[Akmal]

Hi everyone!

To me, Team-Bhp website for the last 12-15 years has been that place where the cool guys and gals hang out and talk about their mean machines. Finally, I’ve decided to join the conversations and I can't be more thrilled to be here.
I’m Akmal and I call Chennai my home. I’ve spent a good number of years in the Gulf as a kid and later moved to Chennai, then Bangalore and now based in Singapore. I’m a Computer engineer by education and working in an IT company in a Finance role. How that happened to be is a story more suited for reader’s digest than Team-BHP.

As is the case with most enthusiasts, my fascination with automobiles started before I could spell auto or mobiles. Before getting to the legal age to be in the driver seat, passion for driving kept itself alive playing Need For Speed and Road Rash on my dad's computer.

It was during the last year of my college in Chennai, was I bought my first motorcycle. A pre-owned Hero Honda Splendor. Gazing at the bypass road connecting Maduravoyal to Tambaram, came the eureka moment. Why not do the bike trip ? I quickly asked my friend (who was just as adventurous or mad, depending on who you ask) and we decided to do it. We packed our duffle bag, secured it to the back carriage and took off on the hero Honda Splendor from Chennai towards Ooty. 6 days and approximately 1300 Kms later, we were back home. With no google maps to aid our turns, we had seen the beautiful country side, rested under trees and temples, got drenched in rains, tried some amazing food and even got a haircut. It was in that trip that the spell was cast and I found my zen. Since that bike trip, I have done a few other road trips (in cars mostly) and not once have I not felt that peace and zen.

In my current base in Singapore, as you’d probably already know, cars are painfully expensive (for the right reasons, I must add).My respite would come in the form of frequent business trips and holidays when I would drive to my heart's content.

Here are the list of few notable road trips and the (rental) cars I have explored before the invisible adversary made its presence felt.

Melbourne to Shoal Bay (camping trail Road Trip)

Car - Hyundai i35 (had booked Mitsubishi Outlander)

Loop across South Spain & Portugal

Car- Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI (had tried to get an Audi A4)

Leh

Car - Tata Harrier (rental)

Chennai to Agra Loop

Car - Baleno Alpha CVT (dad's car)



Wish list for future trips include -
Drive across US "Golden Triangle" (LA- Vegas- SFO)
Loop Germany- Prague -Austria-Swiss
Namibia- Sossusvlei drive- Walvis Bay, Sandwich harbour

That’s about me folks and I'm thrilled to be here.

~Akmal

[TusharK]

Hi Akmal,

Welcome to Team-BHP!

The Great Ocean Road is definitely one for the bucket list. I think it's on the west of Melbourne.

So, which of these travelogues do you plan to share with us first?

Cheers!
TusharK