After 10 days in an industrialized, noisy, smoggy city of 5 million people, as students we had pretty high expectations of Goa. After a flight to Mumbai and then to Goa, we arrived to palm trees, fresh humid air, and billboards for liquor. However, life is such that if your expectations are too high, you might be disappointed. Our hotel is partially under renovations and not on the beach, so immediately it put a damper on our nirvana-like expectations. Many of us (not me) had to deal with malfunctioning toilets, power shorts and bed bugs. Add in 30 people who have been travelling together for the last two weeks and it's understandable that tensions might run a little high.
This gave us our first lesson of Goa around tempering expectations and understanding our own personal limitations in achieving our own standards of comfort. Some people's standards are simply about a clean bed and working shower, while others need high speed internet access and goose down pillows.
For me, I was a little nervous about travelling again as it has been a while since I was outside the tourist enclave as an independent traveller, moving on a budget, negotiating for every purchase. I wondered if staying in nice hotels at beach resorts where every whim was anticipated had made me soft? Through this process I've learned my preference is somewhere in between the hard core budget traveller and those seeking greater comforts. Amenities like a pool or wifi are nice, but can live without all of them as long as it's safe and I don't have to worry about a cockroach running over my head while I'm sleeping.
Bed bugs and meditation. I was wondering how the latter came along. I've never tried it - it kind of freaks me out to sit still and NOT think or do the laundry....hmm. Does India make meditation easier?
ReplyDeleteWondering: Your friend from Berlin