Travel notes...

Ladies out there who are single, listen.

Pack your bags and set forth to those places where you have always wanted to go.

I always wanted to go to Goa, and laze around in a beach with may be a dog for company.

Google and google. Then google some more for good prices in better places to stay.

I got a good deal for a resort with its own beach. And It also had a dog, which gave me company to laze around in the beach.

Take your pick - of music, of books. Take books which celebrate the spirit of being independent, and the books you loved as a child. Archie comics and Nancy Drew do qualify.

My choices were Enid Blyton, Paulo Coelho & Gerald Durrell.

Take enough of clothes, shampoos, creams and what not. Think long term and take a big bag so that you can shop around as much as you want.

I packed three pairs of footwear, which quadrupled by the end of the journey. My half empty travel bag has so many new occupants that I had to buy another one.

Lie through your teeth. Feel free to give yourself a new name, new job and new identity when friendly strangers question you. When feeling guilty remember Shakespeare : " What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Spill the truth only if you are 150% comfortable with the person.

My different names were Maria, Nisha, Divya, Asha, Lily.... and I was a Mumbaikar, Goan, Bong, Delhite, Tamil Brahmin... and was studying, working in a call center... And I did tell the truth once in a while.

Splurge. On yourself. It's no crime to feel selfish and self oriented once in a while as long as you earned what you plan to spend.

Ref the footwear...

Don't have an itinerary. Do what you feel like doing. We all have our to-do list at work. Don't make your holiday another project where you have to run around.

I slept, read, rode a two wheeler around aimlessly, took many photographs, collected sea shells, made friends with many dogs, gave massages to many cats who came purring... and also visited the beaches, the churches, the museums, the eateries....

Be happy that unlike our hitched sisters, we are free to chart our own courses and run free as wild horses. Enjoy the freedom and appreciate it - there is bliss in companionship, but let's not forget the gift of singledom that we have now...

S'long!!!

Settled bills.

Had / gave treats.

Said goodbyes.

Booked everything.

Ready for take off.

Feelin' good.

Off to the real world... will be back by end of this month!!!

Comfortably....

Its always a ritual to pack your bags.

You make that one last stop to your favorite bookshops and stock them up. You go to the ' out of my way arty place' and end up buying 'the cutest arm chair! and its only 350 bucks!!' to ship it all the way to santaland.

You try a round of all your favorite eateries. You gorge on phuchkas. You enjoy the seasonal fruits and have mangoes for breakfast lunch and dinner ( well, almost). Mangoes, the rare fruit in santaland.

You buy the same movie titles which you called horrible not so long back. They dont release them in Santaland.

You realize that Santaland is dictating you, getting into your taste buds and consciousness.You accept it passively, and glide through the rest of your long list.

You try meeting up with friends and colleagues. You feel disgusted with their you-forgot-to-call-me-so-i'm-gonna-stand-you-up antics. Then you remember that this is probably the reason why you are friends with them anyways. But so much to do, and you are so tired to respond to what could be grown into a amazing man v/s woman war. You are more in the walking-away mode, not in the I-will-try-to-win-our-argument or I-will-beg-with-you-till-you-say-yes mode.

You sigh.

You think of the people whom you met for the past couple of days, how you could have become good friends. You think of seniors and juniors and batch mates and colleagues whom you would have liked to know better; but its too late, too futile now.

You feel bad that you may not see some people again. You feel happy that you will never see some people again. You pray to God that you would never get to see some people again.

You book tickets. You arrange for travel and other accommodations. You are assumed to be a man, then a married woman. You sigh again, and correct them each time - no; I am traveling alone. Somewhere along the line, you just give up.

....numb.


PS:Those who know of some good place near North Goa, please let me know... the more happening, the better!