In March of 2024 I started writing a weekly travel newsletter. I’ve never journaled my trips, because I have a problem with committing to projects, and also I’m kinda lazy. But people always asked me where I was and what I was up to, and sending a newsletter out to these friends and family members who truly wanted to know about my life seemed like a good way to motivate myself to stick with writing consistently. And now those stories are making it online! My first newsletter found my in Goa in Southern India, though at the time I was in a frustrated state of mind, which wasn’t a great theme for my first email! I never intended to sugarcoat my experiences though, so these newsletters, and now these blogs, will always be accurate and real accounts of my travels – the ups, the downs, the surprises, the mishaps, and all experiences from the incredible to the amusing to the downright bizarre. Read on for the first (messy) instalment of my weekly travel blog.
We are so privileged to be able to do what we do, but there are some things that can get overwhelming. For us, the biggest struggle is simply that every part of every day is a decision. Without a routine, without a house, without a job, without a social calendar, without responsibilities or chores or projects, basically every part of the day needs to be discussed and planned or solved. We need to figure out not just the exciting things, like what to do and where to go, but also the necessary logistics: where we will sleep tomorrow, how we will get there, what we will eat, what we need and when we will be able to get it, how we will communicate, how we will pay for things, how to fit everything in before our visas expire, how soon we need to get flights to the next country, how long we want there. Even deciding to take a day off and watch Netflix may modify all our plans. We don’t have the time at home to plan our travel before we go, so that we don’t have to think about it while we’re on the trip – we’re always on the trip, and having to plan it as we go, and, as spoiled as it sounds, this gets tiring.
We had just spent a few weeks at the beach in Goa. It was relaxing, but ended up not being as much of a break from the decision making as we’d hoped. Staying right on the beach in a wonderful $15 hotel room, sipping rum out of a coconut, and eating fresh curries and momos, with fantastic views from the balcony, while complaining that we don’t know what to do next with our incredible lives, is something I don’t like to admit that we do. It really was a great few weeks of chilling, punctuated by a hectic few days at Panaji’s (Goa’s capital) equivalent of Mardi Gras with parades and weird costumes and concerts and festival food. But it wasn’t somewhere we saw ourselves staying for a longer period, so, frustratingly, we needed a new plan.
Our next stop was Hampi – a tiny town of about 3 blocks, built among the ruins of an ancient city from the Vijayanagara Empire, abandoned in the 14th century. The whole area is full of temples and ruins to explore, the oldest of which dates back to the 7th century. The architecture is incredible, and the surrounding scenery is stunning. This is India’s Ankor Wat minus the jungle. Well, a little jungle, most of it is just hot and sunny and dusty and ancient. It’s a great spot we intended to spend a few days in. Unfortunately, the way they’ve organised the tickets now means you kind of have to rush around and see all the main sites in the same day or buy the same full park ticket again tomorrow. So, rather than splitting our exploration over a few days as we had wanted to, we ended up with a whirlwind tour of the place and on to the next stop.
We moved on to Hyderabad, India’s tech capital and the home of some of the wealthiest people in the country apparently. This is not a usual stop on the India tourist trail, but we ended up finding a lot of interesting and quirky sights to see and things to do. The mosques are beautiful and generally found in the middle of traffic circles, the most mundane government departments have the most impressive, palacial buildings, and the public parks have been converted into fun fairs with cheap rides and laser light shows. Tack on a visit to a weird interactive science museum, a boat ride to see Buddha, a wander about the fortress on the edge of the city, a climb to a beautiful white temple, and some of the best tandoori kebabs either of us have ever had and we felt Hyderabad turned out to be a good call.
Eventually, we pulled together our plan and flew to Udaipur. We actually had a route planned out for the rest of the month, so no huge decisions required for a while, and that was a big relief.
If you’re interested in how I got here, or where I went next, check out the rest of the story!
Don’t forget I also run my own travel agent business, and I firmly believe that learning from my own mistakes in each destination is what makes me so good at planning travel for others. If this story has inspired you to take a trip to India or anywhere else, get in touch!