Slow Travel- Make a home away from home

 

Finding a home away from home can make all the difference in your slow travel experience, especially when you are of a well-seasoned age.

Our slow travel experience began 8 years ago with us establishing a five-month home in Dharamshala India, which is located in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains.

We opt for long-term rental because it provides us a base to explore the country as well as others close by. For instance, being stationed in India, Southeast Asia is quickly accessible as well as Mediterranean countries. And you’d be surprised how inexpensive airfares can be, once you're out of the USA.

Also, a homebase allows you a place to dump your luggage and take only what you need when you venture out to somewhere else.

For instance, this year, we plan to spend five weeks in Vietnam, and then return to homebase India. We can take only what we need for that warmer climate. A couple of years ago we stayed for a month in Cascais Portugal, but took side trips to the north and then to Morocco. It was just great having a homebase to leave our things and take only the essentials on the side trips.

Finding the perfect long-term accommodations requires you to really think about the creature comforts you may need to be comfortable.

Our room and kitchen in India. We look for furnished accommodations when planning a long stay

We recommend finding a place that will allow you to establish a home environment and is convenient. For instance, an old historical building may have an aesthetic appeal, but are you gonna want to go up and down the stairs if there’s no lift? Another example: staying in an apartment in the center of a big city may have some appeal. But if you’re like me, and have trouble sleeping, well that location may not be the best choice.

 Your place should come fully furnished. You don’t want to take up your precious luggage space hauling along towels and bedding. You may not need a TV, but you’ll definitely need pillows, a place to sit and a place to sleep. So check it out, I pay close attention to the reviews when I’m looking for a place on Arbnb or Booking.com. I've found they are sometimes more helpful that the owner's promotional descriptions and photos.

Our needs include a heating or air conditioning (depending on the country). A refrigerator, washing machine, and good cooking facilities as we like to cook at home at times.

You may take your reliable Internet and electricity for granted in your home country, but when looking for a long-term stay, you’ll need to make sure that those utitlities are working well. While we have great internet now, in our India stay, we sure didn’t back when we first came here.

 And what about the water? Will you need to use bottled water for drinking? Is there a water filter? Is it clean? Is it readily available for showers?

Something else to think about, especially at our age, is access to medical facilities. When choosing where to park our bodes for awhile, we always check to see if doctors and hospitals are close by…. Just in case. You will want to check your medical insurance coverage before traveling. There’s lots of information on the web about this.

 Transportation. I’m try to find places within walking distance to main attractions or close to transportation options. We like to walk as much as possible as you’re able to really take in your surroundings, and taxi fees can add up and become your greatest traveling expense (outside air travel) if you’re not careful.

These are just a few tips for slow travelers who are at a seasoned age. We’d love to hear your tips. Drop them in the comment section.

Taking the bus in Toyko. It's always an experience in another country when you don't know the language. But eventually you figure things out..

Life goes on regardless of what I WANT.

 
No electricity! 

During my first year in India, when the lights would start flickering, I began to pray silently (or not so silently) "Please don't let it be for a long time." If it was during the cold season here in Dharamshal, I would panic because I knew I'd be uncomfortable. With my jacket on, I was known to crawl into bed and cover up with our heavy Indian comforter.

We made too many rookie mistakes in the beginning - number one being we purchased electric appliances! So, of course there were times when I was in the middle of cooking a meal and the "light" went out, or taking a shower and suddenly, no hot water.

Outages in many countries are frequent, and for those of us who take the utility forgranted, the thought of being without it makes us feel helpless. You can't cook, you can't use the Internet and you can forget about staying warm in the winter.

Yesterday, there was a power cut here all day -  the first since we arrived this year. For natives, business continues- sometimes with a generator, but everyone adapts, they work around it. For instance, most use propane powered stoves. Over the years, we have learned to adapt. We now have a gas burner, make sure our backup batteries, cell phones and computers are fully charged at all times, and I have learned to dress in layers when needed.

I was so proud of myself. I didn't panic. I didn't go running to my neighbors asking if they know how long the lights will be out. I didn't pester my husband to call our landlord to find out what is going on. While it was an inconvenience, I knew that eventually the electricity would come back on.

I've never been the most patient person in the world. I've always wanted a solution- NOW! What I'm learning from immersing myself in another culture is that life just goes on regardless of what I WANT.

When was the last time you ate SPAM?

Spam! No, not the annoying stuff you get in your email. I'm talking about Spam - the canned meat that sustained the troops in WWII and, to this day, is celebrated in Hawaii, and eaten all over the world.

Did you know there is a Spam Museum in Minnesota? 

My brother Richard, me and Chan with "Spammy"

Today, we ventured down I-35W to Austin - an hour and a half south of the Twin Cities. My Phoenix brother was visiting his wife's relatives in Des Moines, Iowa, so we decided to meetup at a halfway point and suggested the Spam Museum. 

How much fun. You're treated to Spam samples as you wander through the space, which takes you through the history of this canned delight and how this Minnesota product has become world famous. Did you know that Hawaii even has a Spam festival  - over 7 million cans of the stuff are sold in the islands every year. But the facination with Spam has actually spread all over the world, and the Hormel company has come up with so many different versions to suit these tastes.

After our visit we stopped at Kenny's Oak Grill, for what else but Spam!

Other fun museums we have visited: 

Potato Museum, Blackfoot, Idaho

                                                                     Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

Get out there! Mingle! Have fun!

Whether it's joining an impromtu dance at the beach, saying "yes" when locals want their photo taken with you, or asking if you can participate in an event, getting out of your comfort zone will really enhance your travel experience.

We recently returned from a month-long stay in Cascais Portugal. Wow, what a privilege to spend so much time in one place. Nearly everyday we walked to the beach area just to see what was happening and, of course, eat! We happened on a dance party, which my husband quickly joined in.... if there's dancing, you know he'll be out there movin' and groovin'. How fun, not only for him, but he put a smile on a lot of faces.... sadly, most people are age seem to prefer to sit on the sidelines. Not us! 

I have no idea who these people are, but they wanted their photo taken with us! I have grown accustomed to this request, especially in Asia. Why people want a photo is beyond me, but I always say "yes."

Dham is unique to Himachal Pradesh, India. It is a way to serve hundreds of people quickly and efficiently. You can experience Dham, which consists of several lentil curries and rice, at weddings and other family events. Whenever possible, I try to get myself invited to these event. But in India, really you don't have to wait for an invitation. All are welcome.

"Explore" Kerala: I wish I'd had more time

Two days after touching down in India, after our grueling trip from USA, we joined three friends and boarded a plane to the southern most tip of India, the state of Kerala. 

To be standing where the explorer Vasco da Gama landed, and was later buried, really captured my imagination.

Let's keep the politics of colonization out of it for a minute.... Just imagine the will, the determination and the sheer maddness it took for explorers of that time, to leave the safety of their homes for the open sea and the possiblities of new lands.

The state of Kerala is very different from northern India. I hope I don't offend anyone when I say that it seems more "civilized." It is definitely cleaner and all-in-all, it seems more orderly. From clothes, to food, to the weather, language and terrain, everything is different from northern India, which I have grown accustomed. 

Kerala is definitely a tourist state, with good food, facilities and roads that are easy to travel. We hired a driver for our 8-day visit, which I highly recommend.... while the roads may be good, the driving habits are foreign to a westerner.

We spent three nights at Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel which is within walking distance of the Arabian Sea, and located in the nearby town of Kovalam. The morning view from our window was of fishermen casting their nets for the daily catch.

I certainly got my fill of prawns, and on at least two nights, the head chef came to our table to display the day's catch and tell us how it would be prepared. I was definitely in the lap of luxury.

Sad to say, this is when I started feeling sick and even though I made time for an Ayurvdaic massage, I spent a lot of time in bed, trying to kick what was causing my digestive disorder.

Thank god for Pepto Bismol, as I was able to withstand the five-hour drive to Kochi, also known as Cochin. It is a large port city known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea. 

On the way, we visited Padmanabhaswamy temple, which is an architectural marvel located in Thiruvanthapuram. Only Hindus are allowed into the temple and men must be shirtless and wear the mundu (sarong) to enter.  It was, even from the outside, a stunningly beautiful.

Once we got to our hotel in Kochi, I crashed for two days while my travel mates took in the historic sites, which included the old city, where Portugese influence and trading history was apparent in the old architecture.

Then, it was off to the hills and the lush greenery of the jungle. We stayed in the rural town of Munnar at the Ice Queen resort. Strange name for a place that has probably never seen snow and ice. Anyway, I was really impressed with the efforts the owners are making to keep the carbon footprint low, and run a sustainable operation. 

Again, because I was still sick I spent one day in bed, while others visited the large tea plantation and museum. 

My absolute highlight, and is not to be missed, was the Kathakali dance performance. If you ever have the chance, please, please see this. The skill of body movement and muscle control (especially facial) is mesmorizing.

And then it was time to head back to the Kochi airport, which has the most comfortable seating I've ever experienced at an airport.

And then it was time to fly back to Delhi and then on to Dharamshala.... our homebase in India. It took we another week, but I am now fully recovered from the travel and illness.

International travel: S**t's gonna happen.

We had three objectives in mind for our travels to India on Nov. 3.

1. No checked luggage; 

2. Connect through Lisbon, Portugal, as we intend to spend March 14- through April 12 there before returning to the USA.

3. Reach Delhi by Nov. 5 to meetup with our friends for a trip to southern India.

We had so many connnections this time to accommodate the Lisbon connection and our timeframe, that we knew there would be a good chance our bags would not make it to our final destination, Delhi. 

Our planned itinerary began in Minneapolis then to Chicago, Chicago to Paris, Paris to Lisbon, Lisbon to Dubai, Dubai to Delhi. 

It turned out to be a very wise move on our part to have only carry-on, as once we reached Paris, we got hung up in security (so short -staffed) that we missed our flight to Lisbon. And that, caused a cascade of issues. The next flight to Lisbon, would have had us miss the Dubai connection, and then possibly the Delhi connection. So, as we sometimes have to do, we had to suck up the financial loss and rebook a direct flight the next day from Paris to Dubai (skipping Lisbon) which meant we had to spend the night in a Paris hotel near the airport.

Pretty confusing! We reached Delhi about 2 a.m. on Nov. 5.

Take-away lessons:

• Go non-stop if at all possible, when flying international;
• Make sure your phone is charged at all times;
• Log into the airport wifi, whenever possible;
• Carry airline customer service numbers with you. You may not be able to locate a "live" person to help you at the airport, especially if your connections involve multiple airlines. You will save a lot of time and headache trying to work out connection issues;
• Be sure to carry water and some snack, your "dollar" may be no good in the foreign airport terminal.
• Most important- stay calm, take it from me getting worked up will get you nowhere. Shit's gonna happen when you travel, it is best to just stay calm.

Mandir, a place of worship and so much more

 

India is known for its magnificent and important temples and mosques. But if you want to see how the average Hindu worships, on nearly a daily basis, you'll need to explore the small streets and pathways for the neighborhood mandir (Hindu temple). During our recent trip to Delhi, our hosts brought us to a couple of temples that my husband worshiped at during his youth. It was a moving experience for him, bringing back many memories of his childhood.

On the day of our visit, the temples were preparing for the upcoming Holi, often called the festival of colors. No doubt you have seen photos of Indians celebrating by throwing colored powders into the air and splashing them all over their faces. 

But something more meaningful was happening. At this temple, along with many others, large batches of food were being prepared for the langar, meals served to all free of charge, regardless of religion, caste, gender, economic status, or ethnicity.

Religion plays a huge role in the lives of Hindus. Being a Christian, from the United States, I won't even pretend to understand how much worship, prayer and sacrifice are a part of their everyday lives. Most families have a mandir at their homes, where daily prayers and offerings are given, but it is at the community temples where you witness true faith.