A Traveler's Wishlist

Merry Christmas 


Dear Santa,

I know you are quite busy fulfilling people's wishlist. I understand these are the most busiest days of the year for you and everyone is looking up to you. Well, I am not asking you to consider  my wishlist immediately, but in case you have time, it's just a small list, perhaps.

  • Please allow me to borrow your sleigh at least twice a year. This could reduce my travel expenses drastically. Probably we can work on reduction of airfares too?
  • I have been planning to get a Canon DSLR for a long time. I know it is quite expensive but I am not asking it right now, you may take your time.
  • A backpack which never gets heavy and always have space for almost everything.
  • I so wish that I could sneak into hotels via their chimney like you do. This would be too much to ask, eh? But for now, discount coupons for hotels delivered to me everytime I plan my trip. I guess this is reasonable.
  • Diversion of my wife's mind from shopping on our trips. I know this is getting heavy for you, but the fact is that amount spent on shopping on a trip is inversely proportional to number of our trips.
  • Increase number of Paid Leaves in my company so that I can plan my trips more often.
  • A world without borders so that I can travel anywhere without worrying about visas and passports.
  • A safer and peaceful world. This is the most important of all and direct from my heart. You may skip above ones, but please take care of this one.
We all love you. Merry Christmas!

Warm regards,
Being Traveler

Being Traveler


[Image source: Google]

He was seven when his dad gifted him a camera and a roll
He didn't know what to do with it until he was told

‘It takes you places past, when memory doesn't last’, his dad said
‘Really?’ he asked with a doubt in his head

He never really used it back then
Until the day they moved to a new den

That’s when memories came knocking in his head
About all the days that he spent

Of the late nights in the courtyard
And of the days running around the fields and the fence

He took out the camera from the pouch
And gave it a nice rub like Aladdin did to his lamp

And took pictures of places and spaces
Of every little thing that he saw in hazes

With every picture that he took
His love for traveling grew like a brook

He thanked his dad for that beautiful gift
That let him be million places in a swift

He treasured that gift which he got at seven
And it was since that day in the distant past

That Being Traveler came to pass!

This is a guest post  written by Jincy "Speaking my mind". I personally love her poems and this has been written on a special request. Thanks Jincy for this lovely poem.

Neemrana Fort, Rajasthan

Neemrana Fort
Neemrana Fort, Rajasthan
                        
What could be more perfect than to celebrate your birthday at your favorite place? I had always loved forts and this time, I decided to go to Neemrana with my wife to celebrate my birthday. 

Neemrana, Rajasthan is located at approx 120 kms from New Delhi on Delhi - Jaipur highway (NH8). I left at 8am from home with my two beauties, my wife and my car.

It was Sunday and road was quite empty until we crossed Gurgaon, Haryana. As soon as we reached Manesar, we were welcomed by road full of trucks. Car started to crawl and we started to yawn. To bring the excitement back, my wife asked me to cut the cake while we waited for the jam to clear. Cake was finished and I thanked my wife for the gifts she gave. After spending good 2 hours, we were still stuck in the jam. At one point we almost gave up and decided to return, but then sun smiled and God showed grace and we started to gain some speed and jam disappeared. I drove pretty fast to cover up the time we lost. At around 12pm, we reached Neemrana. 

A Traveler's Wife

[Image Source: Google]
She supports, cribs, helps, argues and takes care. She does it all to make a perfect planned vacation, a memorable one. She ensures to make every moment cheerful and creates a comfort zone no matter where we are. She leaves no stone unturned to make me feel like home anywhere.

She cribs whenever approached to go to a new travel venture, but with few efforts, she becomes more than excited about the trip. She plans ahead and ensures every need is fulfilled during travel.

Confessions of a Hotel Room

[Image source: Google]

Getting dressed for the new guests. I have heard that these guests are quite demanding, thus I have to be presented well. Room service is taking extra care of me and they are extremely cautious to ensure that I please the guests. I look neat and clean now. The scratch mark on my face that I received when a kid threw his new toy at me few weeks ago now is now gone. Dust at the least reachable places has finally been cleaned. Lipstick stains on the curtain have been removed; I so hate the lady who smudged her lipstick on them. The sofa in the room looks as good as new after dry-cleaning. The stains of spilled coffee are no longer visible on the carpet.

Are You a Traveler or a Tourist?



                       


Few of us may not know the difference between a traveler and a tourist, but there is a fine line which differentiates a traveler from a tourist. Even I didn't know the difference between the two sometime ago, until I experienced it.

I was traveling to a city and stopped outside a popular destination which looked quite average from it's first look. As I stepped into the building, a man in his late 30’s was stepping out of the building and was conversing with his group in loud voice. His words as I remember correctly were "We wasted our time getting to this place. This place is nothing special, it is waste of time and money". With these words, he rushed outside the building angrily. He was so loud that some of the other visitors who were about to enter the building got influenced by his words. Obviously, the rude man visited this place to see some beauty so that he can click some beautiful pictures to show to his family and friends back home. What he overlooked was the history of the place and the glory that was associated with this place. He overlooked the culture of the place and stories attached with it.



Udaipur - The City of Lakes



City Palace
Udaipur 
It had been quiet a time, nearly 6 months that I had been to any vacation. Never too late though, me and my wife decided to go for a peaceful vacation to Udaipur, Rajasthan. Famous for its beautiful lakes, temples and city palace; Udaipur attracts tourists from all over the world. Located at approx 650 kms from New Delhi, it is well connected by air, train and road. This time we chose the most preferred way of traveling, i.e. by train.

My wife was pretty excited about the train journey, and I was not sure as I was going to travel in a train after 8 years. It was an overnight journey (nearly 12 hours) which we completed mostly with our eyes closed and minds switched off and body shaking. I woke up in the morning with the voice of a tea vendor which actually sounded like music to my ears as I wanted one badly (just the tea, not the vendor). It was 7 in the morning and we almost reached Udaipur. The night was pretty cold and I was still shivering even after hot cup of tea.

Thailand - The Land of Tigers

Wat Po
Thailand
Everything was set for my first-ever vacation outside my country. I have traveled to a lot of places in India, but I always wanted to explore the world. The idea of Thailand came to me after a lot of research and finally it turned out to be a great choice for a budget holiday on blue beaches of Pattaya, Koh Lan and a great shopping in Bangkok.

A day before going to Thailand, I returned home from office as a joyful kid who is waiting for his birthday gift, but it was better than a birthday gift as I was going there with my better half to  celebrate my wedding anniversary. I could not sleep that night as I was too excited to catch my early morning flight to Bangkok. We reached Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi and were through with all security formalities in no time. The funny thing was that I had to spend rest of my time in washroom not because my stomach was upset, but a container which I was carrying in my bag containing breakfast for me and my wife that my mom packed, broke inside my bag. After all the cleaning, we grabbed some snacks at Mc Donalds and scrolled through the airport stores with our tongues hanging out figuratively. I had a hard time to control my wife from shopping.

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