Seeing the world

I’ve found me a sparkling new way of feeling all angsty (as if there wasn’t enough earlier) – for the last week or so, I have spent every day going through travel blogs that I have discovered lately. Many of them are round-the-world travel type blogs – high on the angst scale, since this is something I never see myself doing. A few days, a few weeks at a time, yes (and it is abysmal, how little I have actually seen of the world – don’t even mention it), but months and even years on end, no.

My first brush with these RTW types was in Ladakh earlier this year. Prior to this, I’ve always known in a distant, pleasant kind of way that such people existed – people who have taken it on themselves to see the world, literally. So, there was this Chinese couple from Canada spending a year each in India and China. And there was this solo female traveler from Singapore traveling around Asia for eight months.

And best of all (hi! if you are reading this) were Paul and Claire on their grand world tour. We spent a few days together in Leh, drinking lukewarm coffee on the rooftop of Lala’s Art Gallery Cafe and tucking into huge dinners at the Oriental Guesthouse – and took a day trip to Lamayuru monastery. You cannot listen to them talk and not want to go off to South America right now.

When I was talking about such travelers to a friend back in Bangalore, she and I both agreed that we did not see ourselves ever doing this. Her reason was being away from friends and family for so long (well, what is the internet for, dearie, I asked). Mine was, among other things, that I could never survive travel for months on end, being a vegetarian.

Turns out that is not such a big problem after all (dang! I need to think of new excuses now. Or perhaps, reconsider this notion that I could never do a RTW trip). For, I came across several travelers who have survived being vegetarian on the road and come back to tell their tales. Perhaps it is possible that I join the ranks of the Great Unwashed.

The fabulous A Little Adrift has a whole section of posts devoted to food – with a vegetarian slant – I particularly love the way she describes her new-found love for curd. Go read this blog – in her latest (mis)adventure, she cheats on her backpack and finds that she falls flat – literally – with a suitcase.

Then, there is Akila and Patrick’s blog – As the Road Forks – I first came across their blog through a link that someone had shared on their 99 lessons learned traveling. Check out No.55, heh! And then check out the rest of their blog.

As we travel is another of the blogs I have spent my entire day today – and surprise, surprise, see what I found (among many other interesting posts) – on vegetarian travel. Sofia and Nathan also have some great travel tips, especially on packing and traveling light (and you thought I only thought about food all the time?).

That brings me neatly to the other blog I have discovered recently (why did I not know earlier, I wonder) and spent way too much time on – Backpacking Ninja aka Aparna Shekhar Roy. Aparna also has this great post on packing light – No excess baggage (note to self: repeat these three little words a hundred times every morning – and reread these posts before packing for the next trip).

And on an unrelated subject, an interesting post from Twenty Something Travel – We’re All Travelers Here – on this whole snobbery about being a traveler and not a tourist. Hey, I have been guilty of this myself in the past – but this is so true – My problem with this attitude is that it turns the act of travel, which is awesome and fun, into a pissing contest. Travel is NOT a lifestyle competition. It’s not a battle for who has the lightest backpack, or visits the most obscure places. It’s not about what you should or should not do; it’s about meeting interesting people and doing interesting things and seeing the world, because you want to. A must-read piece.

From the lawyer-on-the-move – my latest blog find – here are 13 reasons why everyone should travel.

And finally, foXnoMad with tons of interesting how-to tips and travel stories.

So have a fun, totally (un)productive week! And let me know your favourite travel blogs so I can have one too…