Am getting really, really scared about going to India :(

Hi all! Please forgive me if this is in the wrong place, I couldn't decided where it should go so plonked it here!

I am getting more and more nervous about going to India. I have never been travelling before and am setting off for 3months on my own, is India throwing me in at the deep end of first time backpacking destinations?

I wasn't as scared until my dad sent me this article http://postmasculine.com/a-dust-over-india

What do you guys think?

Hi, i have been going to India for many ,many years because it is such a wonderful place. I am sure you will have a wonderful time! It is true that some people dont like it but they are definately a small minority. My own daughter has travelled all over India on her own and had a great time. Read the posts on this forum and take the normal precautions you would in any country not your own. Sure it is very different to the culture you have been brought up in but thats one of the reasons you want to go ,isnt it? I think your dad gave you that article to read because it reinforces his own ideas,you know that you could read an article about areas of London where drug dealers rule the streets and young people are forced into doing dreadful things to feed thir habit but it doesnt stop millions of people visiting every year. All countries have their problems including India but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Being an Indian, my opinion in this matter might me subjective as I can not see things from a foreigner's perspective; however, I still found this article highly exagerrated.

Once, one of my British friends told me that there are only two types of people..those who love India and those who hate India. The writer of this article falls in the latter category that too in the extreme end of the spectrum.

No doubt he has mentioned certain true facts about life in India (still can't be generalized). But there is an art of writing, which leads to build an opinion about a thing without letting you to think rationally about it. This person seems to be the proponent of this art

As mentioned in the previous post, you will certainly have a great time in India..just take few basic precautions (regarding everything)

Travelling to new places is moving into the unknown, and it is this adventure that keeps travellers on the move. There are wonderful aspects during travelling that are way above any known negatives.

When you move out of your comfort zone, you should expect that anything and everything that can go wrong, may, it is how it is!

I am going to India for the first time, and for 3 months too. I'll be spending a month in the South and then the rest in the North. What about you? I'm not going until 2014. I've also never been travelling before either, other then 2 weeks in Italy and 1 week in NYC.

India is daunting. I can't even believe I've chosen it as my first place to go hehe. I'm reassuring myself by hoping that the worst that will come is that I suffer a couple days diarrhoea and maybe get caught out by a few touts.

Just take normal precautions that you would take anywhere, maybe invest in a sim card and text parents to tell them when you've arrived at a new place. Email them to let them know where you are staying and what flights you are on. Don't go out at night in the streets on your own (I wouldn't even do this in my home town). There's an Indian youth hostel association that I was thinking of joining - might make it easier to meet others. Also could try couch surfing. And if you really don't like it or don't feel comfortable, move your return flight forward and go elsewhere.

I am so sure that despite what I've read about India and with some people trying to put me off, I know I'll have an amazing time. There's so much to see and do. You could also book some tours with tourist offices or travel companies if you were lonely.

India is not one monolitical entity!
Each place comes with its own issues and offerings! In general if you follow the precautions you find in various thread in this forum you'll be safe!
Here's a small list of some very basic precautions that'll keep you safe!
1. Avoid going out after dark, especially alone!
2. Don't wear anything that's tight , transparent or shows skin!
3. Don't eat anything offered on a train by fellow passengers, it could be drugged!
4. Don't get friendly with local men!

Dear Lo-lee-ta
I dont think that you should be that scared to do a backpacking in India. There are many other threads in this IM that I am sure you will get a clear Idea as what and how India hosts you. The author Mark Manson who had written in Post Masculine has seemed to be deliberately been doing his rounds in those parts of the city in New Delhi or Mumbai or Bangalore where he could see only shit or feces or one legged people or people living in shit. In fact I really pity him because he saw only that 10% which was bad like any country would have and missed those 90 % good which he could have really enjoyed and rejuvenating. I wish he could have done other major part of India where majority of them who visited India wish they will come back again. Bad part is there in every country, but that does not mean that the whole place is bad. You should definitely not be afraid just because some @*&@ has written his views and tastes.
I would surely suggest you that take all the precautions when dealing with people as how you would do when you go to any unknown place in your country or any other country.
Regards.

I get so fed up with the holy-holy spiritual-mother wonderful-India fantasy that is common-place among foreign (and some not-foreign) visitors to, and writers about, India. In a way, this article was refreshing! But yes, it is exagerated, and it is but one view of a realtively restricted experience of India. In some other ways, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

For a start, it is not true that all of India is dusty and filthy. This seems to be something that varies very much according to where you happen to be.

I used to sail. A couple of friends and I got enough experience between us to charter yachts that we could never, ever, dream of owning. We did this, two or three times a year, for a week or a fortnight, and we introduced quite a few people to boats and the sea. Rather like people coming to India, the newcomers tended to either have a false belief that they were undertaking something very dangerous, with a real risk that they would never come back or an equaly false belief that all would be calm seas under the sun and the moonlight (this was UK, the English Channel, so some bloody hope of that!) . To some of the latter, we used to lend a book called We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea. Arthur Ransome: remember Swallows and Amazons? It's a children's book, but, apart from one or two bits of romantic fluff, it gets across the fact that the sea can be a very uncomfortable and dangerous place, in an easy to digest form. If they still wanted to come after reading that... And most did . We practiced a more advanced form of the same therapy on ourselves, with books like Adlard Cole's Heavy Weather Sailing

So, this article is a bit like We didn't mean to Go to India!

Read it and realise that India is not all romance and spirituality. Very far from it. But there is so much more. I do hope you'll still want to come

lo-lee-ta, you've been doing your homework here on IndiaMike and you have a realistic idea of what to expect when you get there. I think that you'll enjoy India, warts and all. Please feel free to read my blog. I traveled to India twice and traveled both times solo during half the trips. Of course you'll be nervous, but I really think that you will have a great time!

I'd also add that you should ease yourself in. Yes, there are parts of India that are manic, dirty and tough even for the most ardent backpacker.

There are also places that are beatuiful, quiet and relaxed. Don't forget that thousands of OAP's travel to India every year on holiday and keep coming back - if they can do it, you can too!

India was my first ever backpacking destination, and the only problem it has ever presented me is that, after India, pretty much everywhere else was boring and easy in comparison!

So, start in the South. Or hit the beaches of Goa to acclimatise. Then do the rest. Theres so much you need to understand about Indian culture and living that will make the rest of your journey so much easier. Learn these things somewhere more relaxed and move on when you're ready.

Also, don't have a set and tight itinerary - It's a sure way to add stress to an already stressful event. And anyway, as you'll soon find out, just because you have a plan doesn't mean Ma India will follow it! In fact, she normally doesn't!

NB

If your not scared/apprehensive/nervous about your 1st trip to India, you may as well holiday in Bogna. It is part of the journey, enjoy it. Zamba.

I've been to India 6 times, alone (except for three times when I traveled with people for a while...), and that's the way I prefer. deliciously alone. now planning my 7th. and I'm not a young dread locked hippie chick looking for Krishna:

"One girl tried to brag to me that she had had visions of Krishna in the northern mountains and that she thinks she may convert to Hinduism. When it came out that she had been smoking local hashish every day for weeks on end, I pointed out that these two things may not be a coincidence. She didn’t like hearing that."

....I'm an old hippie chick sans dread locks. so far.

Personally I agreed with much of his story. I suggest you read the book Being Indian before you leave.

what's so scary for you? other peoples' words about India are scaring you? I would have to ask you then, why are you allowing them to scare you about India? what if you got there and what you read or heard did not happen at all? people miss the greatest experiences of their lives by listening to the "what if this happened, what if that happened" when usually those things don't happen at all. yeah, and what if I died tomorrow?

either go to India or don't. if you don't, India won't care. but maybe you will.

Please read this blog/article carefully. Please do not skim - maybe you haven't, but just making sure. Once you do that, feel free to identify what exactly is it that scares you.

It's okay to be scared, and maybe India is not for you. However, it would be a shame if you got scared from someone's perspectives as opposed to facts, wouldn't it?

I thought it was a nice piece from an individual, who had some real experiences, and came to some conclusions. People have different thresholds of being scared or being impacted. Nothing right or wrong about it.

Adiyogi

Good practical advice!

There are a lot of fears about India on this site. Some can be confirmed, others can be denied. Things can be put in perspective.

great minds think alike.