Day 57: 10 Things I Learned from Backpacking in North India

#1. Ketchup goes with everything.

That includes chocolate muffins. 

We were at STARBUCKS and they gave us ketchup with our double chocolate chip muffin... what??But seriously, there was not a place that we weren't given ketchup-- and lots of it! Israel is probably ketchup's #1 fan (it takes him like... one packets for every 3 fries) so it ended up being a really good thing. He would just hoard the packets until he needed them. The muffin thing just seems a little over the top though. 

#2. Every city has a different feel. 

The atmosphere in every city was completely unique. If I could bottle the 'feel' of any of the cities we visited I would want to bottle the Amritsar 'feel'. Gah, so cool! 

#3. You should never, EVER miss a train. 

Rough.

Also, trains and rail stations in India take a while to understand.. so basically just ask LOTS of people for advice and for help and try to latch onto someone that is going to the same place you are. (and take AC3 class is you can)

#4. Almost everything is hilarious when you are exhausted and it is late at night. 

I laughed for ten minutes straight this night-- like, REALLY laughed. I feel bad cuz Car probably didn't think it was that funny but come on! I think its the combination of turtle back and skinny long legs that did it for me. Love her. <3 Sorry Car.

#5. Call your mom every 24 hours or else. 

Sorry mom.

#6. Travel with people you like because they will become people you love. And you'll have some of the best conversations of your whole life.

(Also, Israel really likes to make Memes haha)

#7. Naan is addicting.

We are about to go through major withdrawals... 

#8. Sometimes you just don't look good... and its 100% okay.

When you can't shower for a few days and you have no clothes left and your bangs don't know what they are anymore, you just roll with it. Oh, and blankets are super fashionable now. I literally wore it everywhere.

#9. Take pictures!

Not necessarily to look cool on Facebook or to make you blog peeps happy but because there will be literally too many moments and stories and adventures to remember unless you have some way of sparking those memories in the future. I want to be able to remember all of this many years from now! One day I'll be an old grandma and I'm going to call up Carly so we can chitchat about our backpacking days in North India. hahahah

#10. There's no place like home :) 

Vizag might not be our HOME home but it still feels like we came home to some extent. It was nice to walk in and give Sillu and Durga hugs, to play with Momo and Siddu and to eat some French Toast. My bed was wonderful and showering felt so much better! I am definitely up for backpacking more in the future but I also really like routine! Tomorrow is back to school and back to researching!

Stéf