One week to go!

December 8, 2015

Hello world!
Namaste duniya! 

As I am planning a trip closest to my heart, because it is India, I decided blog once more.  If I have WiFi there, I will keep updating.  My goal is to stay away from technology there and immerse myself in nature, culture, and history.  I still like to document my experiences, so I might keep blogging. We will see! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb9IVxjdlCs   "hum to aise hai bhaiya!"

As always, I will add song references! My goal is to go to India once a year every year.  I am the happiest when I step afoot on Indian soil.  When I make friends with strangers and share a cup of tea with new friends or neighbors.  I feel free there.  I always wanted to go out of Gujarat, the state I am from, and explore other parts of India.  India is so diverse and every corner is so different with million languages and different cultural things.  I will be going to south India, Kerala, this time.  It will be different than Gujarat for sure, so I am excited!  I want to learn new things and learn new languages.  I want to learn at least a little Konkani or Malayalam while there! Let's see how that goes!

Travelling for me is liberation.  I am so lucky and extremely thankful for having had the opportunities to travel to different parts of the planet.  I never thought as a little girl I would be doing this as an adult.  Sometimes God puts dreams in your eyes when the circumstances are right.  There is a timing for everything.  I had contemplated travelling across India years ago, but at that time, I was not able to.  I was content nonetheless living my dream at the time of volunteering in India.  I loved every moment of it, and it changed my life for the better.  That was a dream I had seen as a child, and it was fulfilled during my India stay in 2012-2013.  Since then, I decided that no matter where I go in the world, I will go with an open-mind, and always try to learn about others.  That brings me to my journey this winter break.... put aside the textbooks, and pick up travel guides...put aside my car, and welcome trains, rickshaws, boats, and my two own feet for transportation...

I really wanted to fit in volunteering somehow.  For trip like this where I won't be in any one spot for more than several days, it is hard to find an organization.  Yet I am determined to take my stethoscope and BP cuff, and help out where I can.  I think education is wasted if it is not applied for those who really need it.  I am not in this for money. I am in this to serve. If I am travelling around India, I refuse to stay in luxurious hotels or get 5 star treatment.  I will make do with decent simple accommodations, aka hostels.  Also, I make friends and meet fellow travelers that way!  It is an enriching experiences in itself :) If anything, I am lucky to have a roof over my head, and I refuse to shop unnecesarily.  I love Indian clothes and all, but I am not shopping for saris or stuff when I could be sitting at Ganga nadi, attending a spiritual class, volunteering, hanging out with locals, etc. Not to say I won't go to shopping markets, but I am going to try really hard to avoid spending too much time there and buying any objects.  I want to collect memories, not objects. Plus I will only have a small bookbag! It is all about simplicity....no excessive junk.


I probably won't publish this blog until later as I plan on surprising my family in my home city by showing up at their doorstep unannounced. For now, I need to study a ton for my final! I really do not feel like I deserve this trip as it seems so surreal to go to places I imagined I could only visit in my dreams or on youtube videos.  I have to make myself deserving of this by making the most of what I have been blessed with.  I cannot thank God enough, and I hope anyone reading this or whoever aspires to travel or go on such journeys in life get to live those dreams and aspirations.