Featured Traveler 1: Iris

Some travelers don’t just visit a place but also leave a mark for future travelers. Below is an interview with a Venezuelan traveler 🙋 who visited India 🇮🇳

1. What was that instance that made you decide you are going to India?

India has always been my dream country, for a long time and since I practice yoga, I have always had a special connection with its culture, its music, everything .. I had a very special thought about the country about everything, the Taj Mahal was more interesting , I had some fear for the things that are spoken of insecurity, diseases and everything. But after so much postponement, and by an emotionally uncomfortable situation in which I was making the decision, I bought my plane ticket and started reading, finding out and preparing myself well for this adventure .. I never thought that his people were so incredible and that everything what they would transmit to me and teach would be very much …

2. What were your impressions about India before your first visit?

Before visiting India for me it was incredible, it was special, full of a beautiful culture and a lot of humility. I loved thinking about India, I had too many positive expectations ..

3. How far from expectation was the reality? What was the reality you saw and experienced?

India exceeded my expectations … It is a country with a lot of poverty, but its people are full of joy that you can not get anywhere, a joy that is above the unbearable heat it makes and its scarce resources .. India has an immense heart that smiles at each passing tourist and ask for photos, it is a country that knows no discrimination, that all seek to help you, with a humility that comes from the soul, they don’t see the material .. You have to look with love to India, because they are people who know a lot about the art of living. I must admit that there is one thing that I did not like, but it is a general issue in Asia and it is the huge amount of garbage that is everywhere, there are places so beautiful and full of so much rubbish that it is a pity that their own people don’t have a little conscience in this, but I think that is also part of their essence .. I love Indian despite their trash, I love their culture, I love the Indian food and I love your people, I have so much in my heart of what And India let me that everything I say falls short.

4. What is the best thing you experienced and will never forget in your life?

Going to the Taj Mahal, it was really unique and special, it’s amazing and magical !!! I will never forget it .. Just as I will not forget its people and every photo I took with those who asked me … And most importantly, the smile I received from each person I crossed, going to India is like doing a master of life, of appreciating and thanking what we have, that happiness is in the simple things …

5. What are the bad experiences you had and your suggestions to other travelers while visiting India?

I had no bad experience in India, everything was incredible for me. My suggestion to travelers is that they go with their mind, their heart and their open soul so that they can feel the wonderfulness of this country. Do not be afraid to go to India, if you go with fear or some emotion or negative feeling do not go, remember that it attracts negative things. I went with such joy, I was so focused on the beautiful, on the positive, on what attracted only wonderful things and people. Try to open your heart and do not see with your eyes, see with your soul and you will receive a great lesson in India!!

6. India in your own words..

I will leave the words with which I closed my trip in India, which are in a post on my Instagram (@irisanchez6)

“My words fall short. I must admit, that you gave me more than I expected, that I came with expectations that you surpassed, that I loved the few corners I went through, and even more I loved the people who live you every day.. India is more than poverty and trash, India is more than chaos and danger in its streets, India is more than animals and temples.. India is love, inclusion because it does not know what discrimination is in any sense, India is respect, joy, spirituality, gratitude, humility (a humility of truth that comes from the deepest) and light. In India you breathe the best energies when your eyes expand and you can see with and from the soul.. Thank you India therefore, for the visible and the invisible to others.. what only I in my interior could feel and receive is what most feeds my soul..“