Travel Tip Number 1 - Start Walking

It has been said that the Pilgrimage to India begins when you decide to do it. Well, this can mean a lot of different things to each person, but to me it means that now is the time to make the most of your decision to travel half way around the world to visit this very exotic culture. Now is the time to study the culture and read tour books. Now is the time to start getting in shape. Now is the time to start saving money. The more we learn now, the more comfortable the trip will be. When we already have a bit of basic understanding of this culture, we can truly appreciate what it can mean for us personally.

Travel Tip #1

Start getting in shape. I am going to pass on the advice of Dr. Roizen of "Real Age" fame. (also on "Oprah") Go for a walk for half an hour every day. You don't have to walk fast. You don't have to measure miles -- just measure time. It is unbelievable what this can do for you.

I started doing this myself in April 2006 after returning from my 4th trip to India. I thought I was in good shape, except that I caught the flu about a month after returning. Well, it was a cold and rainy day and I felt miserable, but it sounded like a good idea. So I started walking around inside my house, barefoot, and with the intention to look only at the clock and not the piles of unfinished work lying around. I have not missed a day since. Honestly. I don't know what it is about walking around first thing in the morning, barefoot, no hurry, no worries (yet), only the clock to satisfy. But this works for me.

You might already be on a more aggressive training program. But in case you are not. Try this one. If it is nice outside (you decide the definition of "nice"), walk for half an hour or more outside. If it is not nice outside, walk inside. You can walk more than half an hour, but do not walk less. Walk as fast or as slow as you feel like, but do it every day.

Barefoot is a separate issue. Of course good walking shoes are essential for any kind of endurance workout. But in India, we will be visiting Holy temples and shrines where we will be leaving our shoes outside in the specially tended "shoe stall" and we will be walking around barefooted inside. If you have practiced walking barefooted, even a little bit, this will feel like a beautiful and natural experience. You will be meeting India on a very personal level through your feet. More on this later when we talk about shoes.

Tours planned in 2007

This is a picture of me at a famous Krishna temple in Vrindaban on my second day in India in 2004. Do I look happy? I was so blissed out -- beyond words. Visiting India was truly a dream come true for me. Standing barefoot on the Holy marble floors of various temples with a visual feast of brightly colored flowers and saris fluttering around me -- everything is beautiful, peaceful and interesting!

In 2007 I have planned two tours. The first one will be in Northern India with a focus on sites that are important to members of Self-Realization Fellowship. To be very brief, we will visit the ashram in Ranchi, Delhi, Taj Mahal, and hike to Babaji's cave in the foothills of the Himalayas. This trip will be March 4 - 19, 2007

The second trip will be in Southern India in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerela. We will continue the Healing Touch classes in Auroville. Then we will tour ancient temples, spice gardens, wildlife sanctuary, tea plantations, southern beaches and the very tip of India. This trip will be Sept. 25 - Oct. 11, 2007.

The Auroville newsletter auroville.org has just published an article about our Co-ordinator for the Healing Touch classes healingtouchprogram.com Click on the article marked "Martuvam" under "What's New".

Second posting

Well, here I am again. Tonight I was able to put the description of my blog into the headline. Sorry to be so boring, but this is a really big deal for me. Also I want to thank whoever it was who wrote me a comment. I think I am invisible sometimes, but here is a blog that does not say anything yet and someone who is already saying hello. Wow. This is a whole new world to me.

Tonight I read so many blogs of other people on so many different subjects. Some people are angry, some people are poetic, some just want to show their travel photos or write about their latest knitting projects. I am all of those things too. Perhaps I will end up with several blogs and become totally addicted to this new world.

But THIS blog is about Travel Tips to India. It is primarily for people who want to travel with me to take pilgrimages to sacred sites in India, to visit ashrams run by Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society, or to help teach Healing Touch in Auroville, Tamil Nadu. There are 2 different trips. Healing Touch is energetic healing. The Travel Tips are necessary to help make their trip more comfortable and enjoyable!

I have lots of books I can recommend to people to read. Maybe I could get affiliate advertising with Amazon, or something like that.

Enough for tonight. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to my New Blog!

Hello. This is my first posting of my first blog. I cannot believe I am doing this. I hear it is addictive! I hope to have a lot of fun with this. I am looking forward to writing lots of stuff that will be interesting.