Rishikesh: Top 10 Thoughts to Remember

I think it's easy for me to say that my time in Rishikesh was one of the highlights, if not THE highlight of the trip thus far. There was a ton of amazing stuff going on with me while I was there, all of it pretty simple. However, I haven't really tried to document that time. Basically, it was a lot of yoga, a lot of laughing at immature things and hours of conversation with some truly inspiring + real people. I'll be posting some photos from Rishikesh soon (I Know, I Know, I'm WAY f-ing behind). That said, I wanted to share some of the great things my friends in Rishikesh reminded me to keep in mind as I progress through this excellent journey. Without Further Ado, My Top 10 Thoughts About How to Be Awesomer from Rishikesh:

1. Be Generous
2. Be Grateful
3. Be Real
4. Follow Your Heart
5. Be Fun
6. Check your Ego
7. Challenge Expectations (Yours, The World's, Physics')
8. Do. Not. Settle.
9. It is All Possible, Be Interesting
10. Be Uncomplicated

There are lots of similarities to things I've written about before that I'd like to focus on, but this list was compiled in the midst of some of the best times of the trip, and I wanted to call this time out specifically. Special shout-out to my co-conspirators from the Seventh Heaven Guesthouse that shared that time with me and contributed to this list. Those guys rocked.

Here's to keeping this stuff in mind for a long time to come.

Here's a pic, that kind of sums up how I felt when I was out there:

Tracking my Trip Activity

  Being a data guy, it's fun to see what the trip has done to some of the easily captured metrics I generate just by existing. In this case, I'm thinking about my Nike Fuel Points, captured by my Fuelband.

I have June 2013 here as a reference point and then August and September (First complete calendar month of the trip) as charts to compare how active I've been on the trip (According the very flawed Nike Fuel Points system).  The Initial results are not surprising. While traveling I'm way more active. (By the way, June probably included walking to work everyday and also wodding four times a week). Thankfully Croatia  isn't included in much of September, since I think slobbing around has been my primary activity since arriving here (and drinking Istrian Wines). 

Budgets and Terrible Hostel Breakfasts

So, I think the biggest change in how things will be daily for me can be summarized by breakfast. Couple of mornings ago I woke up famished. I'd really not eaten dinner (vending machine chips should not count as real dinner), and I woke up ready to put on my eating pants and throw down. Well here's the thing, as the clock got closer to the nine AM last call for included hostel-breakfast; I ran out of my dorm and went down there to find what I can only describe as not nutritious and really-not-at-all-tasty "breakfast." A collection of hams that were gross (I don't really even like ham) and mediocre cheese, Some terrible looking stuff in a gravy I did not have the intestinal fortitude to try and some really old bread. Needless to say, this was not the kind of breakfast I was having while traveling with Mom and Phil, nor the kind of breakfast I would treat myself to while on a "normal trip." But, I put down a lot of that ham, and enough of that bread to keep me satiated till about  three pm.

I think this sums up one of the key differences between this kind of traveling and what most folks would consider a vacation. This breakfast didn't provide me with the health/wellness I'd like or the deliciousness I crave. But, it did give me some budget freedom for the day. And well, on that day, that's what I prioritized. So, this isn't a nine month version of what I did in Turkey last year, or the three weeks in Asia the year before, or my trip to Ecuador in the Fall. This is another beast of a thing. And this beast says eating lots mediocre ham some days is A-Ok.

Don't get me wrong, this trip is not going to be about eating terrible free food and wandering the streets in search of only free activities. But, it will be that some of the time.

Here's a summary of what I spent Thursday August 22, 2013: 

• 5 Euro  for a coffee (terrible) and a croissant (great)
• 5  Euro "free walking tour"
• 1. 50 Euro huge water tha1 wasn't enough for The whole day
• 15 Euro mediocre,  but, much enjoyed tourist trap lunch of chicken and fried cheese with a tiny glass of beer (effectively a shot)
• 11 Euro three delicious Belgium beers (worth every penny)
• 2 Euro dinner from vending machine of pretty tasty waffle and bottle of water

So, That's 39.50 euro on top of the 27 euro for the bed at the hostel.  Grand total for the day 66.50 euro or 89 bucks (.89 of a Benjamin if you're Diddy).

My budget for the entire trip is ninety bucks a day. So, I'm on track. BUT, this was a really really cheap travel day for Europe. I didn't go to a museum, eat more than one real meal or buy enough water (not that I wouldn't have bought water for budget reasons, they just don't have enough kwik-e marts here).

Anyways, It's scary to me how quickly and effortlessly the budget can be made for the day. Good thing to keep in mind,  but as I said above, I'm going to work hard not to treat this like I have some deathmarch to spending as little as possible. Cause I don't think I'll look back at this trip and be really sad if I spent a few thousand bucks more than I should have but got in all the great experiences I'd like during the year. I don't mind forgoing some creature comforts in the name of saving some pennies, but on the other side of this trip I'm going to have a lot less in the bank regardless of how I spend my days, I'm not going to be poor in the experience bank in order to try to be slightly less poor in the real bank.

PS - I'm off to spend whatever I feel like it on a movie and some more amazing Belgian Beers.