About The Pocket Gypsy

Ready to run.

Who:

23 year old female, Berkeley graduate in political science and sociology. Photographer, journalist, editor, marketing and design analyst. World traveler. Loudly loquacious, bizarrely creative, itty bitty and witty, ABCD (American Born Confused Desi), enthusiastically organized, engagingly analytical.. but not overanalytical, which is not a word because it’s not possible to overanalyse.

What:

Many say it can’t be done. “A year of traveling the world – alone, no less? It’s preposterous.” But I have it on good authority that it’s not only possible, but actually feasible (though you and I together will find out if it’s financially solvent)!

This blog is to keep the spirit of adventure alive in everyone’s hearts, both for the fellow vagabond and the desk-bound worker bee. It’s a reminder that inertia rules our world – either you stand in your own way and never get anywhere, or you open yourself up to the endless possibilities of the universe and end up loving the nonstop journey that is your life. Overseas or stateside, there’s always a story to be told – and here’s where I’ll tell mine, if you’re interested in reading about it.

When:

The Voyage, as I’ve dubbed it, began on August 26, 2012. I returned to California on December 6, 2012, and left again for India on January 15, 2013. One month and one day shy of a full year, I came home for good on July 25, 2013. You can read the entire timeline here.

Where:

My first destination is London, after which I’ll tour the rest of Europe for three months, visiting friends and taking a well-deserved vacation. I’ll jump from Portugal to Morocco, then scurry on over to the motherland, India. Here is where I will begin my approximately seven-month stint of short term volunteer programs around Asia attempting to understand current development strategies and the role of business and government agencies in humanitarian aid. I’ll fly from Southern India, where I’ll have spent some quality time with my overseas relatives as well, to Southeast Asia – Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Dedicating three months to volunteering and a month to traveling, I’ll enjoy a relaxed combination of volunteering and vacationing, then will return to Northern India to volunteer and explore the nearby lands of Nepal and Bhutan. I’ll then move westward, stopping off in the Middle East (political stability withstanding) to adventure in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. Sometime during this year of travels, I’ll be swinging down to South Africa to work in a governmental position, but the details are to come. Finally, I will return to Europe, bookending my journey where I began.

Well, that original timeline didn’t exactly happen. While I did visit many of the countries I originally had hoped to see, my Voyage took some interesting twists and turns. I’m still very excited to someday visit Morocco, northern India, Bhutan, Nepal, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and South Africa, but I will have to schedule them for a future itinerary. Feel free to check out the final timeline. A brief version is this: three weeks in the States, three months in Europe, home for a month, six weeks in India, three months in Southeast Asia, two months in Europe, and finally home for good (or rather, for now).

Why:

Why not? It was the right time: I had quit both of my jobs. I had moved out of my apartment, I had graduated from Berkeley. I’d never been more ready to break free of the traditional teaching model and learn in an entirely different way – and there was nothing standing in my way but myself. So I reiterate: why not?