We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sucheta Rawal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sucheta, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope my legacy will be that of inspiration to young and old. I want people to not undermine their age, background, responsibilities, or their means, and start living their dreams whatever they might be, and however impossible they seem. I hope that my journey of transitioning from corporate to a freelance food and travel writer encourages others to discover their own passion and find a way to have a meaningful career out of it.

I also hope to leave a legacy of building bridges across cultures through food and travel. I believe that by breaking bread with others and having rich personal experiences, we will be able to create a more tolerant, peaceful and just world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have a dream job. I eat and travel for a living!

When I was working for an investment bank, I would come to work each morning and read the restaurant review section of the newspaper to plan where I would eat that weekend. I would dream about where my next vacation would be, and of course I used all my bonuses to take exotic trips during the limited holidays I had. I also pondered on how I could spend more time actually living my dream and less time dreaming it. It was a far-fetched idea to quit a day job to be traveling around the world, but it was possible.

It took me a few years to transition from a corporate life to becoming a full-time food and travel writer, but I have never been happier! I’m a freelance writer and I contribute to nationals and regional publications, such as CNN, TIME Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Fodor’s Travel, Afar, Condé Nast, AAA, Southern Living, HuffPost, Food & Wine and more. I also write two monthly columns for Georgia Trane Magazine and Khabar Magazine. In 2022, I published opproximately 106 articles.

I have traveled to over 100 countries across seven continents. I have also authored a series of five children picture books – Beato Goes To, and started a nonprofit organization – Go Eat Give, which encourages people to learn about different countries in a sustainable way. Lastly I am a paid speaker on sustainable traveling, entrepreneurship, and media relations at global stages.

What sets me apart from other travel writers is my ability to understand people across different cultures. Coming from a multi religious background myself, I am able to fit in the shoes of other people without judgment and relate to them on a human level. Forging these friendships has led me to discover unknown places, go deeper into understanding cultures, and taste home-cooked delicacies that you would typically not find at restaurants. I believe I am able to share the stories of people from diverse backgrounds in the most authentic way that they would want me to.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission started out with my own personal desire to learn about the world. I wanted to travel to every country and experience different cultures, specially the food. Along the way, I realized how little we know about each other even though we live on the same planet. I realized that our view of the world was dictated by what little we saw through the media and not based on our own experiences. This is why I decided that my mission was to encourage people to learn about the world through food and travel. I have been doing this through my writing, my children’s books, public speaking and my nonprofit organization. I take people on journeys where they have a more local experience in another country and appreciate the differences, while forging friendships.

When I see people returning with an entire different viewpoint about a country or citizens that they had thought about prior to visiting, it really inspires me. I have seen people come back from a vacation with Go Eat Give and change their lifestyle to be more minimalistic and more giving in their own communities. I have also seen that travel changes people to become more tolerant and open minded towards their neighbors. It helps them process the information that comes through different news, social media, and other channels.

By inspiring others to learn about each other, I feel we will be able to create a more peaceful and just world.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Writing about food and travel was a side hustle for me when I first started out in the mid 2000s. I had a full-time corporate job, and the idea of trying out new restaurants and critiquing them sounded like fun. There was a new magazine in Atlanta who was looking for contributors. There was no pay, but they would reimburse me for my food. I took it because I love to eat!

As I started to expand my portfolio and mingle with other writers and editors, another magazine asked me to do a story about Indian food, which they actually paid for. Then I started a travel blog – Go Eat Give, where I would write about where I had been on my own and shared recommendations for local experiences that other visitors could have as well. I started doing a lot of volunteer vacations where I would get to experience the culture up close while giving back to the community. The blog was well received and soon I had followers across 120 countries.

One day someone in Italy reached out to me and said that they had picked me as one of the five most influential cultural bloggers in the world and they invited me to the Florence Biannual cultural conference in Florence, Italy for a week, all-expense paid for! That was the first time I received global recognition for the side hustle that I was trying to create into a full-time business. It started to feel more real.

From then on I started contributing to more and more publications, sharing authentic experiences, and telling original stories. Over a decade later, writing is my full time job and I have more work than I ever imagined.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://suchetarawal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suchetarawal
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sucheta.rawal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchetarawal/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuchetaRawal
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/goeatgive
• Other: https://beatogoesto.com https://goeatgive.com

Image Credits
credit Sucheta Rawal