Donna_in_India's VirtualTourist Home Page

One of the opening lines in a favorite little movie of mine is, "Life doesn't always turn out as you plan". I guess this can be either a good thing or a bad thing. If anyone had told me 8-10 years ago how my life would be today, where I would be living, etc., I would have told them they were nuts for sure!

The early years....bitten by the travel "bug"

I was born and spent my growing up years on Long Island, which is located just outside of New York City (Manhattan). I've always loved NYC and although not a native NYer, do consider myself one at heart. I made many trips into NYC whether attending a Broadway play with my family, going to concerts with my friends, or visiting a museum, Statue of Liberty, etc. as a school field trip. I love to travel to cities and always compare them to NY. For me, NY is the best city in the world. There is such incredible energy there. I just love to hit the street and just walk and walk and walk. I never seem to get tired there. I think NYers have gotten a bad rap; I have always found them to be very nice and since the events of 9/11 have noticed a marked change in NYers - they are even nicer. One of the first things I do when I get to NYC is get a "dirty water" hot dog! Mmmm - love those carts with their hot dogs and sauerkraut.

In the U.S. I've lived in New York, Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey, and in India I've lived in Goa, and Mumbai with different experiences in each place.

As a child I was extremely fortunate and traveled frequently. I guess that's when the "bug" bit me. I love to go to new places, meet people, see new sights, eat new food(!), and learn, learn, learn. Many years later, I'm still most happy on the day I am to travel.

Travels in Europe

From NY, I traveled frequently to Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Mexico, and to many other places within the U.S. as well having done 2 cross country trips and 3 multi-country trips to Europe before I graduated high school.

Those 3 European trips were so eye-opening. The first was when I was 12 with my mother. One of those horrible packaged 10 countries within 20 days tours. At the time, truthfully, all the art and culture was lost on me. Although, I did get to meet the Pope in Rome and see the Passion Play in Oberammergau.

The second trip was the following year. It was a backpacking trip with my Norwegian au pair (still one of my best friends to this day!). It was the original backpacker's trip for sure. As budget as you can get. Armed with rail passes, we stayed at youth hostels (IYH) and ate alot of yogurt! What is amazing about that trip is that I was only 13. The best part of that trip was getting to spend time with her family on their farm in Norway and meeting the rest of her relatives in different parts of Norway. We did alot of hitchhiking and things you probably wouldn't do today while travelling. By the time I reached the airport in Rome 2 months later, I couldn't wait to get rid of that backpack, but it was such a fun trip!

The third trip was the following summer with my mother, my sister, another Norwegian au pair and my best friend. My mother rented a car and we drove all around for 6-8 weeks. We did some fun things but overall I don't have any particular outstanding memories.

Over the next several years, my travels were more limited although I did take some great trips. I spent alot of time traveling within the U.S. and also took several cruises, which for me is about as relaxing a trip as I can stand. I usually like to be on the go constantly.

I went to Alaska, which I loved, and to South America ( Argentina, Uruguay, Falkland Islands, and Chile ), where I found one of the most beautiful places on earth, Ushuaia.

I made another 2 month, several country trip to Europe, when I was at a point where I loved the art and culture (and food!). This one was somewhere above "budget", staying in a lot of private houses where we met such wonderful people. This was such a fantastic trip - great travel partner, lots of laughs, eating a lot of street foods, a ton of shopping, and unbelievable museums. We had a blast doing everything from riding the train to doing endless loads of laundry. I soaked up everything on this trip!

Life Happens

From my childhood years until my trip to India, aside from travelling, I "lived". I had a great life always believing that "life is too short". A devastating life event made me re-evaluate my life and led to a major life decision.

I had a career in Direct Marketing (IT end of the business) that I loved. It was very challenging and I worked with and met some great people, many who are still friends years later.

I lived in the mountains of North Carolina (just outside Boone ). It was a beautiful place but honestly a little too quiet for a city lover like me. I lived in Florida - both on the west coast ( New Port Richey, north of Tampa ) and Orlando . I really enjoyed my time in Florida. Even though it wasn't "city" and was frequently hot, it suited me. I loved being by the water on the west coast and I was frequently at one park or another in Orlando.

A job opportunity in Northern New Jersey (just out NYC) came up and I knew it was time to go "home". I moved to Ridgewood, NJ. I adore Ridgewood. It is a great place with an actual "town" full of stores and restaurants with cafes in the summer. Everytime I am back in the U.S. I am not far from Ridgewood.

I bought a house I loved, had a dog I adored, and got back into living in the area. I made frequent trips into NYC, joined the largest photography club in NJ (where I ended up vice-president), spent a lot of time with friends and family, got back into my beloved "Mets", got hooked on the "Devils", and just had a really great life in general.

And then I made the trip that would change my life - to India.

The company that I worked for in NJ maintained and did processing off of a 300 million plus record database. I was handling most of the work by myself and just loving it. At a time when it was becoming too expensive for our company to continue housing the database the way we were, my boss and I met up with an consultant we had met years before who offered us another solution. Although he was Indian, he lived and worked in the U.S. The solution was to work with his group in India.

We started out small - working with 2 of his employees. in Mumbai I had to train them and the time difference and the language difference caused major headaches. They would have a question or problem and send me an email. I would get it when I went to work in the morning (their night) and answer them. It would take 24 hours to complete the circle and was killing me. We were losing so much time and instead of helping, the situation was really hindering my work. This went on for a couple of months and I was thinking it was easier when I was doing everything myself! Eventually the Mumbai office started a night shift which helped immensely. There were still other issues and they were just not working up to speed.

By this time I was extremely frustrated. Somewhere during that time my boss got the idea to send me to India so I could meet the guys and try and work out the problems. I'll be honest. Of all the places in the world to travel, India was not even on my radar. I would be the first person packed and ready for an adventure, but this?? Well, I was not thrilled at all, quite the opposite. I absolutely hate the heat and was not excited about trying to survive on spicy food. A few weeks later after getting a half dozen shots and loading up on stomach meds, I was off to India.

I arrived after midnight (as most international flights do) and was greeted by the two guys I worked with, Jithin and Nilesh, and the (female) office manager, Madhavi. As soon as I had walked out of the airport I was hit with a wall of heat. The air was heavy and thick. As we drove from the airport to my hotel I was amazed that there were so many people on the streets. So crowded, so much noise, not too pleasant smelling, and yes, I even saw the cliched cow in the street.

It had been recommended that I stay in the JW Marriott in Juhu (the office was not too far from there). The Marriott is the swankiest hotel in the area and would not be the type of hotel I chose for myself, but it would become a haven during those first days in Mumbai.

Over the next 2 weeks I did some training, spent time on my own walking around and taking in everything. I just loved the colors, the sounds, and even the smells. I went off on my own to Chennai (I survived for 3 days on candy bars - even spaghetti was absolutely awful!! - How can you ruin spaghetti??) and the outskirts of the city, where I was amazed at the reaction of the Indian people to me. I had people taking pictures of me and even coming up to touch my hair!! To say I was just a little freaked out is probably an understatement. Another time I went off to Nagarhole and had the amazing experience of seeing elephants in the wild.

Back in Mumbai Jithin would take me sightseeing with another one of the guys, Sandeep. He was the network administrator for the Mumbai office so I never had the opportunity to work with him. He was extremely sweet and always made sure that my food wasn't too spicy and that I had something chocolate. :-)

After two weeks it was time to go back to the U.S. I was sad to leave my new found friends. Back home, work was getting better and it was nice to have faces to put with the names.

About two months after I was home, Sandy IM'd me. We starting chatting. Over the next 7-8 months we spent hours and hours online getting to know each other very well. We helped each other with problems, shared good news and bad, made each other laugh, and generally had a good time. By the time of my next trip to India, I think we both knew. No one in the office knew of our relationship. Sandy came to the airport (with flowers) and Jithin and Madhavi to pick me up.

This time I was staying at the Sun n Sand hotel in (Juhu) Mumbai. For many reasons (and even years later), it remains a very sentimental place for us. (We even had our Mumbai wedding reception there.) During this trip Sandy and I spent a lot of time together. He took me on the local buses and trains (putting me in the "woman's compartment" - didn't take long for me to discover why!!). He introduced me to my first very spicy (and still one of my favorite) street foods, Chicken Frankie. He took me to the local markets, the Hare Krishna Temple, we checked out the local clubs, etc., etc. By the end of my 2 week trip, it was obvious that I would be returning to Mumbai very soon. On my last night in Mumbai, he took me to meet his mother and brother. They welcomed me with "lights" and sweets.

We had planned to get an apartment together. I would return for a visit the day after Christmas (6 long weeks away). Back home I had alot to do - sell my house, sell most of my belongings and put the rest in storage.

The Move to Mumbai

While I prepared everything in the U.S. for my move, Sandy started to look for an apartment for us in Bombay. I laugh now as I think of our conversations each day about his search. Back then I didn't understand how difficult it was to deal with brokers who didn't have keys, cancelled appointments, etc. No MLS in India! Now I totally understand!! A trip to the dentist might be better than looking for an apartment. In the end, Sandy found the most perfect apartment. It had a view of the Arabian Sea and we had the best of times in that place.

To be continued...

Sandy is such a great travel partner. He's so mellow and even if we're lost somewhere he never loses his cool. Everything for us is an adventure and I love that he's so nice to everyone. He has an amazing eye for the little details and frequently points things out that I would surely miss on my own. The only time that he's less than thrilled is when I'm lugging 8 suitcases home from the U.S. What can I say?? They're usually packed with great shoes and clothes, my favorite foods, and other assorted things that I either can't get in India or are just too expensive there. I have promised to cut down and I'm really making an effort. Maybe the next trip....

Our first trip together was to Lonavala, about 2 hours from Mumbai. We went with the group from work and had a great weekend. A few weeks after that we went alone to Matheran, a hill station also outside Mumbai. We spent the weekend hiking, relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery. OUr next trip was to Alibag, a beach resort a few hours outside of Mumbai. I loved the forts and the beaches.

We continued our travels in India, going to Khajuraho with its magnificent erotic temples. From there it was onto Bandhavgarh, where we saw so many tigers in the wild - an awesome experience!!

The next big trip was to Pushkar, Jaipur, Ranthambore, and Agra. I fell in love with the camels at the camel fair in Pushkar. The temples on the lake were splendid at sunset. Jaipur, one of my favorite cities in India, was amazingly colorful and I just loved the many forts and temples. Unfortunately we didn't see any tigers during our time in Ranthambore but that's just the way it goes sometimes! The Taj Mahal in Agra just defies description. It is incredibly beautiful and serene. And Agra Fort was fantastic.

We spent New Year's Eve in Goa, which is the place least like the rest of India. I loved it. Sandy's grandmother was from Goa and he hadn't been back in years. With all the water and trees and sun....well we were hooked. Within the year we moved to Goa.

We headed north to Darjeeling and Gangtok (Sikkim) during the winter. Darjeeling is another one of my favorite places in India. The people - especially the rosey cheeked children - were enchanting. At Lake Tsomgo in Sikkim, Sandy had his first encounter with snow!

Our first trip together outside of India was to Singapore. We had an absolute blast! A month later we were in Hong Kong and despite both being sick and having a really tough time with the food, we really liked it.

We moved to Goa and spent alot of time travelling back and forth between Mumbai and Goa. After our wedding in Goa and our reception in Mumbai, we headed to Mauritius for our honeymoon. Even though it was off season, we stayed at a great, romantic hotel and explored the island thoroughly.

A few months later, armed with Sandy's new U.S. visa (a story in itself!), we headed to the U.S. We visited my family in New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. We visited his sister and her family in Toronto. Then we headed off to Washington, DC, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Orlando. We did everything we possibly could in each city and had a fantastic time!

The following year on our way back to the U.S. spent over 7 weeks travelling. We went to Paris, Marrakesh, Madrid, Ibiza, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Interlaken, Munich, Oberammergau, Hohenschwangau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Spitsbergen, Oslo, Larvik, Amsterdam, and London. We visited family in Ibiza and friends in Oslo and Larvik. We saw everything, did everything, and ate everything! It was an unbelievable adventure. For me the biggest highlight was Spitsbergen. Just being there - in the middle of nowhere - was so cool.

During our many trips back to the U.S. we visited Dallas, Philadelphia, Boston, Laredo, and Tampa. This past year we took an Alaskan cruise departing San Francisco for Astoria (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Victoria (BC), Prince Rupert (BC), Juneau, Skagway where we drove to the Yukon, Icy Strait Point, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Vancouver (BC). It was an adventurous trip and we loved the spectacular scenery. The highlight was the bears in Prince Rupert.

Back in India, we did a whirlwind trip to Hyderabad. We went to Aurangabad to see the Unesco Ajanta and Ellora Caves. We've done our sightseeing around Mumbai, including the Unesco Elephanta Caves, and made a few trips (more like a pilgramage) to Shirdi.

Back in the U.S. we went to the 3 places we visit each trip: the mountains of North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York. This trip we also went to Philadelphia for the weekend, and to Los Angeles and Hollywood for a few days.

It's been a couple of months since we got home from Turkey. It was a fantastic vacation and I loved everything about Turkey. I'm slowly sorting through many photos and have started working on my tips.

In mid-May we made a 4 day trip to the holiest of cities, Varanasi. We went for a colleague's wedding in a small village outside of Varanasi. The whole thing was quite an experience since they had never even seen a foreigner before! Varanasi was interesting but it'll be a while before I get to those tips. And once I finish that, I guess I need to work on my India tips, which is going to be a big job.

Recent Tips:

LOS ANGELES, CA
AURANGABAD, INDIA
HYDERABAD, INDIA
BOONE, NC

My Second Home: Mumbai Tips:

MUMBAI, INDIA