Mrs Krishnan's Party actor Kalyani Nagarajan on what travel has taught her

Hollywood is where dreams are made. Photo / 123RF

KALYANI NAGARAJAN

Travel has taught me it's okay to be alone.

In my recent trip to Los Angeles, I was so nervous about travelling on my own and navigating a place where "dreams comes true". I have to say, if you are a lady of leisure and pleasure like me, the one hot tip is NEVER go for a shared room in a hostel. Hostels are a great way of meeting people, but you do NOT have to share sleeping spaces . . . it is not worth the money.

But ultimately, I went to LA to see how possible it is to make it in the acting industry there. I was terrified because it wasn't just a holiday it was, me trying to find a space I could potentially call home.

What LA taught me — and what I now bring into my daily life — is it is okay to wander these plains alone, in fact it is more fun. You see and do things you never thought you would, you are free, you meet people you wouldn't bother to meet if you were in the safety of your pack. It is also okay to take time. I rushed, I was impatient and it gave me anxiety because "I wasn't doing LA right, I wasn't having the most fun I possibly could, every second of the day . . . " Ugh.

Kalyani Nagarajan in Beverly Hills. She performs in Mrs Krishnan's Party at Auckland's Q Theatre from August 6-18. Photo / Supplied

I now realise it took me my whole trip to find my peace with Hollywood and, in retrospect, that was okay. To take time, to breathe, to stop and to let things unfold how they should. It gave me the motivation to keep pursuing, to keep hunting and never to settle. If you're not moving, you are dying. LA was fast, it almost swept me up . . . so I moved out from central Hollywood and paid for another shared (yuck) hostel in Santa Monica, right in front of the beach. I read a book, wrote a script, lay in the sun . . . alone. I breathe, and I realised I could do this. I could be here. I can belong anywhere, if I just let it be.

Kalyani Nagarajan performs in Mrs Krishnan's Party, returning to Auckland's Q Theatre from August 6-18. Tickets available from qtheatre.co.nz