Preparations

In 5 days I begin a six month adventure in India. It will be a mix of studying at Pune University and hopefully tons of travel along the way. It's hard to believe this trip has all come together. For several years I have working towards this opportunity to live abroad, desperately trying to satisfy my ever increasing wanderlust! India was one of my top choices, and it's crazy to think that it is all about to happen. 

There are too many things to list, but a few things I am hoping to accomplish over the next six months, not in any particular order:

- Visit the ruins of Vijayanagra in Hampi
- Roughly half of India are vegetarians, which makes me a happy guy! I plan to eat as much delicious veg food as physically possible!

- Travel up to Leh, Ladakh and do some hiking and visit the Tibetan villages
- Experience a 20 hour train trip

- Explore as much of Pune as possible including the hill stations around the area

- Figure out the "A" and "C" form registration process without getting fined

- Drive an auto-rickshaw

- The best travel moments are usually unplanned, so hopefully experience as many of these as possible

Over the last few years i've really come to love travel blogs. I find they are a great way to escape every day life and work, and generally gets me amped up for future travel adventures. One of the best blogs and overall travel journeys I have come across can be found at http://www.thebigafricacycle.com/ I hope that my blog will be of interest to friends and family or whoever else wants to follow. I plan to write about interesting things I learn about along the way from the graduate course I will be taking, my travel adventures, and hilarious and embarrassing stories that are likely to follow very shortly.

I'm starting to pack, the goal is to bring the least amount as possible and fit everything in my MEC backpack. So far so good...although I haven't actually attempted to pack this stuff yet, but it looks like it will fit!