Travel blogging and its use

When I started writing my travelogues, it was purely so to document my vacation, such that in future I could just go back and relive those moments, those small details which I will surely forget (because I am a forgetful person). I am so happy that so many friends of mine find them useful and every year at least one friend has used this information to plan a trip suiting their need. This year, 3 friends have used my blogs as reference and booked trips to various destinations - two to Manali and one to Europe. It really feels great when my "timepass" activity is of use to someone. Thank you so much for your response. I feel blessed.

So based on my interaction with all my friends (to solve specific queries for them to customize their travel), I have understood how people think differently while planning a trip to the same destination. There are different categories of people as below

Some of my friends take a vacation only to take rest. Sleep and relax. I totally understand them because they are extremely busy in their careers and need a break from work. They just want to break the monotony, order yummy food using their finger tips, have an occasional dip in the pool and maybe after 2-3 days of complete rest go around their destination for a day or two max. Well, you might say, then why don't you just stay at home instead of travelling somewhere HAHAHA!!! but then staying at home is really not a vacation. You still need to take care of your home, the maids, food, blah blah (and risk the temptation to open your laptop and answer that stinker mail which has popped up on your phone and upset you). Obviously such people have/like to spend money on a high end property like a resort which is full of activities so that the kids can enjoy on their own, in the security of the premises. So they choose a place which will have kids activities like a tennis court in-house. A property by the beach gives a unique advantage so that you can enjoy your evening stroll on the beach, put your feet in the water and just chillax. I suggest going to beaches in the winter vacations and choose a mountain view resort in a cool place in the summers.

Some people, like me, are outdoor people. I feel that staying inside a hotel is a complete waste of time and money. I want to be out there taking in the fresh mountain air or hiking or just go sight-seeing. I want to see the place, interact with locals, observe their life, eat local food, enjoy nature, see every interesting place there is to see and experience, smell the roses, take plenty of photos, capture every mood, light, nature and  people. I hate selfies and don't click them myself. I feel that sometimes going out and sitting in the lap of nature is a much better stress buster than just lazing around in the hotel bed. 

So people, please decide if your body is tired or is your mind tired and choose accordingly. Unless you identify your vacation needs correctly, you will not be able to beat the stress out of you. Yes! physical exhaustion needs rest but in case of mental stress, your mind needs to be emptied out and the mind needs to be filled with experiences that will release the happy hormones. If your job requires you to sit in that chair and "ande ubao" then believe me, you really don't need any physical rest. In fact its the opposite, you just need to start walking down that riverside or a beautiful mountain path or walk along the sea shore. When you come back, your mind should be rejuvenated.

There is another set of people who wish to do group travel with travel agencies. I understand these people completely. There are multiple advantages of doing so. First, you do not have to go through the headache of planning a vacation. Most tour operators ensure that you don't miss any touristy spot and although you may not get to spend time at every place but you surely do get a photo stop. Thoroughly professional operators like Kesari and Veena ensure that you don't ever need to lift your luggage throughout the trip. You can make new friends on the trip and get to play games, sing and dance. Very rarely a family (who is travelling by themselves) will sing or play dumb charades amongst themselves. Its the same family members, same problems, just a change a place. Having  professionals taking care of your entertainment needs makes a world of difference. A friend told me her reason for choosing a group tour. She has two teenage daughters. Our families became friends while on one such group tour and till date we have managed to keep in touch. Due to a traffic jam, somewhere in the mountain roads, we were way behind schedule. It was way past midnight (approx 2:30 am) when we finally reached our next destination. It was at this point that my friend said, "Anagha, imagine the tension we would have been, if it was just us, travelling at such odd hours with two teenage daughters in the middle of nowhere. Right now, we are an entire bus full of people and that gives me a sense of security. This is my primary reason why I like to travel in a group." Absolutely agree with her. Safety is one reason that beats everything.

My personal view on travelling in groups (I mean professionally managed group tours and not group of friends, please understand the difference here) - Me n my family hates the 6am wake up call, 7 am at the breakfast table. 8:30 inside the bus. Nooooooo. I don't want anyone waking me up on a vacation. I want to get up from the bed because a bird was chirping outside my window and I was not able to identify the bird. So the first thing I do, is watch the bird singing and if it allows, take a photo of that beauty. I love being in groups but I don't like being herded like a group of cattle. As I said, I love to go sight seeing so once I get out of the hotel at 9:30 or 10 post breakfast, I will come back to the hotel only to sleep which gives me almost 12 hours. Full day outdoor, full "bhatkanti". Also note that when you are on your own, you can never do as much sightseeing as planned by the tour operators but then that's ok. "Kuch na kuch to miss hone wala hai, Bunny" said Dipika to Ranbir and although I absolutely agree with this dialogue, I don't like Dipika at all HAHAHA. So for people like me, don't ever spend on a fancy expensive resort property. Secondly such properties are always away from the main action spots. So your travel time on a daily basis increases. Second reason why I don't like group tours is because you are dependant on that itinerary and God forbid, if you are unwell or having motion sickness, it becomes very difficult to handle. The bus is not going to stop for you at every instance. You don't get the option to turn around and come back and you also don't get any customised food and the restaurant, where your lunch is prebooked, may be too busy to handle a special request.

So what do you do. Get the best of both worlds. Mix and match vacations. Some vacations should be relaxed and some hectic - full on dhamaal. 

Friends, generally, enquire on phone about the budget I needed for my itinerary. Some enquire if they can mix two destinations which I have visited. Some enquire if elders can take up the same itinerary as me. Elders are actually fitter than youngsters nowadays and are more willing to walk or ready to take the local transport but based on specific situations, I have advised people not to follow my itinerary for senior citizens especially in foreign countries. The local travel, say in Europe or Singapore, is so convenient but you have to realise that not all people can walk as much we do. For example, we as a couple can walk endlessly but even our itinerary changed with a kid in tow. We eat wherever we like e.g. roadside eateries and we don't have much restrictions in our diet because we are open to tasting local food as well we eat non veg. A kid or a senior citizen may not be able to handle such food preferences. In such cases, group tour can be better where you will get your paneer, roti and pulao.

Every year some friend or the other has enquired with me regarding a location I visited and I am always happy to help. I know most of their family members personally hence i can give few personal suggestions as well because I know their likes and dislikes and physical capabilities. 

Funny incident - I had a friend who was so lazy that when his wife was asking for a vacation, he just booked a room in a 5 start hotel in the same city and went there to spend a weekend. Aisa bhi hota hai!!

Last but not the least, I urge everyone with kids to ensure that kids do not get their mobiles in hand while on vacation. I have seen kids who are watching reels etc throughout the journey and they did not once look out of the window. What happened to the curious child? A parent was excited to see a flock of birds and she asked the kids to look out and one of them said, "Don't worry. I have watched an entire documentary on Discovery." Really!!!!! Huh!!. God save this world.