FOUR GENERATIONS. SIX COUNTRIES. FOUR YEARS OF QUIET OBSERVATION

My great-grandfather left Gujarat, India for East Africa in the early 1900s and tragically died crossing the Arabian Sea leaving behind his wife and as yet unborn son.

My grandfather made the same fateful journey 30 years later with his own family and thankfully survived.

My parents who grew up in Kenya left for London in the late 1960s to seek a better life and this is where I was born a few years later. A Gujarati kid with Asian Kenyan parents in an English city, carrying three continents in my DNA and none of them fully as "home."

At 32 I began my chapter of the journey and left London for southern Spain. At 47, left Spain for Germany. At 50, Germany for Lisbon arriving with a single suitcase during a pandemic, knowing no one in the city.

I moved into a co-living at 50 something I'd never done and spent four years living alongside hundreds of people from every continent. Not just twenty-somethings. Consultants, architects, teachers, entrepreneurs. Thirties, forties, fifties. All living between places.

I started noticing patterns.

The minimalism. The intentionality. How they carried everything in one bag and chose each piece deliberately. How they cared about sustainability without performing or shouting about it. How they rarely wore designer logos or flashy brands just quality pieces that worked hard across contexts and continents.

They'd figured out how to live with less, with better, with intention. Yet there was no brand that belonged to us or understood us and our chosen lifestyles.

Late last year, I stopped. Not paused, stopped. Something wasn't sitting well inside and I was feeling a bit dissatisfied and restless. For two months, I took time to stop, think and understand where my true passion was.

Unlike most people of my age who are busy planning their retirements I was far from it and eager to create something new, go on a new exciting journey!

For a few years I'd had an idea for a clothing brand for nomadic people like me kicking around in the back of my mind.

I explored the idea of going for it and creating my own fashion brand.

The first thing I did was define who this group was and realised that the term digital nomad or expat didn't do us justice and then it hit me...

Global Circlers.

People who live between places. Who carry continents in their DNA or discovered wanderlust later. Who've learned to travel light, buy thoughtfully, value quality over quantity. Who measure success in perspectives gained, not possessions accumulated.

Unlike the stereotype of a digital nomad in their 20s or 30s, working in tech, marketing or social media or a location independent entrepreneur, I realised that so many people were being missed or being labeled wrong. So I invented the GLOBAL CIRCLER, a person of any age, any nationality, any background who challenges convention, takes risks and wants to live and experience life on their own terms even if it's scary at times.

Many people wear technical gear made for mountaineering when in reality they are spending their time in cafes, rooftops, co-working spaces and airports. I wanted to create the kind of clothing that fits our specific needs and lifestyles.

GLOBAL CIRCLER was born

Now, I'm in the exciting phase of quietly and patiently creating the brand, investigating what pieces we will produce and why, looking for high quality producers that align with my values and goals.

I wanted to share my story because I want people to know that this brand is real, there's a story and energy behind its DNA. I hope it resonates and makes you feel like you belong somewhere...