My Roaming Spirit
Mohit daga (@MOHIT881923)Entrepreneur | Traveler | Photographer | Co-founder of myroamingspirit Hong Kong is a fascinating city. With buildings kissing the blue sky to vast stretches of ocean washing the floors of the country side. This city has it all. It’s a second home for food lovers. You could sit over a bowl of noodles in a busy street and engage in endless conversations watching the locals pass by. I bet you would lose the count of bowl of noodles you must have had.
Not many know, unlike other cities Hong Kong is different. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, located at the southern part of China, and has a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign relations and military defense. The city consists of the half island Kowloon as well as several islands, Hong Kong Island being the most important of them. It has one of the busiest harbors in the world, and is the finance center of ASIA. If you’re planning a trip to Hong Kong, you won’t have much trouble getting around. It’s a gorgeous, friendly city with a lot to see and a lot to do. What one can never forget to notice is the jumble of markets, street cafes/restaurants and high-rises. For shopping, there is the world renowned Jade Market and The Tung Choi St Market (or Ladies Market) is your go-to, one stop shop from socks to counterfeit luxury handbags, ladies can go gaga about, apart from that a dozens of Cheap( but no compromise on quality) custom tailor stores. If you’re looking to stock up your wardrobe, Hong Kong is the place to do it. Like many other 1st time visitors I did all the planning for my trip to Hong Kong. My Hong Kong experience started as soon as I landed. To my surprise I had to take a train and navigate through dozens of escalators to finally come out of the airport. No wonders Hong Kong airport (HKG) is the fourth busiest international passenger airport in the world and has the busiest international cargo facilities. Before I could gulp down the amazement I took a cab to The Kowloon Hotel Harbour Plaza on 19-21 Nathan Road Tsimshatsui. Without wasting a minute in the fine luxuries of the hotel, I got ready and packed my day bag and took a city guide booklet from the hotel reception and left to see my 1st location Victoria Peak. If a single image could encapsulate Hong Kong, it would be the panorama from Victoria Peak. Looking down at the city from this famous vantage point, you'll see one of the finest harbors on Earth and a skyline so improbable, audacious and lofty that Manhattan's looks provincial by comparison- By Times.com. I was so much awe struck with the view that I lost track of time. I was engrossed in clicking pictures from the camera (DSLR) I rented from Bangalore. I wanted to fully utilize every penny paid for rent. (If you want to experience to be on the Highest point of Hong Kong Island, getting into Sky Terrace 428 is a must.)
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Disclaimer: This document is based on my personal experiences and some information might not hold true for everyone. I moved to New Jersey. So things might be slightly different in other states but not entirely. Don’t hold me responsible for anything that goes wrong and yes I make mistakes too!!!
You have planned your move to the U.S. and are looking forward to a new exciting life ahead. But give yourself a moment to pause here. Things always look bright on the other side but it’s a long way before you make it to the end. And believe me you probably will be changing your mind and think ‘let me stay back, India is awesome’ by the time you reach the end of this document. Wait! You have already planned your move, don’t let these hold you back. Get that international exposure and you can always come back to your home land. So let me start the journey for you. First few weeks As you land at the airport, remember you need to pay for your luggage cart (first shocker!!!) – About $6 per cart. Second stop converting that to INR. You cannot survive in the US unless you stop that. You can rent a car (self-driven) from various car rental counters: Hertz - https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reservation/ Enterprise - https://www.enterprise.com The car rental can always help you with initial few days in the U.S. where unlike India you are handicapped without one. Go for weekly rates which are much cheaper as compared to the daily rentals. And note, you can drop the car back at any Hertz/ enterprise counter nearest to you, in any city (yes, even California if you picked it up from New York). Hertz is more wide spread and easily available. And get that GPS on your phone to work. Trust me, google maps will be your best friend in the U.S. If you are not comfortable driving around in a car right after you land, get a taxi to your destination from the airport (again expensive but your only option unless Uber is willing to pick you up or if you will be living in a city where you have access to metro or buses) - Costs about 75 cents a mile. You first few days in the US should be spent on getting a social security number, opening a bank account, applying for a credit card, finding a home for yourself, locating a school for your child (if you have one), getting the gas & electricity connection, water connection, phone connection, cable and internet, Renter’s insurance, car, car insurance. Kushal jhunjhunwala (@KushalJ2w)Traveler | Photographer | Co founder of myroamingspirit
Last Autumn, I travelled to Spiti, one of the remotest places in India (and probably one of the remotest in the world). A place which has remained untouched by modern times. It’s raw yet magnificient beauty is an absolute delight for any photographer. However there is much more to this place than just its stunning surroundings. It’s the people here who make this place much more special. Happy, helpful, and humble – this precisely describes every one of them.
One day when we were heading towards Pin Valley in Spiti (known for its wildife reserves), we stopped at the last village on the route to Pin - a small village, rather an extremely small one with only two mud houses and with a total population of 8 people. Finding ourselves in a dead end, we knocked at one of the doors. A young chap in mid twenties greeted us and invited us for tea in his house. There were some 3-4 kids as well.The parents had gone to a nearby village, so these guys were alone here. As we entered the room, the sight infront of us was unbelievable. The guy was watching an english news channel and on further inquiry explained that he is a graduate and plans to complete his B.Ed as well. It was too surprising to see an educated village boy at such a secluded place. The guy used to walk up 2 miles to get to the only mobile network range they had access to. It was an absolute eye opener for us. Can we ever imagine to live in such harsh conditions and still manage to be happy and be so helpful and generous. Today every one you meet cribs about what they don't have. Our desires have surpassed our means and we hardly bother about others. We are so bogged down in our daily lives that we hardly appreciate the things we have and the people who care for us - the things which actually matter. You may be thinking by now that this guy is another preachy bore! But the truth is - this incident and many more here in Spiti and all the other places which I have travelled, actually changed the way I look at my life. Every one of us struggle with the daily grind of our lives waiting for that big moment that we think will change our life – that high paying job, that promotion, that new house in a posh locality and so on. They come sometimes and sometimes they don’t. What ever the case be, in the process we often forget to appreciate the little moments of joy that we create for ourselves and others every day of our life. When you travel to places like Spiti, you get closer to yourself and your needs – both emotional and practical and you realise your true purpose. With the experiences that I have gained over a period of time, I firmly believe that every one can bring about a positive change in their lives by just being a regular traveller. I am not asking you to travel the entire year. Just two long trips in a year is good enough to start with. Here I have listed some of the changes that most people witness when they start their affair with travelling and I can guarantee you too will. A start is all it takes ! |
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