Only a few weeks to go, is it only me who gets this excited?

Haylo

I'm off to India again in a few weeks, this time for a whole month.
I realise I'm immensely privileged to have this opportunity and I'm tremendously excited!

Thanks to the advice I've received on here, as well as our time in Delhi where my boyfriend now works, I've also been able to plan us a wonderfully interesting but relaxing holiday in Udaipur / surrounding area.

The problem? Nobody in my everyday life can really understand what on earth I'm so excited about. My background is rural / working class and nobody in my circle has ever travelled. Not knowing what I'm about to experience, I strongly suspect that they think I'm totally nuts - apparently it's not really "normal" for someone of my age to be bouncing around like a teenager.

All I keep hearing is "Isn't that where the hotel was blown up?" (*sigh* no that was in Pakistan, which is actually a different country ) and "I'd to go there, but the poverty would upset me too much" ( who cares about your feelings about just seeing it , what about the poor buggers who deal with it every day of their lives - poverty exists whether tourists witness it or not, deal with it or do something about it!). To be honest, someone saying they are avoiding going to India to save their own feelings does not impress me at all.

Oh dear... sorry this wasn't supposed to be a rant.

Anyway, I'm just curious about other people's feelings and experiences when they're about to head off to India. It's not like going on a package holiday to Spain / Mexico or wherever is the usual destination, but is it really only me who gets this excited?

machadinha

Nope, we all do. How long till you go? (Well, I do going anywhere really. Isn't it just FUN to be on the move.) Now go have a ball (and tell us what it was like )

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steven_ber

No, my 7th visit begins in 6 weeks and I don't even know where I'll head to when I get there, but I'm still excited.

The things that annoyed me on my last trip will still annoy me, but I'm still excited.

And what's the alternative?

Everything in life (and travel) is about our own feelings.

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skidmark

On my second time going over (first time solo) I’d spent the night at my parent’s house to be able to be driven to the airport. I had been so anxious and nervous the night before I had barely managed to get any sleep that night. When Dad went to awake me that morning, I awoke with a scream! It was a great trip none the less.

Sama

honey, it's just like what Louis Armstrong said about jazz (paraphrasing): IF I HAVE TO EXPLAIN, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND.

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wonderwomanusa

Oh, it's not just you getting excited. I leave in less than two weeks and am so distracted I can hardly work, let alone get things organized for the person who will stay with the cat!

My friends and clients all have wished me a nice holiday, but of course most of 'em don't care much about India and wouldn't dream of going there -- that's fine with me, as I do know other India addicts and will rave about what I love and hate to my journal! The e-mailed travelogue will get pretty bland, I fear ... but that's their problem, not mine!

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alouise

That just about sums it up for me too, the daily freedom to explore unknowns and relish the great learning curve. Even after several trips to India, and a few other parts, the adventure aspect is always exciting to anticipate months out from departure but then especially so once the countdown begins. For me it's two months away, so the countdown hasn't really begun yet. But I have a feeling that when it does I'll be just like Wonderwoman, distracted to the max and having trouble talking to family, friends and work colleagues about little else. I grew up in the bush, rural small town, so I can empathise with the insular scene - they thought I was crazy taking off to India and I thought they were parochial, sometimes moribundly so. Have a great time!

altmtl

Haylo, I know what you mean... I get questions like: What are you going to do there for 3 months, are you going to work, what will you do for money, why don't you go to Cuba instead it's closer... often these are the type of questions from people who don't travel with.

It can be a lonely feeling, I never even considered visiting India before 3 months ago, now that's all I think about, I'm a little nervous since I never been, but once I'm there I'll adapt quickly as I always do.

Getting the Visa, the meds, seeing a dentist before I go, packing stuff, making sure all my bills will be paid, packing stuff (I'm sub-letting my apt.) ... booking the overnight train, finding places to stay - so much to do... I'll just be so glad to be away for the winter... yeah it's exciting

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billyshake

Boy do I empathize with you on that, Haylo. When I go back to North Dakota every few years and talk with old friends or extended family, they're nonplussed by my choice to live abroad. At first I thought they weren't interested and then I realized that they just can't comprehend what I'm talking about. I told one guy that I'd just returned from Cambodia and he asked why I was living in Africa. Upon returning home from the Czech Republic in 2004, another old acquaintance asked if the Communist Russians were "as ugly as they look on TV"! (I can't even count how many things are wrong with that statement) But mostly, people just shook their heads and moved on to talking about hockey and the harvest. I can only imagine what they'll think someday if I return from India.

Haylo, will your friends and family be into looking at the pictures when you come back?

ananda2193

I get excited everytime I leave the states, whether it be India or wherever. It means no work and lot's of beer and fun and adventure. Who wouldn't be excited.

shashank.aggarwal

i get excited everytime I leave my city ..because whenever you leave the city for business or pleasure, it means that you are traveling and that is what I love to do.

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karuna

I think perhaps this is why this place works so well. We all have that same sense of about travel.

I'm like you, Shashank, I get a thrill going anywhere I've not been before. I also love airports. I kind of feel sorry for them that they are so maligned.

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shashank.aggarwal

Even though I might have visited the place 10 times, but as long as its outside Delhi/NCR I am game

Classic example are couple of temples in Rajasthan, have been there like 40 times in last 5 years, but still the day I have to leave, I get goosebumps and I try to leave as soon as possible. I get this urge to get out of the house asap, I can stand on the street for 2 hours to wait for others, but I have to leave my house..

Nick-H

I like airports too! And railway stations!

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L-a-u-r-a

My family in particular doesn't understand at all (having to get all kinds of vaccinations and malaria meds and so on). I guess they just want to have me around them, where it's 'safe'... My mother is kind of proud of me exploring the world, though.

Luckily I have a lot of friends who travel (some of them I met abroad), but some of them are really ignorent too. A friend told me to bring a sharp knife to defend myself (don't know what that was about). Then again, the best thing of her trip to Singapore and Indonesia last year was finding a certain dress in some department store in Singapore. It's a great thing people are different ;-)