Travel Bug

Everyone knows when you travel you are likely to get sick. And when you travel abroad there are places where you are likely to get really sick. So, like a good girl, I went to get my travel shots. The one's I really needed for travelling weren't too bad, but it was the routine booster that kicked my ass.

Yeah, that lovely on my upper arm is from a shot...oh well. 

I had originally planned to stay at a pretty little guest house over looking the Ganges in Varanasi, but I changed my mind. I went with something a little more upscale and away from the city. Why? you ask...

Monsoon. 

I'm pretty sure I can handle the crowds, the garbage, the chaos, the cows, the dead bodies and even the smells, but for my own well being I decided I need a reliable place to rest my head at night. This is a place where I will need AC. My biggest fear is not of overwhelming my mind, but my brain. I don't want my trip to become a seizure session. So, here is what you get for $36 a night in Varanasi. We'll see if it's decent. If not, I'll find another place and be out a few bucks.

A big bed and AC...

So, it doesn't over look the river, but that's okay. All together, it will take me about 30 hours (if all goes well) to get from Seattle to Varanasi, it's still monsoon season and it's going to be 90+ degrees and 75% humidity. 

To be very honest, I'm feeling a bit vulnerable at the moment. I am realizing intensity of the places I have chosen to go to on my own. They are not exactly fluffy tourist spots. I worry that I will have a seizure from lack of sleep, sickness, heat or who knows what other trigger. But more than that, I'm feeling overwhelmed just by the thought of going. Not because I'm afraid of what is there, but because of the unknown of what comes after. I have wanted to go to this place since I was Kai's age. Sometimes actually getting to do what you have always wanted leaves the future a little too wide open for comfort. What will be next? (Oh, I'm sure I can find something.) And the more expectations we have of a place (or a person) the more likely we are to be disappointed once we actually get what we want. It seems to me the only way to avoid disappointment is to throw out expectations and be open to experiences. Are you surprised to hear that from me? Probably not. But it is a little philosophical for a Friday, I know. 

Anyway, to reassure myself, I had a talk with Suraj last night, and this AM I decided to hire a private guide for the day and let him or her introduce me to the place. I think it will be money well spent. I don't want to waste my time trying to sort out the best places to go and I think I will go with one of these guys: http://varanasi.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=90&Itemid=142

Hopefully they will also help me to keep me from getting a few travel bugs I don't want.