India 5 Golden Taj Mahal

I spent most newly single nights on the bare floor of my apartment reading travel magazines and drinking red wine. The photos of far away comforted me more than any sympathetic therapist or cathartic girls’ night out could. I wanted to take these pictures of sunrise at Machu Picchu, the Acropolis’s stately grace, and the desperately blue French Polynesian waters and rub them over my body in a baptism of travel and desire—I wanted them in my veins.

My nights settled into this familiar routine of turn page, sip, and sigh; turn page, sip, and sigh—until one page turn resulted in a destination. An image of the golden Taj Mahal appeared at sunrise beneath bold text: INCREDIBLE INDIA. 

By Kristin Zibell  (to be continued)

India 4 - The Travel Never Happened

The travel never happened as promised. Instead, we used our sparse vacation days and bonuses to travel for ten days to China, two weeks to Europe, sixteen days to Thailand. But these trips were more a retreat from home life in a grand setting—not enough for me. I wanted deeper, more. After seven years, I had spoken the truth at last and breathed for the first time.

For three months we separated, each day removing a layer of our life together—the mattress we’d just purchased, the Noritake Colorwave Green china, and the joint DVD collection. Over time, he agreed that our separation was for the best. He dreamed of a house, a family, and a silver anniversary party. I dreamed of a camel ride to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza. When he eventually admitted that it was better to be fulfilled than be together, the cement block of guilt weighing down my newfound freedom began to ligh.

By Kristin Zibell  (to be continued)

India 3 My Ring Held The Promise Of Travel

 There was nothing wrong with him, nothing wrong with me. But I wore despair and denial like a heavy winter coat—my dream, to voyage out like Freya Stark and discover myself amidst the sands of Arabia. I denied myself study abroad in college and backpacking through Europe, shuffling from school to a “good job” and finally a big Catholic wedding to a really nice guy who I loved and couldn’t see beyond. 

My ring even held the promise of travel. A simple gold band with twelve small diamonds, it was both wedding and engagement ring. As the date of our wedding had approached, my then-fiance was in his second year of law school, and his money was going to tuition and car payments. He couldn’t see peeling out a few grand for a matching band, so instead of a wedding ring, he promised we’d put the money toward a future trip. “Wouldn’t that be better?” he offered.

By Kristin Zibell  (to be continued)

Letting Go on the Ganges 2

India - There it was. I’d never said it out loud before. Freed from a dark recess of my heart, the words seemed almost to vibrate in the daylight.

“But where do you want to go?” What was this paradise that could be so much better than the life we’d created?

At the time, I had no idea. I just knew I had always wanted to travel. In our first year of marriage I wrote three pages a day in my journal, more of than not trying to reconcile wedlock with the desire to pack up and hit the road. On our third anniversary, I’d given him one of those narcissistic we’re-really-a-couple books called The Book of Us. I’d answered the question, “What are your dreams for your life together?” in ballpoint ink: “to travel around the world.” Then I added “together” to bind words and hope.

There was nothing wrong with him, nothing wrong with me. But I wore despair and denial like a heavy winter coat—my dream, to voyage out like Freya Stark and discover myself amidst the sands of Arabia. I denied myself study abroad in college and backpacking through Europe, shuffling from school to a “good job” and finally a big Catholic wedding to a really nice guy who I loved and couldn’t see beyond.

By Kristin Zibell
 (to be continued)
photo: Janin

India - No Place For A Wish

We were offering our wishes, he explained, to Ganga—the goddess of the river that bears her name. A bath in her waters was the ultimate symbol of redemption and purification, and a wish was perhaps amplified here more than anywhere else.
I looked at the water. It was black. No place for a wish.
“If you can’t think of anything to wish for, wish for world peace.” Ganesh smirked, as if reading my mind, and then hustled to the front of the boat.
I heard his instructions but rebelled. I already knew I wasn’t going to make a wish.
Eight months ago, I was married with a comfortable urban apartment and a dual-income life. On a rare cloudy day in Los Angeles from my perch on the living room futon, I told my husband of seven years that it was over.
“Why?” he’d asked. Shocked. Baffled.
“Being married is not conducive to the life I want to live,” sounding like I was running a meeting.
“What life is that?” He tilted his head.
“I want to travel the world.”
By Kristin Zibell (to be continued)

India- Letting Go on the Ganges

India held her ticket to transformation.

Our boat dropped anchor in the middle of the Ganges, and a slight breeze brought relief from the October heat. Two men interrupted the live, languid sitar music by scurrying like beetles around our wide-hulled rowboat, setting out forty leaf plates big enough to hold a scoop of ice cream. Inside, rose petals cradled votive candles, which the men quickly lit. The light made feet and faces glow. Our tour guide Ganesh, a tall, gangly Indian from Bangalore, stood up, momentarily taking center stage away from the sitar player.
“Please take a bowl with a candle and place it in the Ganges,” Ganesh instructed. “When you do, make a wish. It is said that when you do this, your wish will come true.”
By Kristin Zibell  (to be continued) 

China travel - Point it

Lots of people will try and help, not always successful but they are insist on trying!

This is part of the charm of being in a country like China. Not everyone speaks English, in fact very few people outside of the major cities do, but there is always a way to communicate through gesture, phrasebooks and expression.

We also carried a small ‘point it’ book around with us, but to be honest we hardly ever used it. It’s still a pretty handy thing to have if you get stuck as you can point at a picture or drawing that symbolises what it is you’re trying to communicate.

One thing we would suggest when travelling in China is that you have patience. There is no point in getting worked up about people trying to push in front of you, or spitting their food out on the table beside you. This is all part of their culture. It takes a long time to get anywhere because the distances are so vast and there are so many people trying to get there.

A packed out metro car in the Beijing underground - of a claustrophobic experience, but it’s only 20p per journey in Beijing so it’s very good value for money!

China travel for us was a fantastic experience, a challenge and an array of cultural surprises and shocks, and getting by with our 5 little words made all the difference. Go and explore this vast, wonderful country. You will not regret it.

Helen & David