Plans are made to be changed... So awesome reading your first entry and getting to really appreciate how much you must have fallen in love with India...
Remember - if you get bored of Costa Rica any time soon, we're waiting for you back in Bombay! :)
Why do we travel? 'Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest'. Georgia O'Keeffe
A true traveller's motto. I'll drink to that, Chantel.
http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/panorama-5048.html
Bangkok/Rome we spent quite a bit of time passing through Bangkok and never made it to see the Grand Palace. But I don't think our time in Bangkok was any less memorable because of that.
Enjoy the rest of your travels.
Kathie
lost in books , I don \'t know , y , i never meet u , but u seem to think same like me , but the difference that lies between us , u believe in action\'s and you have done thing\'s , while , i just keep on thinking .. but hopefully when i grow more older , i would do something that u enjoy doing.
Aha, I understand :) If it helps at all, don't feel guilty about what you have or have not seen, and don't place too much importance on the opinions of fellow travellers/tourists. I am pretty sure the guilt flows both ways anyway, there are plenty of 'tourists' who are told by 'travellers' that what they are doing is somehow unworthy of travelling. People have the tendency to judge each other on what they do or don't do, and upon that judgement we are then placed in whatever category fits the description best. I personally consider myself both a tourist and a traveller and don't see any discrepancy between the two, one flows from the other and vice-versa, at least for me.
For me the guilt used to work the other way around. I used to feel super guilty about going to a tourist attraction, because in the eyes of my fellow travellers this was seen as a faux-pas. Doing so was crossing some invisible line and a betrayal to the community and inevitably I would get disapproving glances. Sights are for tourists, the real traveller has passed far beyond that point and discovered some invisible truth. Luckily I grew out of that guilty phase and I really couldn't give a hoot now about how others view me. I will happily go to the Taj Mahals or Ankor Wats of this planet, because for me they are not only extremely beautiful places, but they are interesting from a historical, cultural and religious perspective. And just because millions of other people think so as well, doesn't make them less significant. In short I do it for myself, and how I measure up to other because of that doesn't enter the equation.
Your guilty tourist complex will most likely leave you at some point as well, and you won't care whether or not you have been to the Great Wall of China after spending two months in Beijing or so, and you won't feel guilty when somebody tells you, you should have. Only you know what you should have done, and mostly likely you will have done that which you wanted to do.
Beautiful Words Thanks for this response, Ralf. My guilty tourist complex is something of the past. Like I said, I've been wanting to write about it for some time, but I think I needed for it to pass before I was able to. Otherwise, I would have worried what other people think about my worthiness as a tourist/traveler. Now, I don't care. I'm happy just doing what I do (or don't do)! :D
The question is, why did you write about this? And I am asking it because of what you tell Magda:
With a melancholic tone, I told Magda, “I won’t write about this.” “Why would you?” she replied understandingly, “This has nothing to do with traveling.”
So what made you change your mind?
What I Mean... is that I wasn't going to write about Elephanta like some big, Must-Do adventure, filled with history and funny anecdotes. I've been trying to write about my guilty tourist complex for some time now, and this seemed like the appropriate moment.
You didn't see the Pantheon? I found this part particularly interesting. Stepping inside the Pantheon was the biggest "wow" moment I had in Rome (more than the Sistine Chapel). I'll never forget it. Check it out next time! Anyway, I agree with much you say in your blog. Traveling and vacationing are two very different things to me. I prefer the exhaustion of traveling....but I have to admit, I have a fridge covered in kitschy magnets....
I didn't mean to... ... miss the Pantheon, it just sort of happened. All I mean to say is that hopefully my experiences as a traveler aren't measured by the sites I've seen. And, don't worry, as far as I'm concerned, traveling and kitschy fridge magnets aren't mutually exclusive... just in my case. :D
I'll pass along your compliment to Magda, and assure you that all of her is adorable!
I thought I had commented on this blog already! Guess not...my workplace computer has been acting up. As I said since the beginning when I stumbled onto your blogs, you write so very well, I enjoy every word. Thanks again for sharing with us! Hope there will be a book!
Honesty Just started following you and really enjoying your honest style. Travelling isn't only about the things you see that's for sure. Keep writing!
LOVE THIS! I know I say I love every one of your blogs, but I really do mean it! :)
My favorite ones are just like this. When you take one short experience or moment and tell a great story about it. At the end of this blog, I grinned!! Write more!
I Will Thank you for this comment... really. I've been struggling lately because what I'm writing about recently doesn't have much to do with travel and I'm not sure how much of it I should be posting, but I will! :D
Spot on ! I have been to Mumbai and I loved it exactly for all that you mentioned. I have traveled to Europe and America and I am from an Indian village. I have not found another place where I can just come in and start living. Finding work, finding a place to stay its all secondary in Mumbai. You can just start being there and things would turn out ok. Its an amazing city(for better or for worse.. :)-- )
when i read you were going home, i almost started to cry. maybe because i want to go home, but also because i am soo soo happy for you that your trip has been wonderful and soulful and that even better, you've decided to go to costa rica to reunite with family and SCIENCE!!!! yesss!!!! love u girl. all the best to you. xok
I'm living life as widely as I can; going where the wind takes me. I have an open heart that only wants to love and an open mind that only wants to learn. My ultimate goal in life is to be a wise old woman sitting in a rocker, spinning tales of adventure and, hopefully, inspiring others to go out and LIVE!
Forgive me any assumptions, I tell it as I see it. ... full info
Magu Bee
non-member comment
Plans are made to be changed...
So awesome reading your first entry and getting to really appreciate how much you must have fallen in love with India... Remember - if you get bored of Costa Rica any time soon, we're waiting for you back in Bombay! :)