I’m sure you’ve already heard that India is an overpowering place. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and any other S-words that could continue that alliteration. The entire country is alive and breathes with this incredible vitality, even in its darkest parts. But I am nowhere near a good enough writer to convey the complex contradictions and inherent truths that are evident all around you when you see India for the first time. So here are some things to keep in mind if you find yourself stepping off the plane onto the sub-continent.

A Market in Jaipur

There really are over a billion people in India. People are packed in everywhere and, subsequently, you won’t enjoy the same amount of personal space as you’re used to. This can be uncomfortable, especially for females, and I won’t say it’s some culture thing you should experience, it’s just a fact of life in India. The other big culture shock is the poverty and the visible squaller some people are living in. While India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the distribution of wealth and the standard of living are just not what Westerners are used to. And yet despite the garbage, filth, and poverty that some Indians endure, every person I know who has been there sees it as one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I don’t know how to explain India’s beauty any other way except that it is a type beauty that doesn’t exist in the developed world. It is purely organic and brutally honest. The beauty of India is not in it’s perfection, but rather in all it’s imperfections and the juxtaposition of life and death, the ripe and the rotted, the sacred and the profane, and it is all presented simultaneously. Exploring India has been one of the most engaging, challenging, and spectacular experiences of my life, the country presents life unedited, and I love it.

I’m all about traveling around the world just to see a building or painting – I’m a sucker for art like that. I fell in love with art in high school and I haven’t kicked the habit yet, hopefully I never do.
Consequently, seeing the Taj Mahal has always been a dream of mine, it is regarded as one of the world’s most architecturally perfect buildings and I was always told that the first sight of it would stick with you forever. Let me say this, it doesn’t disappoint. The Taj left me speechless.