An Idea
New York to Mumbai by Road
Present abode: Jersey City, New Jersey
Destination: Mumbai
Travel mode: By Road
"Is it even possible?" was my first reaction when Kunal my husband mentioned it to me one fine morning in November 2015. I knew Kunal can be adventurous and can come up with such unprecedented ideas, hence it was not surprising that he stated that.
Kunal mentioned that he wanted to do a road trip from New York to Mumbai. The plan was to fly to London and then drive across Europe - China and Nepal to India. It roughly means passing across 15 countries, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Russia,China (including lot of countries I was oblivious about).
I speculated it was just a random thought and it would pass off. But he looked very serious about it and confabulated the same after few days. "Kunal, I have learnt driving only in the past 6 months. I can not drive!" When I drive, I cannot handle any distractions. No loud talks, no music. Just eyes on the road. My co-passengers are always on the edge on the seat and sometimes praying to reach the destination safely. How am I to drive 10000+ miles?
"Driving is just one small part of the entire journey, there are many more challenges to overcome. You will be fine with driving. I have faith in you and you will be able to do it" was his riposte.
I moved to United States in Oct 2014. I was witnessing new culture, new people and was loving new experiences. I work as a physical therapist at a outpatient clinic in New York City. It is close to the United Nations offices, This gave me an opportunity to interact with people from different countries who worked for their respective embassies. Now I imagined traveling through more than 15 countries and meeting even more people. That should be fun I told myself.
The very idea of being an explorer, to be on the road without knowing what is going to happen next, idea of crossing land borders, meeting new people who speak different languages, experiencing different cultures, exploring different food, facing challenges, encountering different weather conditions, feeling the energy of every city, enjoying natural beauty, learning the history of a new place, appreciating varied architectures and looking towards something new every moment of the journey sounded exciting!
"May be then as I drive, I will learn it.
I am in."