The idea of going on a holiday brings cheers to any one’s heart and soul.  Reason for that is simply because we get away from our routine and explore something new the world has to offer.  To update our Bucket List of Holiday Destination by hearing from friends, watching program on TV or seeing post-cards.  And before we go to the place, we learn about the place, culture, food, weather or local-spots before going on holiday.  I too love planning my vacation with my friends and family before heading out for the trip.

The above para does not mean that I am well planned traveller.  There are times when I have decided to go for a trip, packed my bags and just left in an hour.  Those are the trips have been a little more adventurous and my next blog will be on the same.

Travelling Abroad

The idea of travelling abroad is loved by most of the travellers.  People always think that there is so much more to explore outside of our country.  Being an avid traveller, I have been fortunate to go across most of the state in our country.  I will be sharing more info about my domestic travels in the later part of my blog.

Visit to West Coast in USA

This was my first trip to the most powerful country in the world and one of my favorite.  The first place that came to my mind as a traveller was to go to Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, USA.  For some reason, this place is the iconic and on top of most explorer’s Bucket List.  I was lost for words when I saw the massive bridge and just stood in front of camera like a child, to get my photo clicked.

Though it was an official trip, I would get the weekends to explore more places.  After enquiries with hotel staffs and colleagues in USA, I explore many places.  My first trip along with a friend was Lake Tahoe that was nearly 100 miles.  To be able to reach the place, we had to drive on the highway across Sierra Nevada mountains.  Being an avid gamer, I remember the name from the popular Bike game, Road Rash that had one route across Sierra Nevada mountains.

There are many places place I visited in the west coast including Santa Cruz, Mystery Spot, Pear-39, 17-mile drive and more.  Every place had something unique which made me take back fond memories.

Highlight of my trip was the time I got the first glimpse of Golden Gate Bridge while driving across busy traffic in San Francisco.  That’s sight that I will cherish for a lifetime as I could only see the top portion and rest was covered in snow.

I have visited the west coast multiple times in future, but the first trip will always remain special.

Visit to East Coat in USA

This section of USA is known for its chill weather, snow-falls, stranded roads and multiple flight cancellations.  I have been lucky to spend couple of months living in North Carolina and experienced slight snow-fall.

When one reaches the East Coast, the most popular city to visit is the city of New York.  Got an opportunity to visit the amazing Statue of Liberty, Time Square and Twin Tower site.  It also felt amazing driving across the Brewklyn Bridge that I have multiple times in the many Hollywood movies.  The city looked very busy with loads of traffic and people were in a hurry.

Another spot that I visit by myself was Lake Jorden, that’s nearly 50 miles from Raleigh Durham area in North Carolina.  It’s also a popular picnic spot for the family as they also have a mini-beach by the river side perfect for hang-out.  The same place had a deserted look when I did visit during winter.

Highlight of the trip to East Coast was the drive across country side and looking at enormous house with farm-house.  I could see the greenery spread across far & wide.

Beautiful City of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I recently visited this beautiful travel destination in South East Asia, Malaysia.  We have seen the Malaysian Tourism Department telling that ‘Malaysia – Truly Asia’ and its so true.

There was a lot of apprehension in my mind before boarding one of the Malaysian Airline flights, due to past incident of missing plane.  But those jitters were put to bed soon after I boarded the flight.

The beautiful country has an amazing capital city that has plenty of skyscraper in the downtown area.  There are plenty of places to visit for travellers and captures the vivid colors of the city.  My favourite spot to visit was the Petronas Tower and KL Towers.  There’s also a menu zoo at the base of KL Towers, that’s also quite good.

Highlight of the trip across to Kuala Lumper was the walk on the view point in KL Towers.  The floor is completely covered in transparent glass which can make anyone dizzy just looking down.

Domestic Travels

Our country is quite huge and has richness in culture & traditional in every part.  It gives me great pleasure in sharing some of my travel experiences.

With Family

Its always good to go along with parents and close relatives as we general plan well in advance.  There is always some sort of ease and comfort with the family.  Thanks to my father’s and his job as central government officer, we have travelled across many states on LTC.

Visit to Himachal & North India

This memorable family trip was the one in which we visited some of the amazing places in North India.  The first stop was at Shimla that’s one of the most popular hill station and tourist destination.

Next destination was another popular town called Kulu.  The place is famous for its woollen clothing and White-Water rafting.  I did experience the white-water rafting spread across 5-6 kms that had Level-3 gradient.  We also visited Manali and visited an extremely spooky & religious, Hidimba Temple.  The temple allows its followers to sacrifice some animal to please the goddess.  We did not have any clue about the existence of this temple before reaching Manali.

Something that was very difficult to manage during the trip was the chill weather.  It required us to sleep with 2 room-heater to feel warm and sleep within the thick blanket (Rajai).  Next destination in our tour was Amritsar that famous for its Golden Temple, Jaliyanwala Bhagh and Vagah Border. Final leg of the tour was visit to best planned city Chandigarh and the capital city New Delhi.

Highlight of the tour was the time spent standing

at the balcony of the hotel and viewing the sunrise across the mountains.

With Office Colleagues

This is the best time in my life when I started earning and had some money at disposal.  I then started making friends and invariably form groups.  Every company, we would form new group or join an existing gang and plan to go out for trips during long weekends or holidays.

Trip to Uttarkhand

The first gang I was part of had 4 girls and 2 guys.  Apart from helping each other out at work and hanging out, we planned for our first trip together.  A quick decision to use the extra holiday as part of long weekend, we set off to Uttarakhand in a vehicle with driver.  There are few more who wanted to join but like every time they end up ditching in the last minute.

We set to one of the best and most popular hill stations called Missouri.  Though I had visited the place in past as part of family trip, I was ready to explore it again with friends.  I did not remember much about the place, except for one of the waterfalls which was called Kempty Falls.  I noticed the place transform from being a quiet and secluded waterfall to becoming very commercial.  This trip also was also memorable as we went across to other places like Haridwar, Rishikesh and Dehradun.

Highlight of the trip was Gun Hill Ropeway from the Mall to Gun Hill.  The small peak at top is amazing as there some nice view-points and is covered in clouds during winter.

Nainital Lake

We keep making friends at workplace and there is someone always planning to go in a bigger group.  I was part of trip that had 30-35 people on 1 bus and we went to the famous spot, Nainital.  The beautiful Naina lake in the city centre look spectacular.  Apart from exploring the city, we also purchase the locally made handcrafted candles.

Highlight of the tour was the pony ride across the Naintal area in the evening.  View of the sunset across the mountains was also awesome.

College Days

This was the period when we all us are in high-spirits, limited budgets and want to visit new places with friends.  There are couple of instances that I did like to share.

A Visit to Kudremukh

Located a mere 150 kms from Hassan, the place is famous for Dams and National Forest.  When I set out with a group of 4 friends, little did we know about the place but ready to explore after reaching.  I remember taking an early morning 2am bus to reach Kudremukh by morning.  We then took jeep from the city centre and went to Lakya Dam.

We then walked inside the National Forest area that was located close to the Lakya Dam.  After taking permission we walked inside the National Forest and found a river flowing across the forest.  The water was crystal clear, and the sounds of forest was very soothing.

During the trip we also explored other places like Annaporneshwari, old Jain Temples, Sringeri and more.  This trip for sure was an enriching experience.

Highlight of the trip was the time we found the fresh water lake right inside the National Forest.

Visit to Kerala

This was the first trip I went with one of my best friends soon after graduating from college.  We made a rough plan and thought of exploring the places on the way.

We did not have mobile phone to take pictures and had an old Yashica camera in which film-roll had to be put.  We explored places like Kanyakumari, Kovalam, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram, Ooty and few more places.  The experience was incredible as we managed visiting new places, exploring local cuisine, buying souvenirs with the limited budget.

Highlight of the trips was the visit to spectacular beach at Kovalam that looked extremely beautiful.

The Blind List

I have shared info about many of my travel experiences across the country and aboard.  But something common in all my trips, was my basic knowledge of the place.  Recently, I heard about this concept of ‘The Blind List’ (#TheBlindList) where in travellers will be traveling to unknown destination (#SayYesToTheWorld).

The first thought that came to my mind was that it would be fun and thrilling.  Next things that struck my mind was that popular travel show on AXN TV called the Amazing Race.  I am very open to the idea of Exploring the World that’s unknown to me.

Like we hear from people, every person has unique finger-print and characteristic.  Similarly, every place will have something unique that will make the place stand-and be unique.  The uniqueness could be in the traditions, buildings, people, food, culture, customer or whatever.

The latest video by Lufthansa Airlines (see above) that appearing one TV and has gone viral on Youtube.  It shows how people love the idea of Travel and Exploring the World.

My Final Thoughts

This has been one of my favourite writeup until now as it let my mind jog back down the memory lane.  I was able to recollect many incidents about the various trip and share it.  These are good memories that makes me feel extremely happy and I am sure there are many down the line.

A beautiful initiative by Lufthansa that inspired me to ponder over and write.  It also makes me go on a holiday immediately and explore.

References

Wiki pages of various places to clarify details before adding.