Happy New Year
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.” —T. S. Eliot
As we stand on the cusp of a new year it is inevitable that one looks back to reflect on the good, the bad and the untraveled from last year as we set our face forward. 2023 has been an amazing year. I am almost afraid to voice it for fear of jinxing it, but I lived my best life from a travel point of view in 2023. 14 countries, centuries of history, new cultures, new friends, staying connected and renewing all my existing friendships even as I wandered locally celebrating local milestones.
Happy 2024! I wish you beautiful sunrises and sunsets in all parts of the globe your wandering feet can reach, new connections yet retaining that cherished place for existing family and friends, and above all a wish for peace in this world.
While I started the new year off with time at home, deepening existing connections and exploring places of interest close to me, I kicked off my travel odyssey with a tulip river cruise and a visit to the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands.
On a beautiful cloudy morning, we entered the gardens with no one there before us and walked through the misty morning, awestruck at the blanket of color spread out before us.
This was my first river cruise and I had been a bit afraid of cruising solo, but I made the best friends that a gal can wish for on this cruise and felt like I had known them forever as they saved a place for me on the bus rides and at the table for meals.
The feelings of peace and serenity stayed with me as I continued my journey from the Netherlands on to the Majestic Balkans. I was fortunate to visit the birthplace of Mother Teresa in Skopje, North Macedonia. Mother Teresa was the icon of caring and compassion that I grew up with in Kolkata.
Of course, subsequently she was canonized and recognized for her contributions to humanity. It was with deep reverence and gratitude that I was able to visit her birthplace even though the original house was destroyed in an earthquake, and this has subsequently been built as a marker.
Even as the drums of war beat in the world today, I am inspired by the visit to the Gdansk shipyard where the solidarity movement began, and a few people were able to set off the dominos that would eventually topple the iron curtain. A ray of hope that light always follows the dark.
Once ruled by cruel dictators and oppressed by communism the people of these Eastern Bloc countries that I had the good fortune of visiting: Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania and Poland were able to shake off their shackles and start a journey towards peace and prosperity.
Then it was time for some fantasy and making dreams come true as I made my way to Neuschwanstein, the model for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.
And an opportunity to try the most delicious and decadent dessert that I had the good fortune to taste. Yummmmmmmm! so good my taste buds are still salivating.
While we take air travel so much for granted today including all the gripes about delays and sudden changes, did you know that we have to give credit for the current state of air travel to the pioneers who first tested commercial flights across the Atlantic using this little known and almost forgotten corner in Ireland.
Foynes, Ireland was chosen as the strategic point where the newly designed BOAC and PanAM clippers could make the flight across the Atlantic to the USA. History in the making that has left behind this little-known place in the dust as air travel has reinvented itself and grown way beyond what it was then.
By the way this place is also famously known to have invented Irish coffee in an attempt to placate passengers while they were waiting for their aircraft to be ready to fly.
Along the way, let’s not forget my very own personal Titanic moment where the world is my oyster, and the possibilities are endless, such a great omen for the coming new year. As someone recently told me they thought they knew how to live life to the fullest but perhaps I might have them beat. What can I say!
In the meanwhile, on the personal front my younger son Sumit brought home a new daughter and a readymade family.
And my grandbabies continue to thrive and grow, Shaan turned 5 and Dilan turned 1. Life sure is beautiful, especially when my 5-year-old little man asks me what was the one thing that I enjoyed the most on my recent trip. When did this role reversal begin?
I also turned one year older and per my tradition got to spend my birthday in an exotic location amongst strangers some of whom were fated to become friends.
The last part of the year kicked off with a fun friends and family trip to faraway Morocco.
From where I got to visit Tunisia. Here, I got to play dress-up as a Berber bride and show some Indian dance moves.
I did a small detour from North Africa to visit Madeira and walk on the glass bridge of the highest peak in Europe if not the world.
Before I stepped back in time to walk with the pharaohs in the valley of kings and visit the great pyramid of Giza. Another bucket list item checked off.
As I reflect on all the wonderful things I saw and experienced this past year I am full of nostalgia and a bittersweet feeling that a simple post like this is so inadequate to express my feelings of awe and gratitude for the bounty that I have received during the year.
May we sail on the tides of time to conquer new horizons or spend a moment or two with the familiar and the beloved. May the learning never end and may we continue to grow. With choked feelings I leave you with this final quote from one of my favorite authors.