I am reposting Day 0 of the roadtrip. Other parts will follow in chronological order. Forgive the writing, these were penned down on the way. Even by my low standards, I can vouch that it is written badly.
With reference to my hikes and trips, I have often been asked if I was always the travelling kind. Truth is, I had hardly ventured out of my hometown, apart from a couple of family trips courtesy the LTC offered, until Feb. 2007. It all started on one fine weekend with an innocent trek to Bhimashankar, and since then I have been on the run. *All* my trekking and travelling experiences have been after that. This included about 6 months of trekking in the Western ghats of Maharashtra, where I literally used to leave for treks after work on Friday and reach in time for work on Monday. At home, they still claim that I had left home long before I actually flew to the U.S.Looking back at my time in the US, I never expected I would have gotten opportunities (some I got, some I grabbed) to travel, hike and ski to this extent during these last 2 years. I was on a vacation the last month and a half, which is why you saw recurring posts about hiking. I had almost decided that I had enough, but there was one thing I always wanted to do before getting back to the industry. A dream that everyone must have had the first time they travelled and saw this vast nation.A roadtrip from coast to coast.It began with a formal visit to the West Coast, the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, about an hour ago and continues from tomorrow morning. On the way, I hope to visit many places, national parks, camp, meet people and have an experience to remember. I still have no idea what among those is going to be possible or feasible. No harm in trying though.The main factor on long trips is the company you share. I have gotten used to travelling alone and enjoy it immensely, except for those few times when having a great company makes the trip a lot more enjoyable, like the one to Colorado last month.Back to the earlier point, that is the reason I seldom ask friends to join me, and even if I do, it is always just a couple of them. For this trip, a close friend, V, will be flying in to Salt Lake City from Washington DC, where he lives. SLC is about 1/4th into the roadtrip, and we will have a few thousand miles to travel after that.V and I have played music together for around 6 years before we left for our respective masters. Both of us are good at many intruments, he far better than I. So apart from the usual gear, all the musical instruments that are lying around my room have gone into the vehicle. Nothing beats a musical journey, with someone who thinks at the same frequency (pun intended) when it comes to music.We have decided to abandon all hotels and inns and complete it on a shoestring budget. Instead, we will be camping and cooking on the way, whilst spreading the aroma of khichdi, dal/rice, pitla and maggi on the way.As of now, I am not sure how long I’ll be travelling, but it is going to be quite a bit.Meanwhile, so that the blog doesn’t die a natural death, a couple of friends have access to it and might post at leisure. I hope to continue posting from the road too.I will be updating my location frequently using Google latitude via the phone. If you’d like to keep a track, you’ll have to add my primary email address (which is my (last name)(first name)@gmail.com). It is a slight pain, but you just have to do it once. If someone knows how to make one’s location public, kindly share.That’s it for now, be good, be happy.
With reference to my hikes and trips, I have often been asked if I was always the travelling kind. Truth is, I had hardly ventured out of my hometown, apart from a couple of family trips courtesy the LTC offered, until Feb. 2007. It all started on one fine weekend with an innocent trek to Bhimashankar, and since then I have been on the run. *All* my trekking and travelling experiences have been after that. This included about 6 months of trekking in the Western ghats of Maharashtra, where I literally used to leave for treks after work on Friday and reach in time for work on Monday. At home, they still claim that I had left home long before I actually flew to the U.S.
Looking back at my time in the US, I never expected I would have gotten opportunities (some I got, some I grabbed) to travel, hike and ski to this extent during these last 2 years. I was on a vacation the last month and a half, which is why you saw recurring posts about hiking. I had almost decided that I had enough, but there was one thing I always wanted to do before getting back to the industry. A dream that everyone must have had the first time they travelled and saw this vast nation (although a friend still swears that this whole idea was originally his).
A roadtrip from coast to coast (cross country from West Coast to East Coast in this case).
It began with a formal visit to the West Coast, the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, about an hour ago and continues from tomorrow morning. On the way, I hope to visit many places, national parks, camp, meet people and have an experience to remember. I still have no idea what among those is going to be possible or feasible. No harm in trying though.
The main factor on long trips is the company you share. I have gotten used to travelling alone and enjoy it immensely, except for those few times when having a great company makes the trip a lot more enjoyable, like the one to Colorado last month.
Back to the earlier point, that is the reason I seldom ask friends to join me, and even if I do, it is always just a couple of them. For this trip, a close friend, V, will be flying in to Salt Lake City from Washington DC, where he lives. SLC is about 1/4th into the roadtrip, and we will have a few thousand miles to travel after that.
V and I have played music together for around 6 years before we left for our respective masters. Both of us are good at a few intruments, he far better than I. So apart from the usual gear, all the musical instruments that are lying around in my room have gone into the vehicle. Nothing beats a musical journey, with someone who thinks at the same frequency (see the pun ?) when it comes to music.
We have decided to abandon all hotels and inns and complete it on a shoestring budget. Instead, we will be camping and cooking on the way, whilst spreading the aroma of khichdi, dal/rice, pitla and maggi on the way.
As of now, I am not sure how long I’ll be travelling, but it is going to be quite a bit.
Meanwhile, so that the blog doesn’t die a natural death, a couple of friends have access to it and might post at leisure. I hope to continue posting from the road too.
I will be updating my location frequently using Google latitude via the phone. If you’d like to keep a track, you’ll have to add my primary email address (which is my (last name)(first name)@gmail.com). It is a slight pain, but you just have to do it once. If someone knows how to make one’s location public, kindly share.
That’s it for now, be good, be happy.
With reference to my hikes and trips, I have often been asked if I was always the travelling kind. Truth is, I had hardly ventured out of my hometown, apart from a couple of family trips courtesy the LTC offered, until Feb. 2007. It all started on one fine weekend with an innocent trek to Bhimashankar, and since then I have been on the run. *All* my trekking and travelling experiences have been after that. This included about 6 months of trekking in the Western ghats of Maharashtra, where I literally used to leave for treks after work on Friday and reach in time for work on Monday. At home, they still claim that I had left home long before I actually flew to the U.S.
Looking back at my time in the US, I never expected I would have gotten opportunities (some I got, some I grabbed) to travel, hike and ski to this extent during these last 2 years. I was on a vacation the last month and a half, which is why you saw recurring posts about hiking. I had almost decided that I had enough, but there was one thing I always wanted to do before getting back to the industry. A dream that everyone must have had the first time they travelled and saw this vast nation (although a friend still swears that this whole idea was originally his).
A roadtrip from coast to coast (cross country from West Coast to East Coast in this case).
It began with a formal visit to the West Coast, the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, about an hour ago and continues from tomorrow morning. On the way, I hope to visit many places, national parks, camp, meet people and have an experience to remember. I still have no idea what among those is going to be possible or feasible. No harm in trying though.
The main factor on long trips is the company you share. I have gotten used to travelling alone and enjoy it immensely, except for those few times when having a great company makes the trip a lot more enjoyable, like the one to Colorado last month.
Back to the earlier point, that is the reason I seldom ask friends to join me, and even if I do, it is always just a couple of them. For this trip, a close friend, V, will be flying in to Salt Lake City from Washington DC, where he lives. SLC is about 1/4th into the roadtrip, and we will have a few thousand miles to travel after that.
V and I have played music together for around 6 years before we left for our respective masters. Both of us are good at a few intruments, he far better than I. So apart from the usual gear, all the musical instruments that are lying around in my room have gone into the vehicle. Nothing beats a musical journey, with someone who thinks at the same frequency (see the pun ?) when it comes to music.
We have decided to abandon all hotels and inns and complete it on a shoestring budget. Instead, we will be camping and cooking on the way, whilst spreading the aroma of khichdi, dal/rice, pitla and maggi on the way.
As of now, I am not sure how long I’ll be travelling, but it is going to be quite a bit.
Meanwhile, so that the blog doesn’t die a natural death, a couple of friends have access to it and might post at leisure. I hope to continue posting from the road too.
I will be updating my location frequently using Google latitude via the phone. If you’d like to keep a track, you’ll have to add my primary email address (which is my (last name)(first name)@gmail.com). It is a slight pain, but you just have to do it once. If someone knows how to make one’s location public, kindly share.
That’s it for now, be good, be happy.
2 comments
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August 17, 2009 at 12:15 am
Manasi
why is the same writeup posted thrice!!
Your readers are intelligent enough to grasp it the first time around.
August 17, 2009 at 12:57 am
Deepak Iyer
@Manasi : Corrected. Thanks.