Hello from Mumbai! We took a twenty-hour bus ride to get here from Hampi. Fortunately we arranged to travel on a sleeper bus and slept most of the way but even on the non-AC bus it was very cold. Hampi's ancient temples and stone chariots were amazing to see but my favorite part was the friendly school children on field trips. They all wanted to have a photo with us and ask us, "What is your name? What is your country?"
During our nearly two weeks on the beaches of Goa, we walked on the sand of eight of them from Palolem, to Arambol, Anjuna, Baga, Calgute, Candolim, Mandrem, and Vagator. Seems like a children's A to Z of beaches! I loved Anjuna and Palolem the best. At low tide in Palolem, you can walk from one beach to an island near by and the paragliding at Anjuna looked great but we did not try it yet!
Even though India is a big country (we have clocked over 125 hours on buses and trains), the backpacker trail can be smallish. We got to see our friends from Argentina, Marie and Augustina for the sixth time on New Years Day on the beach in Arambol: seen in Kanyakumari, Kovalum, Varkala, Allepey, Gokarna (for xmas bfast), and Arambol. We have been fortunate to meet incredible travelers in India who have shared stories, train rides and ideas of what to do next.
During all of my travels and teaching, I have always written in a journal and written letters but now I also write articles that get published. 2012 has been the year of media for me with an appearance on National Television, a photo shoot for a National Magazine and a recent article in National Geographic! I loved it when my bio for National Geographic Intelligent Traveler called me a "Travel Writer."
For our next project, we have a Travel Writing Contest on our site. This competition has Free Entry, Cash Prizes, and a raffle with travel literature from incredible published authors. Our theme is Inspiration: A Place You Love. So many people have asked me how to get started with a website or writing, my suggestion is to join in our contest and get your work out into cyberspace! Let us share your stories with our growing Global Village.
I hope all of your dreams and goals come true in 2013! Start today by joining our contest-send your article to us by February 14! All the details are available at
http://www.wesaidgotravel.com/writing-contest
Thank you to everyone who has shared our journey literally on the road with us or by reading and commenting on our newsletter and website! Lisa and George (Click here to sign up for this newsletter. )
ps. we are now in NIshak--there is no wifi, the internet cafe is closing in 5 min so not so many article links in this newsletter!
