The advantage of off-season travel is always with peril. Yet the promise of a new land excites you enough to take the plunge and board the flight. Until, of course, you are greeted with a cold rainy day when you reconsider the sanity of your plans. My adventure in Porto, Portugal began on such rough[…]
Closing the book on 2012 The last few years and my late twenties have sped past me at a very rapid rate. The speed was worrying but the fact that it wasn’t measurable was terrifying. Granted there was a major milestone in the form of my gorgeous Lotus Elise and few other road trips, vacations[…]
Escapism I had back in 2004 made, what I thought was, a very witty comment. I was returning back to India for the first time from the United States. As the plane made its final descent into Mumbai skies, I could distinctly notice a change of smell within the cabin. Almost as if the waft[…]
I haven’t yet been south of the equator but came really close to that dotted line on the globe during my travel to Singapore. I wasn’t sure what to expect there. I had heard from several sources that Singapore is an extremely clean city outrivaling most cities in the developed Western world. But besides the[…]
I am driven by fear. It can be of the irrational kind, emotional or sometimes raw unadulterated fear that leaves me in a state of stupendous shock. And when it hits me, I cannot wait to overcome it or have it dissipate. Yet, strangely just as soon as I return to a state of predictable[…]
I had long romanticized the lack of an agenda when it came to vacations. I cannot blame the lack of opportunities since I traveled a fair bit in my last country. But every time it came down to the execution of the vacation plan, I would start frantically looking for my notebook and the closest[…]
Charting euphoria If I must be honest, when I first heard of this concept at a cultural training seminar I was fairly skeptical. The skepticism stood fast since I hardly went through such a curve when I moved to the US from India. And secondly, I strive to be non-average in such a vigorous fashion[…]
In the last three months or so, that I have moved here, many of my discussions with the Germans have revolved around how they have mastered the concept of quality of life. They speak of their exquisite vacation and work policies that lead to healthy and pleasant living. Coming from the States I was almost[…]
How do I turn down the turn down service? I am now considering maintaining an open topic list for all the little nagging things that are still remaining to be done. Moving in to the new apartment in Germany has brought along countless tasks that are now in desperate need of prioritization and execution. At[…]
In white, she felt just right. It just never gets old. It is always a stupendously wonderful moment where the dealer hands over the keys to your new car without much pomp or vigor. And you grab them in your slightly cold hands with a silent exhale. I count myself fairly lucky to have had[…]