A deep love for spiced chai wasn’t the only thing I inherited from my time in India. I also discovered a love for long train journeys, a desire to live simply, and—most of all—an appreciation for timeless places.
It’s about an awareness, and an acknowledgement that just two seconds of our attention can isolate one of a million tiny pieces that make up each day and elevate it to a moment worth remembering.
May 2014 be a year of adventure, a year of doing what we love, a year of experiencing things we can’t even begin to fathom right now. That was the final lesson 2013 taught me: Leave room for the unexpected.
My vision for this guide is to take the scary prospect of traveling to India alone for the first time and break it down into manageable steps – tangible tips that will help you feel less daunted.
I am all too aware that bad things happen in India, and that just because I was never groped does not mean that it doesn’t happen every day, to local and foreign women alike, but I am also aware of the intense warmth and beauty of the country.
This week five years ago, I stepped on a plane bound for London – little did I know how much that trip would change my life. It’s this sense of possibility that keeps me moving through the world, as well as through life.
One thing I can’t ever seem to stop doing is learning. Travel is pretty cool that way – it keeps you on your toes, teaches you lessons big and small, and ensures you never get too comfortable in what you think you know.
I’m not much of a “returner” when it comes to travel, but I felt a strange sense of unfinished business with India. I missed the chaos, the chai, the challenge – and I knew what I had to do. I had to go back.
As far as I have found, a love for India isn’t wrapped up in any one city or any one experience. Instead, it’s a thousand little things that have slowly folded into each other, into one overwhelming love for this fascinating country.
If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time longer than a single post, you will have no doubt noticed I’m slightly obsessed with quotes. Travel quotes, life quotes, anything I can tuck away for inspiration on a rainy day – I’m not picky.