The Background

I was never a travel buff. Given a holiday, I'd rather prefer staying at home watching the rerun of a sitcom, than venture out. I am an ambivert by nature, so my social skills are limited to being the first person to say 'Hi'. Beyond that I run out of topics to talk about till the other person starts talking. And then again, after sometime I need a break. So you see, home is my haven. No internal pressure to interact ( I have this weird need to make eye contact and say the first word) and no social norms to follow. I can plonk in front of my TV or laptop and watch till my yes start to water.

And then something happened and my whole world changed. I got married. My husband loves the outdoors. He loves meeting people. No, no, he's not a social butterfly and such. He just likes to meet people he knows. I on the other hand, would prefer meeting new people, and then talking to them via mail. So there's no inherent need to meet them. We pushed and pulled and ultimately came to an understanding that we will go out every other weekend and travel once a quarter.

And then something stranger happened. I became a Mom. Now my daughter, well, she's a firecracker. And she is the definition of a social butterfly. She needs people. She loves company and she loves the outdoors. You can still fret, whine and win with your husband, but the daughter - well, when it comes to your progeny, something changes in you and you make so many sacrifices and accommodate so many of their insane requests, it's just unbelievable. When you're going to bed, you'd actually admonish yourself for being played by a toddler. And you'll just smile and go to sleep, to get what little rest you can, before she walks into your bedroom to cuddle with you and display her acrobatic skills while sleeping on your side of the bed.

But, because of these strange events, one thing for sure did happen. I for one, started really enjoying our travels. They're not all vanilla and chocolate type vacations - we don't just make an itinerary, stick to it and come back home safe and happy. We've come close to being kicked out of a country, we've made friends for life, we've been reprimanded for our 'irresponsible' behavior, we've been stranded with no tickets. But at the end of it all, we do come back with great stories and awesome memories. We take tons of pictures. Just don't download them from the camera and even if we do, we don't upload it up on Picasa. We're like that. I blame him and he blames me.

I've resolved today and hope to adhere to it as much as I can - that although not through photos, I am going to capture our adventures through this blog. Well then, this was the introduction. More to come!