India - pretrip installment 2

I’m going through alternate feelings of panic and excitement that in just over a week I’ll be traveling for 24 hours on a plane headed for Bangalore. With brief layovers in Newark and Paris, the trip there will be long. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to pull my “usual” and fall asleep before the plane leaves the tarmac in Seattle. I have a feeling, however, that unless I’m completely sleep deprived, I’ll be too excited to sleep and will want to continue to read my Lonely Planet guide

With the exception of shoes (in which comfort is a must), I’ll be traveling with the clothes on my back and buying everything else in India. I’ve never traveled this way before but I’m thrilled by the prospect and a little giddy over whether I can really do it or will be tempted to toss a couple extra tops info my bag.

As I continue to pack and prepare, my pile of things-to-bring-to-India is growing (slowly, but it’s growing).

To curb some costs, I’ve been searching on Couchsurfing.com to locate a homestay or two in Mumbai and Delhi to avoid the high cost of hotels. If you’re not yet in-the-know, Couchsurfing and Globalfreeloaders are two sites that allow you to link up with like-minded people who live in the cities and towns where you’re traveling. They offer up their couches, floors and spare bedrooms so that you have a place to crash for a few nights. There’s an area under each person’s profile where other couchsurfers and globalfreeloaders comment on their hosts. This is an excellent way to filter out who you might or might not like to visit with and gives you a sense of comfort that you’re not sleeping in the home of a psycho.

I chose Mumbai and Delhi because they are two of the most expensive cities to visit and because there simply weren’t listings for couchsurfing hosts in smaller villages and towns.

The task list grows and I’m counting the days ’til departure. Exactly ten.

I’ll be blogging along the way so be sure to sign up for email alerts by filling in your email address to the right. You’ll receive an email each time I post. You’ll hear the good, the bad and will hopefully be entertained along the way!

Happy Travels!