Payal’s life journey has taken her from a typical urban childhood in Mumbai to a career as a naturalist guide. Though she grew up in one of India’s largest metropolises, Payal loved the outdoors from the first exposure she had to the world beyond the city’s reach. As a teenager, Payal trained as a mountaineer. Fascinated with the natural world, she then majored in geology during her university studies. And while she loved learning about the physical realm of nature, she also began to nurture a fascination with the living things that inhabit it, prompting her to escape the corporate office she found herself in after graduation. Payal knew she had to return to an outdoor environment to quench her growing curiosity about the natural world. She joined an elite naturalist training program for Indian safari guides, which only fueled her passion further for this gratifying career choice. After she completed her course, Payal worked as a naturalist guide in India’s Kanha National Park—one of the world’s best places to see wild tigers—for three years. Since her stint at Kanha, she has worked as an Expedition Leader in Nepal, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka and Borneo. Together with her husband, Harsha J., she conducts guide training programs throughout India.