Miles to go

TBEX Canada

Esha Samajpati — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:26:26 +0000

TBEX. What’s that you say? It’s only the “world’s largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, and new media content creators.” Their 2013 North American Conference will be held at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada from May 31 to June 2. You can check out the schedule and everything else here.

I won’t be going this time but I will be following the event and blogging about it. The biggies of the travel world will be there, in all their awesomeness, imparting wisdom.

Go get registered I say!

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Pic(k) of the Week – Lovely Little Lane

Esha Samajpati — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:05:46 +0000

Weekly Link Love

Esha Samajpati — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:45:35 +0000

Time for a round of weekly links.

Let me start with Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby.’ Apart from movie critics lamenting and praising the garishness of the sets with equal fervor, we have fresh reviews of the literary work. The slim American classic is up for scrutiny. The best piece on Fitzgerald and his creation come from NY Mag’s Kathryn Schulz, Why I Despise The Great Gatsby.

Shopping for groceries this weekend? Yes, of course. Then read this before you go.

If you have a few minutes to spare, check out the Ten Commandments of Teaching by Bertrand Russell. My favorite is “Never try to discourage thinking for you will always succeed.” For the rest, click here.

Lastly, if you have a kid in your life, you will bookmark this book review website. Warning – you will find yourself with a pretty long list on your next visit to Barnes and Noble.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Daffodil Festival in Meriden

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:58:54 +0000

Last weekend was spent at the Daffodil Festival in Meriden, Connecticut. It was a lovely day. We parked our car at one of the designated parking lots and took the shuttle to Hubbard Park. The place had a summery vibe with burgers on the grill and sundry craft stalls. You could even get a henna tattoo if you so desired. But the star of the show, the daffodils, looked forlorn. People were trampling all over them, eager to get that perfect shot, the one where it looks like they are drowning in a dreamy field of yellow. The one shot that will get them a thousand likes on Facebook and a shout out on twitter.

As for us, we kept to the lake, where our eighteen month old seemed mighty pleased to have encountered a flock of wary ducks. We had a good time. We came home tired and happy.

If only they had a barrier that kept people away from the flower beds, I would have been happier.

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Spring in Wooster Square, New Haven

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:05:23 +0000

Sniff, sniff. Spring is in the air. Finally. If you check your social media feed, the star of the show is sakura aka cherry blossoms. Tulips are a close second, followed by daffodils. But cover photos on Facebook, Instagram shots and twitter feeds are all screaming pink and white. Some shots have the flimsy petals of the cherry trees strewn on the earth forming a scented bed, while others are framed against the blue April sky.

A sudden change of plans had us going to Historic Wooster Square in New Haven instead of the usual haunt of us flowery kinds, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Here are few shots from the day.

Pic(k) of the Week – Cherry Blossoms

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:05:32 +0000

If You Go To India

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:19:41 +0000

If you like to travel and haven’t spent the last few months under a rock, I am assuming you have seen a rise in articles laying down guidelines about how women should dress, talk, and walk, when visiting India. To me, that sounds restrictive, and I would not want to visit a place that curbs my freedom and suppresses my individuality. As someone who has extensively traveled the length and breadth of the country, sometimes as an unsure toddler, and later as a surly teenager, I urge you to be who you are. Albeit a lavish, thicker-skinned, touristy version of who you are.

If you are thinking of visiting the subcontinent, do embrace your touristy self. Go visit the Red Fort but don’t take that unguided hike into the woods however tempting it looks. Leave it to the locals, or for another time, a time when you are ready to leave your Lonely Planet at home. If you like traveling alone, you have to master the art of ignoring gawkers. They are everywhere. Sometimes being in a group make them seem less intimidating. And one more thing, you know how that dollar stretches when converted to Indian Rupees? It means you can splurge on the hotels instead of trying to save a buck. Higher rates more often than not translate into safer accommodation in any country.

Travel advisories have made it clear that India is unsafe for women (travelers or not) and I can’t say I am surprised. But what surprises me is the astonishing number of people who go to India to find inner peace in the midst of chaos and color. It’s Eat, Pray, Love every time. But if you have read the book or even watched the movie, you know that the author Elizabeth Gilbert, did not leave her ashram when she was in the land of the Himalayas. Instead she spent that time smacking mosquitoes and trying to pray. And oh, she also befriended a fellow American from Texas, and found just enough time to squeeze in an Indian wedding. But that’s pretty much all she did.

When you finally make that trip to India, don’t just go there to pray. Climb a mountain bereft of man-made trails, enjoy the backwaters of Kerala, revel in the glory of the Maharajas in Rajasthan, and don’t hesitate to take the beaten path. You may not find the spiritual awakening you are looking for, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying an uplifting vacation.

And as for that elusive peace and joy, you have to look inward. Hopping on a transatlantic flight is rarely the answer.

A Step Backward for Women Travelers in India

Weekly Link Love

Esha Samajpati — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:35:09 +0000

Time for a round of weekly links. These are no ordinary links. These are pages I bookmark, articles I read, videos I watch, places I would like to visit, pictures I would like to frame, and recipes I try to replicate (mostly with disastrous results).

Frank Bruni, NYT columnist, unleashes the wrath of parents. His Op-ed piece, aptly titled “A Childless Bystander’s Baffled Hymn” has been met with criticism. Well, mostly. After we are done discussing the pros and cons of Tiger parenting and are tired of revering French parenting (I don’t know about you but I sure am), we can now look for more advice by just googling (yes, it’s a verb now) “Frank Bruni parenting.”

If you have a thing for TED Talks, I doubt you have missed this talk by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. It’s a good talk, makes a lot of sense, and I will have you know, her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead is great too. Of course, where there is an opinion, there is bound to be some backlash. Good heavens, who knew democracy could be so exhausting?

There’s been a lot of excitement this weekend about how Spring has finally sprung and all that, so if you are looking for something free and fun to do and you don’t live too far from Connecticut, drop by at the Daffodil Festival in Meriden’s Hubbard Park. Word on the street is they have a pretty rad fireworks display among other things.

Pic(k) of the Week – Bright and Yellow

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 05:00:25 +0000

Berries, Jams, Road Trips and Peter Rabbit

Esha Samajpati — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 05:02:34 +0000

So it’s officially Spring. Been that way for five days now. Looking at the clumps of snow still clinging to the ground, you may think otherwise. But really, don’t you feel the chill has lost some of its fizz and it’s nice that the sun is hanging around till dinner time?

Most say Spring is all about flowers, which it is. But it’s also about berries. And those who have the patience to preserve will tell you that berries mean jams, jellies, chutneys, relishes and marmalades. Speaking of which, there’s a place that prides itself on making jam the old-fashioned way and is said to be the “oldest commercial solar-cooking operation in the country.” I wouldn’t mind paying them a visit. If only to squish berries into mason jars and bask in the fruity smell.

The Green Briar Jam Kitchen in Sandwich, Massachusetts is where all this jam-making happens. It is also where the children’s author, Thornton Burgess, lived and wrote his animal capers. Receiver of many accolades, he was also awarded a gold medal by the Boston Museum of Science for “leading children down the path to the wide wonderful world of the outdoors.”

Keeping in mind the preferences of our almost eighteen-month-old toddler, we think it would be a swell spot for a spring/summer road trip. He may like to see the Old Briar Patch where Peter Rabbit (not to be confused with Beatrix Potter’s rabbit with the same first name), Joe Otter, Jimmy Skunk, Spotty the Turtle, Jerry Muskrat, and the rest of the crew roamed. New studies have proved that animals are far more intelligent than we give them credit for. I guess authors like Burgess and Potter knew it all along.