That’s a funny thing to talk about on a holiday in Goa. In Mumbai, Inji, our 10-month old indie/desi/Indian dog, chooses to sleep the last 15 minutes before the alarm rings for his walk, on our bed. At 6.15am in Mumbai, we are still groggy and choose not to push him off the bed every day, so he gets some cuddle time every morning. On a holiday in Goa we planned to push his walk time to 7am, and maybe by the end of two weeks, we would be at 7.30 or even a delicious 8am. 

Our lovely companion chooses to inform us, sweetly, that it all lies in his paws. Inji wakes up 15 minutes earlier than Mumbai everyday. And no, this isn’t just one 15 minutes, everyday we are 15 minutes even earlier. So we are now at around  5.30am. He jumps onto our bed and while he doesn’t wake us up, since our policy is no bed, we need to wake up (be consistent, doggie trainers say) and push him off. Our dreams ditched by the side of the bed we then slowly let our bladders guide us to the nearest loo.

This is despite him playing, digging, running, mucking around in the sand and being outdoors through the day. The boundary is now half an acre of land versus our tiny Mumbai flat. Yet he is awake early and ready to head out again. We’ve even wondered whether he sleeps too early here and that is the issue. Yes, we are that aggrieved to discuss Inji’s sleep timings just so that we can get a little more rest. 

But once we have moved and visited the loo, he knows we are up. And the intelligent brat that he is, he goes and stands by the main door, and on occasion, will pat it. Yes, yes, he needs to take care of his bladder too, but at 6am, when it is still dark outside in Goa, reason is not something that you can use with us. Most often with Inji, it is just a staring-at-the-door-till-one-of-you-opens-it, and that works since both A and I have rather gooey hearts when it comes to him. (Yes, he might just be a little spoilt.) 
To all you amused, potentially laughing, readers, on a holiday, where all we planned to do is laze, laze and then laze again, we’ve been waking up at 5.30am. I would put my grandparents to shame at this rate. 

In a short four days that we’ve been here, there is a comforting routine in place. Something that happens when holidays are like marathons instead of 100 metre dashes from one place to another. 

Once his morning walk, by the beach or running around the sand-filled courtyard is done, we have our coffee, then prepare eggs (one of the advantages and disadvantages of an Airbnb, we are in-charge of the kitchen, but the caretaker and his wife help out and have even cooked for us one night and we’ve eaten out.) And then, yes, then we have a mid-morning doze or lazing session till lunch. This holiday so far in a few words: wake up, walk, coffee, breakfast, laze, lunch, laze, beach, laze, dinner, laze, sleep. (Please note the repetitive use of laze. And for those who know me or have travelled with me, it is very un-me. I am usually driven by “let’s do, let’s see, let’s go” mania. This is the first time that I’ve had such a holiday even in Goa. We’ve had previous holidays where we’ve travelled around the state of Goa discovering unknown or hidden sights such as when we drove 560 kms just within the state of Goa in search for a bubbling pond and a 12th century temple.)

Our next halt is a lovely boutique hotel comprising of villas set in the midst of 12 acres of lush green land. It is away from the sea, and there might be mosquitoes, Inji won’t be allowed off-leash. But, there is an in-house restaurant, a swimming pool and we’ll be staying in a beautiful decorated old-world villa. All of which are huge attractions! 

Going back to answer the question raised in the title. Are we sleep deprived in GOA? 

No, we aren’t, but we are definitely ‘everyday is a Sunday so sleep really late’ deprived even on a holiday. Welcome to travelling with a dog–I hear a voice say to me. And it is going to be even worse once the kid is here–I hear another voice saying. Ah well! Bye travelling days where we dictated our routines and hello travelling days where the two tiny ones will do so. Strength, patience and those other illustrious virtues, please come calling on us. We’ll need you in large continuous doses. 

And here is the short video of inji resisting sleep… 

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