Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Trips!!

Its been relatively long time since I wrote anything on my blog.. rather since I wrote anything at all. Well no particular reason, I fondly call it my 'writer's block'.. :D. But I miss writing a lot.
Since I cannot think of anything better to write about, I am going to write about places I have seen in the US of A.
Seriously, I am really too lucky to have gotten a chance to see around so much over here. Like my American friends tell me, most of them probably have not been around so much. Thats nice to know.
Thanks to my family, I am blessed with friends and relatives. My most recent visit was to Philadelphia. Already having seen most of the places in and around Philadelphia 2 years back, the only things I did in this visit were - eat, sleep, watch movies and most importantly and interestingly have loads and loads of discussions on many topics. Anyone who knows me knows that I love being in interesting conversations, I love talking and listening others talk. 7 hours back and forth of driving in the capital beltway traffic all alone in a mazda 6, was absolutely worth it!!
Totally contrast, was the trip to Great Smoky Mountains. Such an eventful 2 days. White water rafting was awesome experience. Its great to be almost at the level of water while you hit those rocks and get into those currents!! Too good.. And then hiking, with the fond memories of past like Sinhagad during rainy season or Phansad. We also got an experience of the term 'raining helter skelter' in these woods, it was raining so much that towards the end of it I was nauseous of water!!! But this was a great trip and I am extremely thankful to my friends who kinda forced me to go with them.
A month before this one was a 'road trip'. The road was - Richmond (I 64 W) to Pittsburgh (I 81 N) via West Virginia to Baltimore (I76/ I70) to Ocean City (US 50) to (US 13 to 'The' Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel) Richmond (I 64 W) to Washington DC (I 95 N) to Richmond (I 95 S). A little less than 1500 miles on road in 2 and half days. I would say this was my most impulsive, least planned and best executed till date. When we started out we did not have a specific plan in mind. We just knew we wanted to drive a lot, see different places and have funn and thats what we did alright!! But undoubted best part of the road was The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, 20 miles on ocean. Great places, great routes and great company... why would the trip not be fun!!
In between these, came small trips like shopping trip to Williamsburg, Smith Mountain Lake state park, NASA in Hampton VA, VA Beach on the 4th of July to watch fireworks. All this in just last 2 months.
Other than this, one of my best trips ever was last summer to Colorado. It is a beautiful state and Colorado Springs is awesome. I re-iterate, I am blessed with amazing friends. And then biggest and the coolest (or coldest) was December 2007 when aai and baba were here. Stillwater OK, Phili, Atlantic City, NY and my cousin's house (read palace) in Connecticut, Stalagmites and stalactites in VA... very cool trip. The valentine day trip... :P to York River State Park with my roomates and I am sure there are quite a few others that I am missing here.
Wow, I really do travel a lot!! But lot more to go... :P!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Lessons learnt!!

I am re-re-iterating that I have learnt many things since I came to Richmond and became independent!! In this blog, I am just trying to list the top 10 lessons I learnt (Random order)
Lesson # 1 - It is very important to understand the value of every person in your life; its harmful to under-value or over-value anyone!!
Lesson # 2 - Always follow the gut feeling, sometimes rationales come later!!
Lesson # 3 - Using intelligence and creativity in constructive manner earns more, than using it to laugh at others!!
Lesson # 4 - Self obsession is the name of the game!!
Lesson # 5 - You have to have faith in yourself, before others start having it.. :)!!
Lesson # 6 - People play games all the time - you can be a player but the one, who has control over retiring from the game!!
Lesson # 7 - Everything and everyone is bound to change, you are not an exception!!
Lesson # 8 - Its ok to rely on few people at few occasions, never depend on anyone!!
Lesson # 9 - Sincerity does pay back!!
Lesson # 10 (most important) - If your values are strong, the storms in life won't cause fatal destruction!!