Hey everyone! I have a two week countdown until I leave for Bangalore, India. I might write one more post before I leave, but I’m sure my experiences before I travel aren’t too thrilling for all of you. Yesterday, I finally started to pack. I put in my two pairs of shoes, a few toiletries, and some kleenex, and realized over half of my suitcase had been filled. I might need to re-evaluate the importance of my things.
Over the past couple months as I’ve been excitedly telling anyone who will listen that I’ll be going to India, I’ve realized that a lot more people have traveled there than I originally thought. Everyone has a friend who knows a friend, which has really bumped up my amount of email contacts. The general consensus from those who’ve been there is: don’t drink the water, no walking alone at night, and India can’t be explained, only seen.
I’ve talked to a few people in person about the country. One of my favorite yoga instructors had gone there to teach yoga and looked at me with big, earnest, “your life will change forever” eyes when I told him I’d be spending four months there. He told me India was, “a huge shock to the system, it’s utter extremes, just, extreme poverty and human suffering and death and extreme beauty.”
It’s like traveling to any country, there’s no way you can’t come back as a different person. I picked India because the culture, climate, and experiences are nothing like I would ever experience in my lifetime, so why not immerse myself for these four months? I’m going into my travel with an open heart and mind, and hopefully find what everyone else there has found: a new perspective.
