update
I'm back!
After three weeks leading a tour in India, I'm now at my apartment in North Carolina. So, where to begin?
First, my 41st visit to India was beautiful. The tour went so smoothly and we ended up adding an incredible amount of activities as we visited cities, towns and villages. There were unique organic farms, villages that had never had foreign visitors, tiger spotting in
Ranthambore National Park (yes, we saw a tiger!), Diwali celebrations among palaces and temples, home-cooked meals with local friends, visits to
wonderful organizations doing excellent work for the local communities, the luck of having a beautiful fog encase the Taj Mahal, delicious meals every day...and of course, endless interactions with so many kind and welcoming people. To say that this trip was a success would be a major understatement!
With that said, if only the traveling part - to and from India - went as smoothly :)
My journey from the US to India involved a backup communications system failure on the plane, long delays on the tarmac, a low altitude crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, running through the Mumbai airport to catch my connection, baggage delays and delays due to flight congestion.
Then, my journey back to the US took 55 hours!!! It involved a flight from Delhi to Mumbai and then a flight from Mumbai to NYC where we had to turn back after 3 hours of being in the air due to a technical issue. This led to a long, chaotic wait back at the Mumbai airport, lots of angry people, an eventual cancelled flight, spending a full day at a hotel in Mumbai, returning to the airport and finally flying to New York some 24 hours later. The only good part was the camaraderie formed between us passengers as we all tried to navigate this ordeal. But, after landing in New York, I still had a 6 hour layover followed by a third flight in order to reach North Carolina. It was wild and by the time I arrived, I was barely able to walk straight due to exhaustion.
Luckily though, I had no choice but to keep on going as the next day was our family and friends Thanksgiving gathering. It was wonderful to have made it just in time.
Now I'm back in the US for 1 month. Right before Christmas I'll head to Lisbon for a few days, followed by New Years in Morocco with some friends.
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With all of this travel, I had plenty of time to read. Here's what I enjoyed the most:
