Wanderlust (Old)

Hello everyone!!!

Hello family, friends, and fellow travelers

Hello all! In September I went on a family vacation to Alaska by taking a roundtrip cruise from Vancouver. I'll have to say that although I enjoyed my trip, I realized that cruises are definitely not my preferred style of traveling. It was relaxing and I did enjoy the hot tub, pool, and bars on board but I think I would still prefer traveling over land where you have more freedom to dictate your schedule and where you want to go. That being said, Alaska was a great place to see nature although I am sad I never got to see a wild bear. I did see dolphins, seals, bald eagles, and dear though. Our cruise went to Southeast Alaska - Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Glacier Bay. My favorite out of all four was hands down Glacier Bay. As you can see from the photos the view in the bay was spectacular and the highlight of the trip. I would love to go back to Alaska one day to see the Northern Lights as they are on my bucket list. I would recommend going to Alaska earlier in the summer than I did because the seasonal September rain did limit our sight-seeing in some places. If you're interested in the history of the Gold Rush, glaciers, wildlife, or Native American culture then Alaska should for sure be added to your list of places to travel.

Hello everyone! After a year of traveling around Europe, India, and the Pacific Northwest I am back home for at least a few months. If there is one thing I learned while traveling it is that I am absolutely terrible at traveling and simultaneously keeping up with my blog. Oops.

The last month I was in India my friend from college came to visit me and we traveled to North India. Since this was her first trip to India I took her on one of the main tourist routes - the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. I also showed her around Hyderabad which is the city where my family lives. If you wish to travel around India as a foreigner and are concerned about safety I would highly recommend traveling with a tour group. If you're tour group does not provide guides at each sight-seeing place I would definitely suggest getting one because they are very knowledgeable and can help you actually understand what you seeing in the most time-efficient way. For example, when we went to the Red Fort in Delhi we never would have know that gardens used to have scented water flowing through them or that the holes in the wall were for candles that used to have water fall in front of them to create a soft flickering effect. Guides can really help you envision how these places used to look hundreds of years ago when they were in use.  From Delhi we then went to Jaipur and Agra. Out of all three places I would have to say my favorite is Jaipur. Amber Fort in Jaipur is absolutely beautiful and provides you with amazing views of the local area. In Jaipur I would also recommend going to City Palace because you will be able to see a more modern functional palace since it is where the current Jaipur royal family lives. We lucked out with the weather in Jaipur but Delhi and Agra were scorching hot. Overall we had a great trip around the Golden Triangle of North India and my friend even became a mini-celebrity with so many people wanting to talk to her and take pictures with her!

I know I was in India months ago so I'm sorry for the super delayed blog post! I keep losing my motivation and getting writers block but I'm definitely making it one of my New Years resolutions to blog more consistently while I travel.

If there is one thing I like most about Indian culture, it is the closeness of family. In English they may be  referred to as my cousins and aunt but in Indian culture they are truly my brother (anna), sister (cheli), and little mother (pinni). Last weekend my anna, cheli, pinni, and I went on a family road trip to Hampi, Karnataka. Usually for me, family road trips consist of just my parents and I driving on large highways, sometimes getting lost but always having google maps save the day. This road trip in India was an slightly different experience.

Traditional Rajasthani Thali

Resort