Whenever being asked, “How is your preparation going?”, I don’t quite know how to answer.
If what they mean is something tangible, which is often the case, I can wave my e-tickets. At least I have the tickets booked to fly to Delhi and return from Calcutta.
There are billion kinds of people with complicated personality and personal preferences — all affecting their traveling styles. Some plan meticulously; some rely on guided tours; some fixated on Lonely Planet; some roam aimlessly.
I plan. I do. Just in my own way.
Apart from getting my tickets booked, I have also done the followings:
1) Eating Indian food.
I have been eating Indian food. Now, it does not sound like trip preparation at all, but to me it is. Food and cultures and sentiments are so interconnected. For me, knowing a bit how to order food in a new country is like learning simple phrases in the local tongue. Oftentimes I dine in local (inexpensive) places, places what may not have an English menu, so it’s handy to have some remote ideas what to order. Meanwhile, for a month and a half trip in India and Nepal, I reckon I need to love Indian food or else it’s gonna be pretty miserable. Educating my taste buds is, therefore, essential.
2) Reading books about India.
First a little confession to make. When I travel alone, I very seldom bring a travel guide book. I don’t mind getting lost and asking around and am not good at following instructions. For these past couple years, however, I have been traveling quite a bit with J and given him the privilege to be inspired by the almighty travelers’ bible, LP (in a nutshell, he does the hard work). So we use guide books, but J reads them. Though I don’t study the bible, I read almighty lots too! For example, “Empire of the Soul” by Paul William Roberts, for example, won’t tell you where to go or which restaurants to dine in Delhi, but it offers some acute insights into the cultures and spirituality of Indians (plus the British dark and dry humor of the writer is a bonus). Another must-read, if you want to know a bit more about Indian society, is Indian writer R. K. Narayan. His fictions reflect the contemporary Indian social customs and inner conflicts. The many readings I have done probably won’t be helpful in the sight hopping. But I often think one will be more attuned to understand the cultures by reading books other than travel guides. Indeed, my travel “guides” have often been novels I read over the past decades.
Preparation by reading and eating.
3) Planing the route.
Very roughly. J is accommodating (I am even more so), so it shouldn’t be a problem to come up with a mutually-agreeable route. My desires are simple: Rajasthan; have a camel ride in a desert and at least camp out for one night; a close up to Mt. Everest in Nepal (even if means an hour Everest sightseeing flight); dusk or dawn of Taj Mahal, plus some chill-out time in Pokhara. For a 45-day trip, J should have a lot of time to fit in what he likes to experience while meeting my desires.
4) Booking
- Never ever did we book anything before trips. Our low budget makes it flexible enough to get and shop around as backpackers and makes it ridiculous to consider booking in advance. Yet I am wondering if we may try one evening at a ridiculously expensive palace in India, which can cost up to 300US. 44 nights of 10-dollar/night budget v.s. 1 night of 300US/night palace is quite a stretch. Hm, let’s see…
5) Others
- I have been listening to many traveling programs on India and this afternoon just fed my Kindle with over 800 books (so I am gonna be well prepared for long bus/train ride). Meeting a doctor in a week for vaccinations. Plus, painting Indian motifs (get my mind set ready for India).
painting with Indian motifs to get my mind attuned
One greatest preparation I think one can ever have — no matter where you go — is a mind set for changes and surprises, set for detours and miracles, set for anything impossible to prepare and too good to anticipate. That’s what I am lecturing my little soul.
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