i thought about what 2013 meant for me in travel, what i learnt, what i will take away and will influence 2014. these are the thoughts i took away from my travel in 2013 – it’s a little late but nevertheless out here š
tell me what you learnt.. leave a thought, spark an idea, start a conversation in 2014. Ā
1. the minute you step out of your doorstep – you’re traveling.
even a minor deviation from your usual path, that lane that you never took, a different mode of transport makes you notice more, even walking through your usual bazaar but with eyes a little wider and mobile tucked away in your bag, makes you notice, observe and learn. i now appreciate the importance of discovering my own backyard. i plan to know mumbai really well in 2014.Ā
2. no place is too-travelled!Ā
not the shimlas of the world, not the matherans, not the goas and not even the good ol’ dilli (delhi). there is always something new, there is always something others have not seen because only you have your eyes, your sensibilities and your interests. every place is new depending on who sees it.Ā
3. cared-for heritage makes me feel proud
when governments and citizens invest in their heritage it makes me feel good and inspires me to take interest in what might seem like another old building. it makes me feel like we care about our past and where we came from. something that we indians tend to forget too easily… we have very short term memory. wish mumbai would take care of its monumental heritage and respect it too.Ā
4. you are never DONE with a placeĀ
i went to goa for the 7th time and there was still so much that i hadn’t seen. went to jaipur for the 4th or 5th time in my life and still not seen so much that the city has to offer… i need to go again for sure. Ā in this life, where social media tells you people are doing so much, traveling far and wide, i am always tempted to by quantity rather than quality. but over time, i realise the depth is better than width, fewer in detail is richer than skimming through more… there is a lot to see even in little.Ā
merry to go around 
Wow! Bhavani, what an ending!
“there is a lot to see even in little.”
I just came back after Pune heritage Walk. Thanks to you and your friend Puja, loved every minute of it and made some good friends [I think] and feel so good about living in Pune, not that I hated to live here yesterday. . . but you understand me, I guess.
“there is a lot to see even in little.”
liquid sky . . .
a steel bucket hits
the well water
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thanks amma š
like this haiku a lot as i can see that moving sky in the well.
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A nice interesting article.
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thanks niranjan!
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Really like this post Bh. Good reminder to keep your eyes open and mind curious.
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thanks nimisha… yeah… we need to keep reminding ourselves that from time to time no? š how about a guest post from you about houston? i don’t know that city, country at ALL!
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Good article. Always walk around with your camera in your hands and you walk slower and see more. The best pictures I have taken are not of sightseeing spots. They have been taken in small paths, bazaars,… But if you focus too much on your camera and good pictures, you see everything through the lense of your camera and might miss important things and can not enjoy travelling so much. Difficult. š
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That’s so true! Thanks for commenting.. I read this piece where I think Tony wheeler says he tends to travel without a camera.. He observes more then. observing through a lens is so diff from just naked eye! š
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True! But I just have a simple camera hanging on my belt. So I am not a pro. And I have a couple of pictures which are realy good and I want to print tem out and hang on a wall of my next appartment. Whenever that will be. š Furthermore I love to check with my tablet at the end of the day the pictures and edit them and upload them to my blog. So I think I observe more with my camera and look at rooftops and often make a 360 degree turn to see the road I hve passed from another perspective.
But when I was in Australia, there was a possum in front of me. Instead of watching it and enjoying the moment, I took my camera, adjusted it and tried to find it through my lense. Of course it was gone then.
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True on the last bit.. In my attempt to capture moments I’ve missed those very moments. Guess it’s about finding the balance for yourself. I want to travel camera free once, but think will obsess about all the moments, angles, shots I’m missing!
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