Reflections

Me and Mrs. Duggars

Beach Selfie

Evening incense

Well, we’ve been on the road for over month now. Just a few reflections…

Time turns elastic. Our concept of time has changed--I guess from being on a more prolonged trip versus, say, a 2 or 3 week vacation. It’s so nice to not have to rush. It feels like another lifetime when we made that horrible drive downstate in the polar vortex, but then, only yesterday, too. When I think about all of things that we’ve seen in the last month it seems like a lot but then not too much either. I think we have done a good job of pacing ourselves and hopefully we’ll continue that. Of course to the casual observer it might seem like we just spend a lot of time on beaches, but that definitely helps prevent burnout.

Happiness is measured in small and unusual ways. When you’re living out of a pack and moving from place to place you find pleasure in the little things. Like finding an extra clean pair of panties in the bottom of your pack that you forgot you had. The guesthouse with the extra soft sheets and towels that gives you an extra roll of toilet paper. Going out on a mission for an English print newspaper (or shampoo or postcards) and easily finding it. Those days when travel is easy. The long distance train with a western toilet and toilet paper and soap and a working tap. A cold beer at the end of a hot day.

Small things can be incredibly annoying. Paying for toilets. It’s only Rs2 (just a few cents, but they’re always the worst.) Sending laundry off and having it coming back one sock short. Getting pooped on by birds- I seem to be a target the last few days. Carrying too much stuff. We have gotten rid of a few things- donated to friends we’ve met along the way. Picked up a few things, too- a yoga mat, a few items of clothing, books that we’ll exchange down the road. We plan on sending some things home from Delhi (warm weather clothes, the Kindle that I brought that won’t connect to Wi-Fi so I can’t download books- Argggh!) Hoping to arrive in SE Asia a little lighter.

There is so much more of everything here. People and other creatures. In the morning as we sit on our verandah we see cats, dogs, mongoose (mongeese?), a peacock, geckos, ants , spiders and other creepy crawlies. The sea is alive, which is evidenced by the daily catch proudly displayed in a bed of ice at every restaurant in the evening.  Cow, Elephants, monkeys the occasional camel walking down the street when you least expect it. Anything related to the senses seems heightened. Smells are more intense- the odor of sewage or a less-than-hygienic toilet. Pleasant smells, too- incense, spices, flowers, the sea. The colors seem brighter- the beautiful fabric of the saris, salwar kameez suits and bright bangles the Indian women wear, plus their bright, smiling faces and impossibly white teeth. So many more sounds- birds squawking, explosions of devotion and prayers at the temples, the Muslim call to prayer, the chai and snack wallahs selling their goods, touts asking, “come and see my shop?” or “need a guesthouse?” cars, scooters, buses and their horns, cows mooing, dogs barking, the surf. The amazing spices and flavors in everything we eat.

The best part of travel is the people. The people of this country.  Waiters, autorickshaw drivers, chai wallahs, fruit sellers, friendly, helpful hosts at every guesthouse we’ve stayed at. The kind people that have helped us figure out which train platform we’re supposed to be on and where to stand on the platform to get on the train when it only stops for 2 minutes and which station to get off at when there are no announcements and we can’t read the signs. Everyone that has given us advice or directions or just wanted to chat with us about what it’s like in America, tell us about family members they know in the US or their travels there and always ask how we like their country.  (“We love your country!!”) The throngs of Indian school girls who surround me and ask, “What is your good name?” then laugh and repeat it as they shake my hand and touch my skin and hair. The people who ask me to hold their baby so they can take a picture. Our fellow travelers- people from all over the world (not so many from the US, though.) The Norwegian couple with their 5 year old son. The Aussies on a round the world trip who eventually plan on settling in Thailand. The brave women travelling alone. The American yoga girls who are doing service work as they travel through. The sweet Austrian couple with their two daughters. And many more…  We exchange travel tips and stories. We’ve occasionally run into them in different places down the road. We all share this common bond of being strangers in a strange land; friendships are formed fast.

All in all it’s been really good. Not just really good- great! We’ve managed to stay healthy- no stomach upset except maybe that occasional twinge where you wonder if it will turn into something more but then it passes (touch wood, as they say here.) Mike and I have gotten along really well. He’s a great travel companion. He really does live by his mantra- “what could possibly go wrong?”- And that’s rubbed off on me a bit. We laugh a lot every day. Once or twice we’ve had a moment of too much togetherness but we still really like each other’s company and look forward to more. We’ve stayed well under our budget without suffering or having to give up any luxuries. We’re not remotely tired of travel. Like I said, we’re pacing ourselves well. I’ve learned a lot about myself, too- how I can give up my obsessive need to be on time, check the news and weather ten times a day, and to be super clean.  Yet, I’ve developed a rather concerning tendency to hoard toilet paper, soap, coins (for toilets) and plastic bags—I mean, I’m still slightly neurotic.  We do miss our friends and family and Chuck, but it really does feel like we just left yesterday.

What’s next? A few more days at the beach, then on to Trivandrum for a couple of days. We fly to Delhi on February 17 and we’re really looking forward to visiting our family there- Rashmi and Anil. We might take an overnight trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal sometime in the middle of our week in Delhi, then off to Bangkok on February 25. No real plans from then on. We’ll stop and see a friend, Sheldon, who is staying on a beach in Thailand on our way to Cambodia, and hope to meet up with Mike’s sister Karen somewhere in Vietnam for a week or two in April.

The excellent adventure continues…