I'll admit it—Jaipur is not one of my most favorite places in India. Two months and 13 Indian cities later, one might say that I have something to compare it to.
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Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing in Jaipur + Pondering What's Next
There are many times on this journey that I find my mind wandering, contemplating what will happen next.
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The luxurious palaces of Mehrangarh Fort overlooking Jodhpur, India.
Visiting Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India
Long term travel may sound glorious, but in practice, it can be hard.
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Female construction workers in Jodhpur carry sand in buckets on their head as their children play nearby.
On Flying and Not Dying in India
After traveling several months throughout India, I can't seem to understand how people don't die more often.
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Dust storm and desert flowers in Black Rock City, Nevada
A Journey Home: Stunning images of Burning Man 2014
We need to be reminded that amazing places such as this can and do exist—communities where creativity, innovation and art come together to inspire humanity. This is Burning Man, 2014.
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An ancient 24-foot reclining Buddha inside the Ajanta caves
A Buddhist masterpiece: The Ajanta caves of India
We've flown north, through Mumbai and then east to Aurangabad to visit another impressive art historical site—the 2,000-year old Buddhist caves of Ajanta.
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Lakshmi the elephant at the Virupaksha temple, Hampi
Falling in love with an elephant in India
In Hampi there is a temple. In that temple lives an elephant.
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En route to Hampi, women construction workers walk along the train track
Stepping off the path + A train ride to Hampi, India
"Chai chai chai! Chai chai chai!"
"Pakora! Samosa! Pakora!"
We are on a train heading east to Hampi. Food hawkers jump on and off at every stop, rushing through the cars shouting, selling refreshments. I want to taste everything that passes—samosas served from a worn cardboard box, crispy masala rice snacks in a giant plastic garbage bag, fresh mango lassis carried in a tattered milk crate. Yet I cringe as the vendors grab food with their bare hands, passing it to customers wrapped in sheets of used newspaper."Chai chai chai! Chai chai chai!"
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Exploring The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
Wanderlust + Solitude vs. loneliness + How I finally decided to travel the world
I have always had it in me, wanderlust. It's pretty much forever been my dream to explore the world through long-term travel.
Forget those short stolen twelve days of annual vacation allotted to working America (even though that's all the time I've had these past few years). No, that kind of travel is frenzied, restricting the majority of life to an unnatural cycle of constant want of more. I'm talking about the kind of long-term travel where you give up owning most things, leave behind a stable home, learn to live simply on a budget, and really see the world.
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Holy men sitting by the Ganges river in Varanasi
How to find something to believe in: the search for a guru in India
Searching for a guru is trendy in India, especially if you're a Westerner. I've begun to theorize that this eternal quest is driven by what is lacking back home in the West––a culture with belief in something more meaningful than the self.
India is the perfect place to visit, then, because spirituality is so omnipresent in a non-preachy sort of way. I should have known of its importance months prior to arrival, simply from the visa application. Halfway down the form I was required to check a box indicating my religious affiliation. For the record, agnostic and atheist weren't even listed as options.
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A working elephant at the sanctuary carries palm branches near Trivandrum, Kerala
A theater of humanity, images of village life in Kerala, India
"In the West, you save up all your money in order to spend it on an experience. You are searching for something," our Indian travel agent winks at me. Her sparkly nose ring catches the light and her bangles jingle as she hands us our train tickets. "Us Indians, we think you're a little bit crazy; we would never travel like you. We'd rather spend our money on gold jewelry, land, or a new house." This explains her inability to tell us more about popular sights at our next destination in India.
In the West, we do believe in the almighty experience. And for me, like many, the ultimate coveted experience has always been to travel.
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Snowfall at the Summer Palace, Beijing
Why we need endlessly changing horizons + A day of winter wonderland + breathing in China
I'm happy to announce that I've broken through the shackles of the internet firewall of Chinese censorship — I've arrived in India! It's 2013! And I haven't posted in a really long time. Oops.
In order to blog properly, I really need to dedicate quite a few more hours a week to this. Easier thought than done when continually on the move. I'm seeing so much every day (awesome!), it seems like it will take forever to fully process my documentations. But the amazing thing is, I really feel like I'm living. And I love that.
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