In retrospect, I was—perhaps—a tad bit ambitious to begin my first solo trip in India (especially with my lack of planning and research...but that's entirely my bad). But really, truly, I don't regret it. I learned so much and so fast—really, the learning curve is quite steep when you are on your own in a place as beautiful, yet as chaotic as India.
I made the journey to India to attend a yoga teaching training, so I wasn't completely on my own, nor did I get the privilege to be immersed within a local community. But all in all, looking back from my comfortable chair in a well lit-up air-conditioned room (with stable WiFi), I wish more people would step out of their comfort zone to developing areas. There's a kindness and sense of adventure that all the money in the world cannot buy in places like India. The following are four challenges I wish someone had told me about, but I quickly learned to overcome:
You will get ripped off many, many times.
If you don't do your research (like me) and don't realize how cheap things are in India (me) then you will get ripped off like 10000 times in the first couple of days. I thought I had a great first day, finding the nicest tuk-tuk driver who showed me the most divine temples and even drove me to the tourist center to get a tour to the Taj Mahal (lol SCAM ALERT). Later on I found out I got ripped off like 10000 times. But honestly, I have no hard feelings, because I learned so much in my first month in India.
Now I'm in Thailand and I feel like a badass. I know exactly how to persuade tuk tuk drivers, storeowners, and the like to provide reasonable prices with my highly skilled negotiation skills. Largely though, I realized if I like something and the price isn’t right I'll find 10 more stores selling the same thing and my walking away is where my true bargaining power lies.
You will shit bricks.
Everyone gets Delhi belly. EVERYONE. But as all things, it too shall pass (literally).
I'll admit, it's a little scary to get sick when you're on your own. Two weeks into the yoga course, I tried to be strict on myself with the satvic diet and was only eating one small clay bowl of rice and beans, three times a day. Two weeks in, my body revolted and I thought I died and came back to life (shedding my past life, as I like to tell the story). As I lay on my deathbed, I wondered if I died how long it would be before people noticed. The very next morning at 6 am, I woke up, the sun shining through my window, and my illness was no longer in control of my body. Right then, I heard quiet, quick knuckles rapping on my wooden door. Two friends came to check up on me, offering to bring me breakfast. Traveling alone is really rarely lonely. You will realize the kindness and compassion of strangers, who become home away from home. So to answer my question, if I had died I would have been found 5 hours later— I can live with that.
You will get stared at. You will probably get hit on and receive strongly worded suggestions. Worse may occur.
One of my largest critiques of India is society's attitude towards women. Though things are getting better, it's still inherent in people's speech, actions, etc. So traveling alone for the first time, I was initially intimidated by the amount of stares while I was fully clothed and a scarf neatly tucking away the hairs on my head. Worse things than stares and suggestions do occur every day in India. And I don't want to sugarcoat it. But it teaches you to be cautious and to really listen to your intuition. It keeps you on your toes but allows you to be pleasantly surprised when people turn out to be genuinely awesome people, as they often are. At the end of the day, every country has good people and other people who make bad decisions. Stay on your toes, but continue to trust people and live your life.
You will recover a lost love for animals and nature.
In India, cows, monkeys, chickens, wild dogs and cats and others all live (somewhat) harmoniously on the streets. (Though I can’t recommend you try to pet/ play with the animals), I loved to wake up in the mornings, walk down the street and find some cute street pups to adore, and after breakfast, saying hello to the beautiful cows passing by, and feeding them my leftover banana peels.
In India, 18 states outright forbid the slaughter of cows: most Hindus do not eat beef, as they believe cows to be a sacred. During my time in India, I became increasingly aware how silly it is that Americans find the previous statement ludicrous. The lines began to blur, when I would play with the coveted American pet (dogs) and then play with the gloriously large sacred beings (cows). I became vegan out of respect for the culture I was residing within, but I stuck with it because of my fond memories with the beautiful cows in India.
India is huge, about the size of a third of America. Within that space, India consists of massive and extensive mountain ranges in the North, great supple plains, desert towards the west, and coastal areas and islands towards the south tips. I stayed in Rishikesh, which in the Himalayas Mountains in the North, and the scenery was breathtaking. On a spare weekend, I was able to limp up a trail to find this wonderful waterfall (and my soul-dog). In the area there are tons more beautiful hiking spots and waterfalls, which I didn’t get a chance to see this trip. But I will definitely be back for more, hopefully this time to trek and get lost in the mountains. I didn’t get a chance to visit, but I have also heard great things about the beaches of Goa!
Murphy's Law will become your mantra.
Everything that can go wrong will go wrong--I fell off a motorbike, twisted my ankle (and continued to do yoga on it everyday [which continued to fuck up my ankle]), and got ripped off left and right. But also, everything that can go right will go right: I made lifelong friends, one who is even going to help recommend me for a teaching job in Vietnam, I found a strong support system to help me through some really awful shit, I went hiking and saw beautiful waterfalls and temples, I got on a motorbike in the first place (!!!), I learned how to teach yoga and became certified, I learned so much, I loved so deeply, I laughed with my whole heart. I was piss sad and mad and alone sometimes. But I was so so so blissfully happy at other times. And that's life. You just have to ride the waves rather than try to control of the ocean.
India was rough, but I learned so much. And I honestly feel like I can travel anywhere and be just fine. I regret nothing~
xoxo