Roads are calling!!

life's a beach
life’s a beach

During those jobless hours at work, I stumbled upon articles and blogs giving reasons for “why should you travel” or “why a woman should wander”. Probably it has got something to do with my rebel  nature that I find such posts too preachy and refrain myself from just following what someone wants me to do. I believe every one of us have our own reasons to travel, be it the craving for adventure, seek peace or just out of restlessness. I tried to jot down what makes me hit the road and surprisingly it came out to be a list longer than I expected (I never cease to surprise myself, you see 😛 ). If you are able to relate to any of the ideas below.. bingo, You might wanna try the other ones too! Here we go:

  • J.O.U.R.N.E.Y: Coz I love being on a journey rather than reaching the destination. I derive the ultimate pleasure out of a trip when you start an overnight journey from an overcrowded bus stop in a concrete jungle and wake up making your way through lush green paddy fields or vast coconut farms.
  • Medieval times: Coz sometimes I end up staying at a vintage homestay in the middle of an abandoned valley, with no access to wi fi or telephone network. That’s when I turn my eyes away from Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and all the other so called social networks and actually get into real socializing with people around me.
  • Surprizzzze!!: Coz I get to see the other side of the people who I thought I knew in and out. Like on a trip, when we actually had a drink with my otherwise strict dad and even made mom try a sip of Breezer, I realized how totally cool my parents are!
  • Coz when I am travelling with a long lost school friend and a midnight coffee from the highway CCD gives me a kick that we end up reliving all those school days making fun of that Sanskrit and Physical education teacher. This trip actually made me feel how simple life was once upon a time and what joys a ringing school bell gave us! Oh did I mention, I even managed to pull out the current relationship status of my teenage crush *grin*!
  • Chhhutttii!!! : Coz there’s no better excuse to escape from your mundane life and daily chores than to satisfy your wanderlust. I have tried all of those bullets on a list of 51 best excuses for a day off from work and trust me, I actually started feeling sick when I took a sick leave to spend some time with myself at home 😀
  • Get wild: Remember when they said, you spend time with yourself amidst nature and connect to your soul, introspecting your deeds and plans? yeah well this Karma thing just doesn’t work for me 😛 Instead when I ain’t got anything to do, I jump into the wilderness around me .. The coffee plants in Chikmagalur, the strawberry orchids in Mahabaleshwar, the tea estates in Munnar or just a stroll along the nearby water stream. Coz for a change its better to let a leech suck your blood than a moron boss.
  • Nothing good happens after 11: Coz the idea of fun on a Saturday night would be dinner in a civilized posh restaurant, party in a wild club or night out at a friend’s place which again gets monotonous after a while. What kindles me is the idea of rolling on the floor laughing by the bonfire in a camp when one of my friends are telling their most embarrassing moment, or sharing that dramatic horror story at bedtime can never be a flop.
  • Reality check: Travelling with strangers is fun! I get into all the random talk with these people and discuss about their habits and interests who help me conclude I am as normal as these people or they are as weird as I am.
  • Myth buster: I have lots of myths about places, people, food and even myself. I owe this to all those guys I used to ogle during the science and geography classes (please note that there weren’t many good looking guys in my batch, but thank god for seniors!! 😉 ). So a new place might even gift me an eye opener fact that stays with me forever.
  • etc.: Other reasons include, getting to relish on the local cuisines giving your taste buds a treat, learn a word or two from other languages and flaunt later, catch a breath of fresh air feeling that your system has been cleaned.

Phew! Guess, it’s time to plan another trip and let my hair down .. HEY HO, LETS GO!

Ciao 🙂

My Bucket List

My-Bucket-ListIt’s the time of the year when I realize I have spent another 12 months doing good, bad and silly things and I can’t really do much about it now!

While I say goodbye to an extremely eventful year, am planning to ring in the New Year with a bucket list. I see almost everything struck down from the list I made on my last birthday which means this is the best time to prepare another one.

Here we go:

  • Go Scuba diving
  • Swim at an infinity pool
  • Go Stargazing
  • Spend some time away from my phone
  • Another tattoo
  • A beautiful living room in my house
  • Visit two new beaches
  • Learn yoga
  • A green balcony
  • Go trekking
  • Give shape to all the DIY ideas on my mind
  • A solo travel
  • Bake a cake for someone special

Looking forward to a great year ahead! 🙂

A pint of sweat

This was an year of lots of ‘fist times’ for me..  Trip with a travel group, job switch, a lifelong commitment, this blog etc. one of the most significant additions to the list is entering a GYM and work myself up into lather.  For the initial 20 years of my life, I was one of those skinny girls who was frequently asked “oh god, why don’t you eat something?”

Cut to the chase,  I joined this IT world and that’s when the mishap began. Thanks to the sedentary job of sitting in front of an idiot box for 8 hours a day and the junk food, little flab started showing up.  After several failed attempts at early morning jog, I realized that I am not programmed to get up at 6 in the morning and that’s when my tête-à-tête with Gym started.

Here are a few reactions when people close to me learnt about my new relationship with treadmill, weights and yoga mat!

Mom (typical Nirupa Roy reaction): what, really?? You don’t need to join a gym, you are already thin! Remember that cousin of yours, she started looking malnourished after few weeks of work out. You will lose all the glow (she meant the baby fats on my face!).. we totally love the way you are beta, I ask you to quit right now!

I: but mom, I am just trying to tone a little, to hide those extra inches in a saree 😉

Mom: what rubbish..  you looked perfect the other day, you wore that saree. Are you trying to be Kareena, nobody likes size zero trust me 😀 Anyways I know am barking up the wrong tree, do whatever you want. (hung up the phone)

Mr Fiancé: that’s great! I am so proud of you! Hope that gym instructor is not bugging you..

Few days later- Babe you really don’t have to do this, all the body ache is not worth it.. you are just fine 🙂

Ex roomie 1 (texts): hahaha! This is a NEWS! Are you seriously going to a Gym.. but you hated that place 😀 way to go lazy bum!!

Ex roomie 2 (texts): LOL.. ROFL.. LMAO (and all the other possible slangs she knew) do you mean you are going to a Gym.. a real Gym? Have you put on weight 😀 hahaha..  hohoho..

Sister in law: ohh.. you are trying to become Deepika Padukone! Gym is a place for people like us, never mind, you just play around with all those machines and don’t starve yourself.

Gym Instructor: Welcome to KlubFit *grin*! Staying fit is no rocket science, just be regular (read, hire me as your personal trainer) and don’t give up (even after my third degree torture)!

Well, Its been few weeks and my tryst with this dreadful place continues. I am getting used to waking up to sore muscles and viewing pizza as a guilty pleasure. 🙂

lets get started!

Dear Blog,

You have been on my mind since a very long time now, but you know I am more of a reader than writer. Too much research is one of procrastination’s most elegant disguises, so I finally ran out of excuses and decided to take you up seriously.

Being regular at something has always been a challenge for me and this is one of the reasons why I want to connect with you. So I am gonna try to be as honest as possible with you. Also there might be times when you won’t hear from me for weeks or months, but trust me you will always be in my thoughts and I will try my best to keep you up and running.

Cheers to our new journey! 🙂

Love,

Sensibly Silly