Traveling Cheap
So, this is a blurry picture (click on it and it’s bigger) of two lovely boys we met on the banks of the the Ganga in Rishikesh. They wanted to sell us flowers and fish food to put in the river — normally
I would have been embarrassed and somehow feel like I was a sucker, but they were sweet and I joked with them in Hindi as we discussed animal names and sounds in various languages. So I bought the items, talked to them about school (they apparently do this part time and i saw their parents) and vasi put the flowers in the water as I kibbitz with the kids. (I know im severely lacking pics now, so i threw this in) though I really wanted to discuss cheap travel, I’ll do that shortly.
So, despite splurging on fish food on the Ganga, and, by necessity eating every mel out, we managed to travel very cheaply. Most of the hotels we stayed at were under 3$ a night, and even restaurant food was under 3$ a day. (Granted “hotel” meant we had a room which we shared and a questionable bathroom, the sheets being of varying degrees of cleanliness, and definitely no AC. On the final days in Delhi we splurged for an Air Cooled (a big fan with water at the bottom) room that cost us each $12)w Of course there were incidentals and transportation costs, but even buses and jeeps were a few dollars. When I got the ashram I literally spent 25 cents a day on room, and about 1$ on food, but somehow there ended up buying more expensive clothes, a few gifts, phone calls and internet bills were probably my most expensive items.
Because i paid for nearly everything in cash, as opposed to the mindless swipe of the plastic which is so easy hear — i was much more aware of my spending. Why am i writing this entry? I think it’s because Im self-conscious that I’ve spent the last 5 months traveling, and annoyed at people who think you have to be rich to do so. Sure, it’s unusual that for 3 months in Thailand I only had to pay 350$ and the course was free, but there are a number of volunteer and work/stay opportunities abroad. In India too, I was fortunate to have some connections and experience to know where to stay etc, but even in the unknown areas, a few sacrifices of luxury and a little homework enabled a very economical “vacation”/adventure. Of course, i won’t pretend air fare was cheap. This trip it was the largest expense, but living at home for a few months prior and saving on rent more than made up for it (okay, some people’s parents in this country would never put up with such an arrangement– an ironic contrast to the Indians I met who, rather than seeing adult kids living at home as moochers, saw children who leave home as representing a fault in the culture that values friends above family, and children who are, ultimately disrespecting their parents –I have many acuantances who “cannot stand” their parents, and would rather pay $600/month on rent and complain about how poor they are and want to travel, then live at home for a few months. Back the the whole family structure discussion — it was funny cause the first family we stayed with essentially assumed, i think, that our parents were negligent or didn’t love us because they let Vasi and I travel “alone” (without a male) half way around the world. They said,
“Don’t your parents worry about you? Don’t you at least have a phone with you? Even our boys, if they are out, we call them and say ‘where are you? when will you be home’ just to make sure they are safe.”
Vasi and smiled and tried to politely explain that while we loved our parents, that was precisely the reason we did not get cell phones in INdia. Thus, while I felt trapped and oppressed by their definitions of family roles, I did agree that the general US push for independence at any cost is a bit overboard. I think (as I do on most issues between INdia and the US, like marriage) that some sort of hybrid is ideal. There they said that in their family if the children did not want to work they would just continue to live with and be supported by their parents indefinitely, which seems a bit extreme, but I certainly see their concern with our spread out, overly distanced families (did i mention Im moving to Ca? well, this is a theoretical blog i guess). But really, especially in terms of care for the elderly, our country’s habit of nursing homes is truly sick. I mean, are we so busy with jobs and our own children, that we don’t have time for our parents? Inevitably sending the same message to our kids that young are more important than old and setting up the cycle to continue.
Tags: India, Travel
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