I have spent most of 2016 planning for my big trip in 2017 and it is finally January 1^st!  Happy New Year to all of us. Tonight, I leave for my six-month trip in India where I will experience my motherland as a home and not just a vacation destination. Since I moved to the United States in the 1970’s, my return trips have only been one month or less where I was just a tourist and not a resident. For this journey, I will unpack, get comfortable, and learn a few of the languages.

As you might imagine, I have several reasons for embarking on this journey and I will share more about them in future posts. If you are asking yourself (and me) why I am going on this long trip, then my answer to you is why not. I have been blessed with an opportunity to travel and given the shortness of life, there is no perfect time like now. I chose India because it is my motherland and so much of who I am comes from the Indian culture and society.

For many years, I have wanted to visit places like the Taj Mahal to revel in its majesty and size.  During this trip, I will visit as many places as I can but I will do it as an Indian American who wants to be more than just a tourist.  From others’ experiences and photos, I have gleaned my ideas of what I might feel while I travel, but I really won’t know how I feel until I get there.  To live a more mindful life, I have decided to be present in every moment of my travel and have no assumptions about what I should feel or share.  With my blog, I will document my personal journey and offer glimpses of India through my eyes.  I ask all of you to come with me as I explore.