Hey friends, this is d first time m trying my hand at something new - writing. Dunno how interesting it will be for some, but since i have promised my friend Saumya m gonna do this, theres no looking back. N i thgt wat can be more interesting a topic than my holidays abroad!!! For those who dont kno me very well, i am a crazy traveller, i jus love travelling. Why crazy?? u may ask. Well thats coz for the sake of travelling i can give up anything...n i mean ANYTHING...i have quit my last 2 jobs impulsively the minute i got my visa confirmations. didnt think twice abt recession, career, how it wil affect my next pay scale, how it will look on my resume, what will i do next......nothing at all can deter me once my mind is made up, no one can convince me to think otherwise....(now u kno why i call myself so CRAZY!!!)
Coming back to the topic - Why i go on such LONG holidays!!!. Well my holiday last year to Canada was for 3 months and dis summer i visited Europe & UK, again a 2 months long holiday. 3 months!!!! - u must be thinking that m loaded with money. Well let me clarify that all these holidays were regular budget holiday with no extravagant expenses. I kno of people who have gone for 15 days only but hv ended up spending more than what i would in a month. Really guys
m not kidding on this one. My best buddy Abhay always argues with me - says why cant u go for
15 days and come back. Surely u can cover all ur sightseeing in 2 weeks time, all normal people go for that duration, WAT THE HELL DO U DO FOR 3 MONTHS, DONT U GET BORED???
Well, to answer his Question, its NO. i dont look at holidays abroad as holidays. (Am i making any sense to you guys). I dont go abroad jus to visit famous landmarks, do sightseeing, click my pictures in front of each and every building, do shopping, and come back. U must be thinking, this girl is really crazy, isnt that why most people go on holidays abroad - to do sightseeing!!!. Well i go to experience the lifestyle, the culture, the local flavour, the people, the way of living there....as they say "when in rome, do as the romans do".(Another important reason is that i have close relatives in both these countries who happily tolerate me as a guest for a few months, guess they really love me a lot!!!)
When u go abroad the first time, u really feel as if ur an alien who has landed in paradise. everything seems so new, ur in awe of everything and everyone around you. So unless ur gonna spend lots of time there, ur not gonna feel like one of them. When i travel, i want to live the lifestyle that the local people live, i wanna eat the same food that they do, i wanna do the daily household chores that we never get to do in India, like moving the lawn, washing ur car, shoveling the snow, plucking your own fruits and veggies from ur backyard before cooking, washing ur own plates after all meals (trust me its reallly hard work!!!), washing and cleaning ur house, ur bathrooms, painting ur own room, having a garage sale, getting down at petrol pump to fuel ur car....the list is endless. There are so many new experiences, new things to do, new slang lingo to learn, trying to figure out the map and travelling on ur own by tube(dats train), bus or jus cycling ard downtown. Just visiting the local library can be an enriching experience.
Life is not as easy and rosy as we are used to seeing in movies. When ur sick no doctor will come home, u hv to drive urself to the nearest local hospital and get urself checked. No servants to do any work, no convinient rickshaws to hop into - u gotta kno how to drive else ull be stranded. No home delivery of anything except pizzas, and that too its not free. But when u realise that u can breathe fresh zero pollution air, so much greenery and open parks, so many facilities for common man, equal rights for all...u wil not regret the things u miss in India. A carpentor will be able to walk into a 7star hotel like ritz and will be treated with the same dignity as that of a CEO of any organisation.
Hope that i hv answered and justified my own Question, hope this blog was interesting for u guys to read and u made it till the end!!!. So firends, next time any of u get a chance to go abroad, please dont waste money on shopping, jus buy souviniers from each city. And try and experience the lifestyle rather that the sightseeing. It will b the most memorable holiday ull ever experience - trust me on dat
Coming soon - my next blog - My adventures in Canadam not kidding on this one. My best buddy Abhay always argues with me - says why cant u go for
15 days and come back. Surely u can cover all ur sightseeing in 2 weeks time, all normal people go for that duration, WAT THE HELL DO U DO FOR 3 MONTHS, DONT U GET BORED???
Well, to answer his Question, its NO. i dont look at holidays abroad as holidays. (Am i making any sense to you guys). I dont go abroad jus to visit famous landmarks, do sightseeing, click my pictures in front of each and every building, do shopping, and come back. U must be thinking, this girl is really crazy, isnt that why most people go on holidays abroad - to do sightseeing!!!. Well i go to experience the lifestyle, the culture, the local flavour, the people, the way of living there....as they say "when in rome, do as the romans do".(Another important reason is that i have close relatives in both these countries who happily tolerate me as a guest for a few months, guess they really love me a lot!!!)
When u go abroad the first time, u really feel as if ur an alien who has landed in paradise. everything seems so new, ur in awe of everything and everyone around you. So unless ur gonna spend lots of time there, ur not gonna feel like one of them. When i travel, i want to live the lifestyle that the local people live, i wanna eat the same food that they do, i wanna do the daily household chores that we never get to do in India, like moving the lawn, washing ur car, shoveling the snow, plucking your own fruits and veggies from ur backyard before cooking, washing ur own plates after all meals (trust me its reallly hard work!!!), washing and cleaning ur house, ur bathrooms, painting ur own room, having a garage sale, getting down at petrol pump to fuel ur car....the list is endless. There are so many new experiences, new things to do, new slang lingo to learn, trying to figure out the map and travelling on ur own by tube(dats train), bus or jus cycling ard downtown. Just visiting the local library can be an enriching experience.
Life is not as easy and rosy as we are used to seeing in movies. When ur sick no doctor will come home, u hv to drive urself to the nearest local hospital and get urself checked. No servants to do any work, no convinient rickshaws to hop into - u gotta kno how to drive else ull be stranded. No home delivery of anything except pizzas, and that too its not free. But when u realise that u can breathe fresh zero pollution air, so much greenery and open parks, so many facilities for common man, equal rights for all...u wil not regret the things u miss in India. A carpentor will be able to walk into a 7star hotel like ritz and will be treated with the same dignity as that of a CEO of any organisation.
Hope that i hv answered and justified my own Question, hope this blog was interesting for u guys to read and u made it till the end!!!. So firends, next time any of u get a chance to go abroad, please dont waste money on shopping, jus buy souviniers from each city. And try and experience the lifestyle rather that the sightseeing. It will b the most memorable holiday ull ever experience - trust me on dat
Munira
