Preparations and Final Countdown

The planning of a trip like ours to India was fairly simple and straightforward. Since I’ve always known that I would return and that there was far too much to see and do in India all in one go I picked the most inspiring landscape as a starting point and simply went from there. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out – for me, the most inspiring and monumental place of natural beauty on the surface of the planet is of course the Himalayas – so that is where our journey will begin.
But before we get there, there are things to think about, items to be purchased, vaccines to be administered and travel arrangements to be made, not to mention visas to obtain. Ahh, the organizer must come out to play. Over the last few years as an art auctioneer I had to learn to not only talk about and sell art but to organize and run a business, to manage a team of staff and generally take care of things. It’s one thing to see the bigger picture, but someone also has to take care of the details and while this is not necessarily a source of joy for me, it is most definitely my forte. I have a talent for remembering ‘the little things’, the ‘bits and pieces’ and so it was my job to get this trip up and running, on her feet, so to speak.
As soon as the wedding and honeymoon were done with and ‘out of the way’ my attention could be turned to the nuts and bolts of our ‘dream trip of a lifetime’. The ‘to do’ list was composed and the research began. Visas, flights, health requirements, travel insurance, shopping lists, gear checks, practice packs. Google became my best friend while I not only took care of the practical matters but also honed in on the wish list of stops and etched out an itinerary that fueled my imagination. As my ideas took shape I reminded myself that this is India and since anything can happen I would need to keep an open mind and be ready for anything.
Well now it’s all been done. With only 2 days remaining before our ‘SpiceJet’ flight takes to the sky and carries us to Delhi where we will have only 2 hours and 45 minutes to make our way to the connecting flight for Srinagar I am already reflecting on the process that brought us here and looking ahead to what lies before us. A combination of thrill, anticipation and fear of the unknown buzz over me and I try to remember all the things I may have forgotten.
And as I look at my backpack, filled with the few items I have selected for my travels I don’t understand for the life of me, why there is still so much space. Did I finally, after all these years of backpacking realize that its best not to take too much or am I forgetting something crucial. Oh well, I can always buy what I forget to take! As long as I can find an ATM somewhere in incredible India, which does seem questionable at some of our intended early destinations (according to Google!).
It is my intention to keep a record of this great trip for some purpose or other – so if you care to come along with me and take this journey from your desk in your own imagination, then be my guest. I offer you my thoughts and dreams, my experiences and visions as I attempt to do them at least some justice through my description and perhaps I will, through my words, plant those little alien forces in the depths of your own soul to whisper softly to you and one day beckon you to India.

Why Not?

Now much in my world has changed since my first brief stay in India. I have experienced a great deal more in life myself and in many ways I am a completely different person. But at my core I am still that free spirit, that wanderer who wants to see the world in its truly raw state, to experience ultimate freedom and peace. If I was to compare myself to an onion I would say that the onion that arrived to Varanasi all those years ago was a spring onion – sweet and young and fresh and great with a salad with only a few layers and a hint of a kick in it’s bite. The onion I am today is much bigger and bolder in flavor and yet has many more layers and a much, much thicker skin that may need to be peeled and discarded before the stuff worth keeping and using for a succulent curry will be found. This time India will most definitely be showing me much, much more, but this time I am sure to resist with those layers of thick skin and it may take some time to peel away the top parts and get to the good stuff.
The idea for this most current trip as I already explained was germinated many years ago, during that first glimpse of India, but the final momentum for lift off has been gathered more recently thanks to a few, major, life changing events in addition to, for want of a better phrase: ‘the state of the world’. The newly wed status, which I find myself in, often, it is said, inspires change and experimentation. This compulsion for change has been compounded by the fact that when deciding to marry, my husband and I also decided that now would be a great time to change some other circumstances of our lives and not only join the ranks of ‘marriagedom’ (not that that word exists but I am known from time to time to invent my own words should I feel that there is not one in existence that suits my precise needs), but also join the ranks of the ‘unemployed’ and find a new start in life. In turn this also meant for us, a change in just about everything about our day-to-day life: since our job was our life. Having spent the last several years as cruise ship employees we were in fact very much ‘married to our jobs’ or rather living in our jobs. Work was life and life was work – that’s pretty much how it goes on a ship – since the ship is home and work all in one – so when you decide to change your work, well, your life goes too.
So here we find ourselves, newly married, without job or home but with the overwhelming desire for one last fling with freedom before we ‘toe the line’ and get ‘settled and stable’. In actual fact at this point in my life I find a powerful dichotomy within myself. Since in a sense I have been ‘traveling’ and ‘homeless’ for several years now there is a powerful yearning within me to put down roots and find a place to call my own, but there is still, on the other hand my unfulfilled desire to go back to India. So, ‘why not?’ we said. It’s now or never. We return to land and find a home and we may never have the chance again to be so free from bonds and baggage, to freely roam and wander. And India is calling.
And so it was to be. The newly-weds would seize this perfect time, certainly perfect personally and in addition perfect professionally, considering that to join the ranks of the ‘unemployed’ as an active job seeker seemed like a pretty uninviting prospect since those ranks are fairly deep and wide thanks to the ‘economic crisis’ that this poor little planet finds herself in. Why waste time searching for jobs that don’t exist, when we can be in India, searching for ourselves and wondrous wonders of the world? While the world attempts to right herself like a catamaran swaying in the blustering winds on the surface of a tormented ocean, we can wait for the storm to pass in a place where our funds will go far. Why not? Why not? Why not? That was the phrase that surfaced time and time again in our minds. And lucky for us, we could find only compelling reason to add to the list of ‘Why?’ and pretty much none to add to ‘Why not?’

Escape to Paradise or Crash Course to Insanity.

For many, the concept of travel through India is a minefield of mayhem, a double order of disaster, a cesspool of pestilence. For others it is the promise of seismic spirituality, tropical temptations and tantalizingly tasty treats of sizzling spicy proportions. For me it is any and all of the above and a whole, whole, whole lot more. My dream of discovering India and more than that; discovering myself in India have been with me since the very first time I began to wander the globe with the spirit of an intrepid traveler many years ago. My first trip (another story altogether) was a 6 month ‘around the world’ extravaganza that took in 9 countries and all terrains. The final stop on this whirlwind tour was India – although with time and money running out fast it was destined to be only a brief sojourn into this vast land of fascination. With only 11 days to reach our final departure city, Delhi I was only granted a glimpse of the delights and disgraces of India. Undoubtedly one of the greatest highlights of my trip and stunning man-made wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal was of course upon my list as well as Varanasi, the Holy City on the banks of the River Ganges and the sights of Delhi. This final location was sadly, mostly missed due to the unfortunate condition in which I found myself upon arrival. That of requiring a toilet within easy grasping distance at all times for about 72 hours so that I could expel every ounce of intestinal contents at regular intervals – one of the many joys of travel in India – but again I digress. In those first 7 days in India, despite the maddening confusion and chaos of a great many moments of my time there, I managed to fall in love. In love with the sights, the sounds, the smells (not all of an entirely pleasant aromatic nature – but intriguing and memorable nevertheless), the people and of course the spirit. The spirit of India cannot be described in any simple way but it absolutely cannot be denied. Once you have experienced India it kind of burrows under your skin and finds a resting place deep in your soul from which it calls to you now and again and gently reminds you that it is in fact still where it was when you left it, and that you are not there, and have not returned, and eventually it will have it’s way, you will succumb and India will once again draw you in, tempt you back and unfold her gems and jewels for you, if you give her half a chance.
And that is exactly what happened to me. Somewhere between the border with Nepal, where I entered her fine lands and the departure gate where I boarded my flight from Delhi airport back to London Heathrow, the spirit of India entered my body and deposited little alien forces within me that would arise every now and again to haunt me and call to me and remind me that the promise I made to myself to return and explore further had not yet been fulfilled. Finally the voices of that alien force have become so loud, so deafening that they can no longer be ignored. Finally it is time to return and explore all, or at least some more of what this wonderful, wild, beautiful remarkable country has to offer. I am off to India.