Topic: Travel & Exploration

Why India? Choosing the First Destination for my Nomadic Journey

When the news began spreading that I would be making a huge lifestyle transition and traveling the world, everybody I met drilled me with questions about where I was going. My answer was always the same: I told them that I hadn’t yet decided but that I was open to going almost anywhere.

To my surprise, a large number of people began inviting me to stay with their relatives or friends in various countries around the world. When I realized how valuable such invitations would be on my journey, I began making a list. This list now includes places like India, Nepal, Taiwan, Australia, Ireland, Portugal, and South Africa!

The news reached a good friend of the family, Harish Hande, who was born in Bangalore, India and who travels there frequently for work. When he heard of my plans to become a nomadic world traveler, he offered to help me begin my journey by introducing me to some of his friends in Bangalore and giving me a place to stay for a few weeks.

I had originally planned to begin my journey by picking a random destination and finding places to stay using CouchSurfing.org. However, having a guaranteed place to stay and being introduced to trusted friends is a hard opportunity to pass up. Besides, India appealed to me for several reasons.

Nearly 25 years ago, as a 3 year old boy, I visited northern India with my parents. Since then, I haven’t been to any other country (besides Canada, which all natural born citizens of the United States know doesn’t count). Returning to the place that I visited as a child feels somewhat like a rebirth; like I’m continuing where I left off; like I’m getting off a detour and returning to the original path.

Even my name, Raam Dev, is of Indian origin and, despite the fact that my blood is almost as white as it could get, I grew up with traditions very similar to those of the Indian culture: We ate and slept on the floor, our home had no furniture and no television, we were strict vegetarian (no meat, fish, or poultry), and we meditated and chanted mantras daily.

So, of all the different cultures around the world, the Indian culture will probably be the easiest for me adjust to. I certainly plan to submerge myself in other, less familiar cultures, but India seems like a great place to begin my journey.

I’m sure much of what I think I know about India is wrong or misconstrued, but that’s why I’m going there with an open mind. I’m not going there with a know-it-all mentality but rather with the expectation that I will learn and experience more than I am even capable of comprehending at this moment.

This entry was posted on March 8th, 2010 and has 10 comments. Join the discussion!

Trip Date Confirmed; Inner Turmoil Found

This is big.

My feet will be on the opposite side of the planet two weeks from now.

Barring any unforeseen problems, I will board an airplane on the evening of March 13th, 2010 and arrive in Bangalore, India on the morning of March 15th, 2010.

My lifelong dream of becoming a nomadic explorer will finally come to fruition.

How will this experience change who I am? What will I discover about myself? Where will the journey take me? Will this be the start of a lifelong love for travel? Will I ever settle down?

As I prepare to throw myself into the deep end of the unknown, with no solid plans and with very little idea what to expect, these are some of the questions I find myself asking. I don’t know what I will find, or for that matter what I’m even looking for, but I know that my internal compass is telling me that this is what I must do. Continue reading →

This entry was posted on March 1st, 2010 and has 14 comments. Join the discussion!

What the hell am I doing?

Today marks the first day in ten years that I am without my own place. When I moved out of my parents house at the age of 17, my dreams of traveling the world and living a nomadic lifestyle were quickly confronted by real-world challenges.

Eight apartments, three houses, five jobs, seven cars, and one bankruptcy later and now I’m back to owning almost nothing, with plenty of real-world mistakes under my belt. However, thanks to my unwavering stubbornness I never lost sight of those dreams; I never gave up believing they were possible. I always knew it was not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when”.

I knew this point in my life would come eventually, but I never took the initiative to decide when things would start changing. Now, after taking those first steps early last month, I’m on track to becoming a nomadic world traveler and living my lifelong dream. Continue reading →

This entry was posted on January 16th, 2010 and has 10 comments. Join the discussion!

An Invitation to Follow my Lifestyle Transition

Traveling the world and exploring new places and new cultures has been a lifelong dream of mine. As a teenager, I fantasized about trekking through the jungles of South America and island hopping in the South Pacific. I dreamt of sailing on the ocean for weeks or months at a time, only returning to shore for supplies.

Now, a few months shy of my 28th birthday, I’m in the process of transitioning to that nomadic, location independent lifestyle that I have always dreamed of. I’m setting down my foot (actually, quite the opposite), taking action, and creating my dreams, rather than sitting back and waiting for them to happen (because if I do that, they probably never will). Continue reading →

This entry was posted on January 12th, 2010 and has 13 comments. Join the discussion!

Mt. Jackson & Mt. Webster

This past Monday I hiked Mt. Jackson, checking off another 4k footer from the list of 48 in NH. The trailhead was located off RT302, right next to Crawford Notch in the heart of the White Mountain National Forest. At the base, the temperature was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so I expected much colder temps at the summit and prepared accordingly.

It was a steady climb up; there were only a few places where I didn’t feel like I was climbing stairs. Since I was constantly moving, my body warmed up and I ended up storing most of the warm clothing in my bag during the hike. Most of the landscape was lush — even tropical (it’s hard to imagine for New England, but there are rain forests here!).

Somewhere around 3,500′, I looked up and the tops of the trees were covered in something white. I realized it was ice! At the same time, I noticed the wind was blowing incredibly strong just 15′ above me; the clouds, so close I felt like I could reach out and touch them, were whipping by as if on a racetrack. From that point onward, things just got colder.

When I reached the summit, everything was frozen. It was incredible. The wind was gusting so strongly that I struggled to maintain my balance. I took off one of my gloves to take pictures and within thirty seconds I couldn’t feel my fingers! There were 360-degree views of the surrounding Presidentials — absolutely stunning.

I decided to take the Mt. Webster loop back instead of going the same way I came. It was an extra 1.6 miles, but I was in no rush. But before I left the summit, I heard a bird whistling to me. I looked over and there he was, perched ten feet in front of me on a frozen pine branch. Realizing I was on part of the Appalachian Trail, I suspected he might be accustom to being fed by passing hikers. I opened a food bar and sure enough, he ate right out of my hand!

The hike from the summit of Mt. Jackson to the summit of Mt. Webster was mostly easy-going terrain. There were lots of slippery log walkways winding through swampy areas that were overgrown with green moss. It was also still cold (the trees were still under 15′, and I was still exposed to the strong winds).

Overall, it was an incredible hike. The four and a half hours felt more like eight and the changing landscape, high winds, and friendly wildlife made the trip exhilarating. I didn’t pass a single person on the entire hike, probably due to the fact that it was Monday.