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Reflections from a Globetrotter
My journey as a traveler didn’t start with any kind of goal or mission. In fact, I didn’t even possess a passport until I was 25! It all started when I had to relocate to America for a new job. That was also the first flight of my life! I was petrified during the first few legs of the trip. But now, thousands of flights later, sitting on a cramped airline seat with a glass of wine and listening to my favorite Spotify playlist is my zen.
The story of a techie with an H-1B visa jumping on board a plane to join the ‘silicon rush’ is hardly an unusual one. However, what ensued after that is what makes this journey special. How, as a couple, we decided to fill our lives with experiences instead of things. How we chased stories to tell instead of stuff to show.
Ever since our first holiday to Europe from America, we have been fascinated by the alluring feeling of embarking on a trip to a foreign land: unfamiliar cultures, exotic languages that sound like music to untrained ears, surreal landscapes, new cuisines to try, new places and bars, and majestic monuments that can make you forget all your worries. Consumed by a constant craving for that stimulating unfamiliarity of a foreign land and the unpredictable adventure that beckoned, we kept traveling and exploring nonstop for more than two decades.
Fortunately, our travels have never been mundane. We’ve been rewarded with some magical moments during our adventures across the globe. Like rafting on the mighty Zambezi river in Africa, careening down an active volcano in Central America, night kayaking in the Pacific islands, admiring the marching penguins in Antarctica, going on a bar crawl in Bahgdad, and partying till dawn in a 2,000-year-old cave bar in Syria. Just to name a few.
But at the same time, We’ve also been treated to an equal number of daunting experiences while in pursuit of these priceless moments. From getting caught in riots in conflict zones and being stranded in war-torn destinations to getting detailed by authorities in the strangest of locations. Scary situations that are more fun and exciting to narrate as a cocktail story now than they were when they transpired.
However, this book is not just about my travels or talks about the destinations we have been to. But instead, it is a compendium of some entertaining tales, unique experiences, magical moments, engrossing learnings, and thought-provoking reflections from our adventures across the globe. Along with these, you would also get to learn how we managed as a couple to lead a life of serial traveling, without quitting a job or chasing other goals in life. And more interestingly, how we pulled off trips to the most exotic and still undiscovered destinations without compromising with my wife’s vegetarian diet or settling for a cliched itinerary.
Just like any interesting indie movie that has an amusing prologue, the journey of my journeys also has a very unique beginning. My story begins in the fall of 1998. Almost all of my undergrad classmates were applying for universities across America and knew more about the geography of the states out there, than their own country. Odd-sounding names of university towns in America were rolling off their tongues like one recalls their frequently-visited family vacation spots. Au contraire, I didn’t even have the remotest idea about which coast of the United States, popular cities like Miami or Los Angeles were located in. In fact, I was so in love with my motherland that I didn’t own a passport until I was 25, let alone think about traveling outside the country! So, how did it all start?
Why too Kay?
In the latter half of the ’90s, the fear of a global computer flaw or bug at the dawn of the new millennium started gripping a lot of American companies. If this were not fixed, it would end up disrupting a host of industries and businesses dependent on computers. In such a scenario, most American companies were racing to revamp their systems to avoid a “millennial meltdown”. Labeled as the ‘Y2K bug’, this led to the third wave of migration of Indians to America, powered by the popular H1-B Visas. Legions of Indian engineers were aspiring to cash in on the Y2K lottery to America.
Although I was a Civil Engineering graduate, and software was not my cup of Java, that didn’t hold me back from throwing my hat in the ring. To cater to the dreams of people like me, a crop of computer training institutes were sprouting across the country to cash in on this foreign demand for software engineers. They didn’t only focus on skills required to fix the millennium bug but also offered an exhaustive buffet of software skills that could be useful for our prospective successful future. So, I enrolled myself in one of the ‘rapid learning’ courses offered by one such company. However, the amusing part of this story is not me picking up some new skills hastily to catch a software ship sailing to the land of opportunities, the humorous part is how I landed the job!
Lost in Translation
It was a balmy evening in Chennai when I received the call from a tech startup in America which lasted all of 40 minutes. And while the hiring manager and I spoke about a few important topics in detail, we barely touched on the most crucial part – the skill set required for the job! It was the era of the internet boom when I had just started learning about tools and technologies around it. However, an internet browser like Microsoft’s then-famous Internet Explorer (also known as ‘IE’) was not a ‘skill’, but more of a capability for anyone who was remotely tech-savvy. Since the company interviewing me was looking for talent with exposure to CASE tools (a set of software applications that provide automated assistance for software development), the interviewer asked me if I had a good knowledge of ‘IEF’(Information Engineering Facility). In my still internet novice mind, ‘IE’ was equal to ‘IEF’. So I responded with a resounding YES! This led to my very unexpected ticket to a land far far away! Everything from the offer letter to my visa and flight tickets rolled out so fast that in the blink of an eye, I was on my way to the land of liberty. The best and perhaps the funniest part, I didn’t even know what exactly my work was supposed to be! It was more of a lottery in translation than lost in translation.
The First Flight
While I was super excited to embark on my first trip aboard a flight, with all my bags and baggage and a newly married wife in tow, I was also scared witless about boarding a plane! Having never flown anywhere in my adult life, I didn’t know what to expect. To be honest, I was quite nervous about the long and daunting journey ahead. My frugal sponsors from the States clearly didn’t have any empathy for first-time international travelers like me. They booked what was probably the longest route possible to get to Minnesota from Bangalore!
As I was getting wound up, trying to stomach the impending take-off from Bangalore, I couldn’t muster the courage to think about the number of layovers that were still left before I could reach my destination. In case you are wondering why I was panicking so much, the route the company had booked for me was Bangalore > Mumbai > New Delhi > Frankfurt > Chicago > Minneapolis! In spite of all my apprehensions, I vividly remember my first glimpse of an airport’s runway lights. As the flight landed in Frankfurt, I was captivated by the sight of the glittering lights illuminating the runway like those mini-lamps glowing on top of Christmas trees. All of a sudden, I was relishing being up in the air instead of being unsettled by it. The traveling bug bit me right then and there. I knew I was going to be in love with traveling, no matter how anxious it made me.
Coming to America
Just like Eddie Murphy’s famous movie, Coming to America, our first few months in the States were packed with enough funny incidents to fill the script of a full-length comedy film! To start with, relocating to a place freezing at a harsh -22 degrees Celsius from a place that is simmering at a warm +22 degrees Celsius is never fun unless you are a polar bear. But what more could you expect, when you arrive in chilly Minnesota, the day after Christmas, at the peak of winter?
In spite of the crazy temperatures, I was mesmerized by the view. Back in India, snow to me was an alien thing. Something I would only see in movies or read about in newspapers. Naturally, when I found myself in a beautiful snow-covered town, I felt like I was in some elaborate production of a winter wonderland. The frigid winter of Minnesota didn’t only treat us to picturesque delights, but also served us some embarrassing surprises - like …
Over years of traveling across various continents, I have been lucky enough to treat myself to a wide range of local cuisine, thanks to my not having any kind of dietary restrictions or preferences. However, that has not been the case with Sangeetha, my partner, who is a strict vegetarian. By ‘strict’ I mean she doesn’t eat eggs or seafood as some vegetarians do. Unfortunately, vegetarians do not have many options when it comes to local cuisines in many countries. Food has never been a priority for me when traveling and I usually spend the least amount of time searching for the specialties that a place has to offer. Sangeetha, on the other hand, has always been keen to try out as much local food as she can during our travels. Even in the most quirky restaurants, that mostly carry non-vegetarian food, she passionately browses through its entire menu to understand its unique dishes, their names, and preparations.
While traveling for vegetarians is easier than before, with more Westerners adopting it as a lifestyle choice, it definitely comes with its challenges, especially in destinations where a meat-free diet is relatively rare. Sangeetha has been faced with so many situations where she had to settle for all kinds of frustrating food choices when on the road. From instant ramen and potato chips for dinner to sautéed onion & tomato with cold bread for breakfast! Sometimes, gorging on a bowl of ice cream as a meal was not driven by any decadent desires on her part, but by the sheer lack of any other appealing meal options! At the same time, we have also come across destinations where she didn’t have to worry too much and could eat anything that was in sight. This might sound like a vegetarian’s pipe dream, but in reality we have been blessed with such situations in many of our travel destinations.
As the travel partner of a vegetarian, I have learned a lot, not just about the challenges but also about how and why different people across the world perceive and practice vegetarianism. Through this chapter, I hope to not just share those learnings, but also motivate vegetarians who find it daunting to look for delicious food at unfamiliar destinations. By sharing some of our travel stories, I want to assure you that it is possible to have a great time being a vegetarian, even in the most ‘meat-loving’ places, only if you are willing to explore and not give up your sense of culinary adventure.
The Vegetarian Puzzle
Growing up in a country with the most vegan-friendly cuisines in the world, our perception of what qualifies as a vegetarian dish is quite different from how Westerners would use that label. Sangeetha and I were first exposed to this disparity in classification the day we first landed in Minnesota. We were quite shocked when our sweet waitress at Perkins (an American casual dining restaurant chain) asked us if ‘fish was ok’ when Sangeetha explained that she was a vegetarian.
This was only the beginning, we had many such experiences as we started traveling around the country. What was amusing to us, was absolutely normal to the person taking our order. Unlike Western vegetarianism where consuming vegetarian food is mostly a matter of choice, Indian vegetarianism is guided by religious, cultural, and social norms that are sacred. For instance, mixing vegetarian with non-vegetarian food is a strict no-no in many households. There are many elaborate rules around purity and pollution when it comes to food in Indian cultures. So if you were to add any non-vegetarian ingredient to a vegetarian dish, it would be considered sacrilegious. For example, on our very first domestic flight from Minneapolis to Portland, we didn’t place any order for our meals beforehand. When Sangeetha requested if there was any spare vegetarian meal, the flight attendant just removed the slice of turkey from a turkey sandwich and offered it to Sangeetha! She didn’t hesitate to offer us a sandwich that just moments ago had meat in it. To her, this was completely normal. It must seem normal if you look at it from a dietary-preference standpoint, but an absolute disaster if you view it from a religious-preference perspective
From an Indian standpoint, a dish can be classified as ‘Vegetarian’ if – and only if – it does not contain any kind of meat, seafood, chicken, egg, or any animal product for that matter. But outside India, the vegetarian label is more loosely used, which is confusing and challenging for most Indians when they travel abroad. We have learned on many occasions that it is not enough to just say, “I am a vegetarian" (even in the local languages). Instead, we had to clearly spell out that we did not want any meat or seafood in any form whatsoever in our dish. In countries where meat, fish, or poultry are a staple, meals prepared with these ingredients are often considered vegetarian, as long as they contain some vegetables in them! If you find this hard to believe, trust this traveler who has been to almost all continents in the world and faced this same issue over and over again.
For instance, in most parts of South-East Asia fish sauce or bits of pork are added to “vegetarian" dishes, to enhance their flavors. Similarly, in several parts of South America, beef is added to vegetarian dishes for the same reason. What the Japanese call vegetarian is sometimes cooked in Dashi (or fish broth). For an Indian vegetarian, eating such dishes can be very difficult. As new travelers, we were mostly shocked and frustrated that the food we ordered, thinking it was all vegetables, also had meat or fish or eggs in it. Just imagine waiting for so long for your food to come, only to send it back and re-browse the whole menu for something more edible. I can guarantee you that it’s not fun!
As we traveled more, we also became more food-savvy. We would explicitly spell out what ingredients we didn’t want them to add to our dishes, especially the ones we were ordering for Sangeetha. All she started doing was adding a ‘No’ to a wide range of non-vegetarian ingredients spelled out in the local language of the country or region we were visiting. For example, if we are in a Spanish-speaking country – Sangeetha doesn’t just stop with stating “Soy vegetariana” (which means “I am vegetarian” in Spanish). She always goes on to elaborate with a “sin carne, sin pollo, sin mariscos, sin huevos” (meaning: no meat, no chicken, no seafood, no egg). And if we were in a French-speaking region, then this would be “non viande, non poulet, non fruits de mer, non-œuf”. As simple as that! So, as I strain myself trying to memorize all the key phrases of the local language, when we travel to an exotic destination, all she would do is figure out how to say ‘no’ and these four key non-vegetarian ingredients in that language!
When I was a kid, my two favorite subjects were History and Geography. They fascinated me like no other subject could. However, the lessons that I learned in school were nothing compared to the ones I learned during my travels. Everywhere I went, I found places that were seeped in history. They had a rich past with grand empires, invaders, and colonizers, leaving their mark not only on its people but also on every other aspect of their lives. Whenever I learned something new or unique about these places, I would make it a point to come back home and get down to reading and researching more about them. We had so many such eye-opening encounters on our trips that I cultivated some personal opinions and theories around the role foreigners had to play in the evolution of a region’s cultural and social fabric.
While the history of a region such as India or Southeast Asia has been shaped by numerous invaders, rulers, dynasties, and colonizers who ruled or occupied them at various points in time, the most definite mark on a region’s history has been left by its colonizers. For instance, the French influence in Vietnam (and Indochina in general), the role the Portuguese played in what is the current character of a place like Brazil or Mozambique, the mark the English left behind in the Caribbean, or the Dutch dominance in Indonesia.
At this point in the chapter, you must be wondering what has colonialism got to do with a book that is all about travel and exploration. Well, the answer is ‘a lot’! Colonization has significantly shaped the landscapes and cultures of almost all the destinations we have been to. Trust us, we have experienced it first-hand.
I don’t want to discuss the historical or political aspects of colonialism as there is abundant literature on these topics. I just want to share some interesting observations and thoughts from my travels to a wide range of countries that were once colonized, occupied, or conquered by foreign ‘rulers’. Most importantly how the prolonged occupation of foreign forces has left unique and permanent footprints on a country’s food, lifestyle, language, and religion.
There are a ton of opinions, studies, and theories around how the various colonizers have influenced their colonies – and their people & culture. What I am sharing here are my personal perspectives from first-hand explorations & interactions.
Cultural Footprints
In the first few years of my traveling, I was a bit myopic when it came to exploring the heritage and culture of the destinations I was traveling to, which were also former colonies. I was only exploring the sights and sampling the epicurean pleasures at a surface level. I didn’t go deeper and perceive the fascinating layers underneath that were fabricated by the former occupiers or colonizers. After visiting a wide range of countries (on different continents), that were previously ruled by European empires or governments, I was intrigued by the striking difference in how each colony was treated by the colonizers. There was so much disparity in how these colonies assimilated things from their foreign rulers and to what extent the colonizers imposed their tastes, culture, and traditions on the local population.
For instance, it’s hard to escape the haunting tunes of Bebel Gilberto in Brazil or Cesária Évora in Cabo Verde – especially the songs sung in Portuguese. Tunes that took the musical style of Bossa nova (music of Brazilian origin with complex harmonies and improvised jazz-like passages)to a different level. Even though Bebel is a Brazilian-American singer, her inspirations are drawn from her Brazilian father, (João Gilberto) who is also a popular artiste. The point however is not about the music, but the language. The Portuguese departed from these colonies a long time back and yet its people, as well as its artists, are celebrating the songs written in the language of their colonizers. The same goes for artists from former French colonies - like Charlotte Dipanda from Cameroon who is well known for her songs written in French. However, it is a very different story in a place like India. The Portuguese language has almost disappeared from Goa and Pondicherry has no trace of French apart from the names of the streets and a few institutions!
What led to this kind of difference? Why are there such dissimilarities in two colonies ruled by the same colonizer? I couldn’t help but think about this more and more, as we started traveling to former colonies far and wide. I have been equally fascinated by how other aspects like culinary traditions were developed in these colonies. Did the colonizers leave their mark on a colony’s food and drink? For example, we have come across a strong culture of drinking and chilling in Brasseries (a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting and typically stays open late like a pub)in so many former French colonies, and the concept of Tabernas in former Spanish colonies. However, despite more than two centuries of colonization by the English, India doesn’t really have a Pub culture similar to the United Kingdom!
Here are some of my opinions and thoughts on how each of these colonies has incorporated their colonizer’s culture and norms into their lifestyles. Please do note that these are based on what I personally encountered in many of the former colonies. Thanks to the luxury of having traveled to almost every colony occupied by the colonizers and experienced them first-hand, I believe some of my perspectives on these differences are worth sharing. I apologize if I have misrepresented or overgeneralized anything.
The Spanish practiced a strategy of total conquest. Their colonization exercises were mostly spearheaded by the conquistadors (the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries). They enslaved the whole population of their colonies and forced them into the encomienda (a Spanish labor system that rewarded conquerors with the labor of conquered peoples) system. In this process, many new cities and towns were founded to resemble those in Europe. This resemblance didn’t stop with the arts, architecture, and aesthetics of the colonized cities but was even reflected in the behavior and mannerisms of the local population. So they pretty much wiped out all elements of the original local culture. Meaning, that no matter which Spanish colony we were in, we could only find footprints of the colonizers and almost no marks of the natives. We have been to every country in Central, North, and South America, including the Caribbean which was once occupied by the Spanish. All of them have similar architectural designs. It could be a busy town in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, you are sure to find a central Plaza, an ornate Cathedral, and an imposing statue of Christ looking over you from a hilltop! You can always treat yourself to a hot cup of Café con Leche (Coffee with Milk) no matter which Spanish colonial city you are in! Even in a place like Malabo in equatorial Guinea (Which was the only Spanish colony in Africa), I felt like I was in a colonial town in Mexico or Central America!
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Ask any traveler filled with wanderlust, and their dream would be to travel all around the world. I happen to be one of the fortunate few who have accomplished this dream. I am currently on my 12th passport and counting, having visited every country in the world!
Growing up in middle-class India in the 80s, my wife and I were your typical ambitious Indian couple. We met as students in one of the elite engineering colleges in India and eventually moved to the US after graduation. We had a good job, a house, a decent car, traveled abroad for vacations, and eventually became American citizens. We were well settled and rooted in the 'Land of Opportunities' for life. However, instead of leading a comfortable life, we consciously chose a nomadic one filled with explorations and enriching experiences. A decision that allowed us to pursue our passion and gave us the opportunity to find ourselves; a life less ordinary!
While others may have already accomplished the milestone of visiting every country in the world, what makes our travels unique is how we accomplished this and the wonderful learnings and experiences we managed to collect through these adventures while absorbing the essence of every destination from a unique perspective. Our aim was to return from a trip with more unforgettable stories than tacky souvenirs. Thanks to this mindset, our long journeys have been filled with some unforgettable moments, unique tales, and magical experiences which I have written about in this book.
“Travelling does not always have to be a route to escape. It can also be one leading to unimaginable discoveries!”
In more than two decades of traveling, I never felt the desire or even imagined the possibility of writing a book, let alone capturing the practical education I received through these wonderful adventures. The motivation to do this came from the passion to share the interesting insights and thought-provoking perspectives I managed to pick up on the ground. Some of these are enlightening geopolitical, cultural, and historical insights one might never be able to grasp unless they are personally visiting the place. Observations that were born out of collectively comparing patterns and practices across multiple regions of the globe. This encouraged me to compile them into a book so that people can enjoy reading through them from the comfort of their couch, without having to go through the hardship of tiring journeys and challenging itineraries.
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Estimated Date of Publication: 30 April 2023
Manuscript approximately 90% completed
Word Count: 80,000
The title, cover design, and other metadata are tentative and may differ from the final published book.
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Prasanna is an American citizen of Indian origin who grew up in the sunny southern Indian metropolis of Chennai in India, before moving to the States in late 1998. Though having followed the typical career path that most techies from the subcontinent do after migrating abroad, what sets him apart is his obsession for travel. A never-ending passion that has taken him to more than 250 countries and territories across the globe - including every one of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. Prasanna likes to call himself a ‘Serial Traveler’ who is addicted to exploring new destinations, and considers hopping on a plane, train, or boat to embark on a new journey as the best rehab for this disorder! Apart from traveling, he loves playing the guitar, trekking, composing music, and cooking experimental dishes. He is also a huge fan of anything made with the finest hops, malt, and yeast and loves to go on craft beer hunting trips both during travels and at home Thanks to his work, Prasanna has had the opportunities to work and live in some of the most exciting places across the globe -including America, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Denmark. Experiences that have helped him earn some interesting perspectives.
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