call theirs?

This wasn't a LIVE about bucket lists or travel hacks.

It was about identity in motion.

Hosted with warmth and curiosity, the conversation brought together three storytellers living vastly different versions of the same choice – to keep moving, even when the world asks why you won't settle.

What emerged wasn't wanderlust. It was something rawer.

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Hosted with warmth: when the interviewers have lived the questions themselves

What made this LIVE feel less like an interview and more like a conversation between friends was the warmth Aakash Khanwani and Sneha brought to every question. These weren't hosts reading from a script — they were travellers who've lived enough of the uncertainty themselves to know when to listen and when to laugh. Aakash, who's explored India end-to-end and landed in Tokyo, New York, and San Francisco, openly admitted he watches creators like Troy, Nicole, and Laurena and wonders: what could my life have been if I'd stayed? Sneha, who moved out at 16 and has since lived in 15 Indian cities and 10 countries, understood the unspoken parts — the loneliness, the constant adaptation, the way India's own diversity teaches you how to belong anywhere before you ever leave.

Three lives, three truths.

Troy: Addis Ababa, global citizenship, and raising daughters without borders

Joining from Ethiopia was Troy, the voice behind Smith Family Adventures – a family living what most people only dream about: New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, and now Addis Ababa.

But Troy didn't romanticise it.

When asked about the hardest move, his answer was immediate: New Zealand to Cambodia. Taking two daughters from the familiar safety of home during COVID to somewhere "unknown, unseen, and unlived" wasn't brave – it was terrifying.

And intentional.

"We had to make sure we really got that transition right for them," he said. Not just logistically.

"We embrace host country cultures while maintaining our identity. Our daughters are internationally minded, knowing there's many different ways to experience life."

The surprise? Ethiopia. A country they barely researched beyond "phoning a friend." The onboarding, the school community, the warmth of Addis Ababa made them feel at home faster than anywhere else.

But the most powerful part of Troy's story wasn't the places. It was the philosophy:

His daughters speak English, Te Reo Māori, Mandarin, French, and are picking up Amharic just from being there. They correct their parents. They code-switch between worlds.

They are, as Troy put it, "global citizens of the world for tomorrow."

Not because travel is trendy. But because their parents chose to honour the places they live in while never asking their children to forget where they're from.

Travel, for Troy's family, isn't about escaping identity. It's about expanding it.

Nicole: From board-certified analyst to Germany's trails – when getting fired becomes freedom

From northwestern Spain (currently van-living with her boyfriend) came Nicole, known as Nicole Wanders Mindfully – a former board-certified behaviour analyst turned photographer, hiker, and full-time adventurer.

Her turning point wasn't a sunrise epiphany on a mountaintop.

It was getting fired.

She had sensed the misalignment before moving to Germany. But international relocation forced clarity. When the job ended, so did the safety net – and with it, the excuses.

Now her life is mountain biking in Spain, glacier hikes in Iceland, Switzerland's endless trails, and New Zealand's South Island.

But Nicole didn't sugarcoat solo travel.

"It can be lonely," she admitted. The Instagram version is romantic. The reality? Sometimes you realise you haven't spoken to someone who knows your middle name in three months.

Her advice for new hikers was grounded in self-awareness: start small. Don't aim for Everest. Know your limits. Build up.

And her Iceland glacier trek? Eight hours through ice-slot canyons in October rain – not gruelling, but mentally demanding. Cold. Wet. Beautiful.

Travel, for Nicole, isn't about extremes. It's about being present enough to know when to stop – and when to keep going.

Laurena: Latin America, media narratives, and the Amazon experiment

From Ireland came Laurena, the creative force behind Your Travel Muse – a solo backpacker who has made Latin America her emotional anchor.

Four trips. Four times back. And counting.

Why? Because the world keeps getting Latin America wrong.

"Latin America is so much more than media portrays. I show people the reality beyond Netflix and news stereotypes through my travels."

For Laurena, travel is correction. Reclamation. Showing that Colombia isn't just cartel documentaries. That Medellín has transformed. That the people, the nature, the resilience – all of it exists beyond the headlines.

Her most memorable city? Medellín. Not despite its hard past, but because of how it has moved through it.

And her next move? The Amazon. Not a luxury lodge. Not a curated tour.

She's going to live with indigenous communities. Two nights with one group. Two nights with another. Learning how they live. Why they stay. What home means when it's not a postcode.

"It's really outside my comfort zone," she said. "But I'm really excited."

About Beyond the Grid

Beyond the Grid is Alike’s creator series where real travellers talk about real travel – the missed flights, the wrong turns, the visa nightmares, and the moments that never made the feed. Hosted by Akash and Sneha, BTG brings together voices from across the world to have the conversations that travel content usually avoids.