As this blog switches names, what is really changing is the lens through which each post is read–that it’s not only about where you travel or how you get there, but the spirit behind it. That insatiable desire for new places and different air.
Traveling in India for longer than I normally spend in a place was like gently peeling away the delicate petals of a furled flower bud– slowly coming to a deeper understanding of not only the country, but of myself as well.
It’s that time again: when, whether or not you have plans for the night, you can’t help but be infected by the excitement in the air. The buzz of one year coming to an end and another about to begin, the intoxicating thrill of fireworks and champagne.
The past week or so has brought a surge of year-in-review posts from fellow travel bloggers. No matter how much these posts may resemble each other, they all matter simply because we’re telling our stories.
Home is a curious word, isn’t it? What happens as our definition of home expands? What if home can be many things? Maybe where you grew up, and where your family lives now or you live, and even where you spent three months, three weeks, or three days.
To now find myself on the other side of this journey–with it largely behind me, with only a matter of hours left until I board a plane for London–is bittersweet. Because I think India has moved me—even if it will take some time to figure out just how, and in what ways.
The phrase–“I am here to be here”–instantly struck me, and I kept repeating it once I reached Mumbai. “I am here in Bombay to be here” became my excuse not to follow a checklist of sights, but simply to be in the city, whatever that might mean.
![Mission [im]possible: 24 hours in Goa.](https://www.candaceroserardon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IMG_8883.jpg "Mission [im]possible: 24 hours in Goa.")
Have you royally messed up your Indian travel plans and given yourself an impossible 24 hours to experience Goa–arguably one of the country’s most popular states? Not to fear–yours truly did just the same and has lived to tell about her race through the state.