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Published: October 29th 2013
The #1 question I've been asked by friends and family when I tell them I'm traveling to India for 6 months: Why India?
It's always been a question that kind of stumped me. Why India?
I usually stumble and mutter a reply that fails to convince myself, let alone whoever I'm talking to, that I really want to go to India at all. Failing to think of anything that's drawing me to India itself, I resort to an old SAT tactic: process of elimination. "Oh, India is one of the few regions of the world we haven't been to. We've both been to Europe a bunch, lived in New Zealand and visited Australia. Meg's been to China and I've lived in Africa. So the next place for us to visit is either India or South America. We figure we'll get to India while gas and airfare are still cheap."
That's all true, but doesn't get at the real question being asked. Why India? What's drawing me there?
At this point I usually get tongue-tied, not really knowing what to say. "Why not India?" I want to, and sometimes do, ask them back, avoiding their question. I think to myself, If you have to ask why I'm going there, you'll never understand.
India is one of the places I've most wanted to visit ever since I finished my last adventure abroad, studying geology in the mountains, hot springs, and beaches of New Zealand 4 years ago. I've been thinking, dreaming, and scheming to go for so long that I forget why I want to go there in the first place. Even with plenty of time to think about it between people asking me this same question, it took me a long time to come up with an answer.
I realized it's a question that stumps not because I don't have an answer, but because I have so many answers. I want to go to India because I want to spend a month at an Ashram. I want to ID some of the 1,300 species of birds in India, I want to go to a rave under the stars on the beaches of Goa, to sleep in the palace of a maharaja, to see a tiger from the back of an elephant, and to become a laughter yoga instructor. I want to drink a hot cup of chai from a street vendor, to see the world's largest mountain range, to swim in the Indian Ocean, to go on a camel safari in Rajastan, to eat chapati, to ride a bicycle rickshaw through the streets of New Delhi. I want to see the burning ghats on the Varanasi, to sip tea in Darjeeling, to see the Taj Mahal by moonlight, to ride the railroads through the Indian countryside, and to meet some of the 1.2 billion people who live in the world's 2nd most populous country.
While that's more a list of things of what I want to do in India than why I want to go to India, that's a good start to answering the question, Why India?
I want to see some of India's natural beauty and to experience the cultural richness and diversity that is the India subcontinent. India is a big place. Stretching from the glaciers and mountain villages of the Himalayas to the beaches and coasts along the Indian Ocean, and everything in between, India encompasses a lot.
In the process, I want to escape my comfort zone and explore the unknown. It's been my experience from past travels that I learn and grow the most when stepping outside my culture and outside my comfort zone. I think I will grow as a person so much more in a country like India than by visiting another Western culture. I can afford India much better, too!
For out trip, we saved up about $5,000 each for 6 months - $2,000 to get us there, and $3,000 to live off of. That breaks down to about $20/day. Hope it's enough!
I don't plan on seeing everything there is to see in India - but what I do see, I want to get to know pretty well. So while I plan on visiting a lot of places, it's more important for me to spend a lot of time in each place I visit. Depth is more important than breadth.
So join us over the next 6 months as we share our adventures, out pictures, our travels, our thoughts and our experiences with you.
-Vince
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Mom Weeks
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I get it!!!
Your explanation was so beautiful, I could picture you both enjoying all of these wonderful experiences! Reading this makes me want to fly to India & meet you both for a cup of Chai and some yoga :) I'm so excited for you two and I hope you have an amazing time!!! Looking forward to 6 months of blogs.....Love you kids. xoxo momma weeks.