hi everyone!
i just joined this forum today after hearing about it through different internet sites, and i am so so happy that a resource like this exists on here. it seems to be extremely thorough (which i tend to be) and i work much better with human conversation than with googling tourist attractions. i want personal experiences and interaction! so i'm very excited to be here.
to post a little about me from my profile: i am a 24-year-old woman planning my adventure to india (& south east asia) come 2015. i have never been before, but as someone who has been drawn to indian and south eastern culture for many years, i too have been thinking about this trip for many years, yet still feel overwhelmed by the amount that i have to learn, and the sheer size and cultural differences in india. i am interested in all eastern philosophies so my trip will very much be gauged toward spiritual sites like temples, meditation and yoga retreats, and rural villages (if safe). my goal, while travelling, is to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible (again, while safe). i am very open to all suggestions and helpful advice on this trip. thank you so much.
that being said, i should probably tell you a bit more specifically what i'd like to do... i'll be traveling hopefully come january 2015 and i will be accompanied by my best friend, another white canadian girl my age, who has traveled a bit before, but not to india. and will head to southeast asia with the plan of visiting several countries over the span of 3-4 months (subject to extension if i have the money). at this point i'm thinking about saving india until the last, just because i have never been overseas (or outside canada/USA) in my whole life and i'm afraid of the culture shock all at once. possible countries i plan on hitting before india are: nepal, bhutan, myanmar, laos, thailand, indonesia, cambodia, vietnam and the nearby areas. this is not fully planned out yet as you can see, and i'm trying to retain a degree of spontaneity in this trip because i assume i will meet friends once i'm over there and i don't want to miss out on something by being too planned. (SIDE NOTE: i am a chronic over-planner. i make like 3 to-do lists a day, am extremely hyper aware and organized, and have a generalized anxiety disorder... can you see why i'm drawn to the eastern philosophies now? ;)) that being said i'm obviously here for a reason. i want to talk a lot about safety, spiritual sites and the money and duration of time needed for said things. i'll be asking specific questions in the future, but if you can leave general comments about the best and safest places to go regarding spiritual sites and meditation/yoga retreats, that would be a great starting place for me. :) also it would be important to note that i'm a professional photographer (sort of...) and a writer. i plan on buying a new camera (upgrade from my college camera) for this trip. it has been my dream for years to travel the world, photograph it, and write about my experiences (wait... who's dream is that not??) so it might be important to note that i will have an expensive camera on me, and this thought is already stressing me out, haha.
thank you so much in advance for your kind feedback and welcomes!