It is a beautiful, sunny and humid morning in Toronto and I will be leaving for India in two days!

I think it is about time to get the suitcase (s) out and decide what I will need. The challenges of packing for seven weeks travel with varied weight restrictions, wildly different weather conditions and social situations are fun. Well sort of…. My trouble is, I think I veer wildly between wanting to be prepared for everything – which necessitates taking everything or flying by the seat of my pants and winging it with a small duffle bag. I have visions of either Victorian travel kits with padded boxes for every clever thing or somehow looking perfectly bohemian pulling one shirt or skirt out of a bag, flinging my long hair over my shoulder and striding off!

Neither of which is actually me or doable.

It does however remind me of one of the reasons I love to travel. The sheer romance of it all; oh I know that travel these days is NOT romantic and in fact is downright tedious, boring and dangerous at times. But it is that ineffable ability to capture our attention, stimulate the imagination, encourage self-knowledge and inspire the creative that lures me in every time, and that is what I consider romantic. It truly is my romance with life.

So I shall take the middle road, pack the absolute necessities – which can be pretty comprehensive what with computers and cameras, and leave myself lots of room in those suitcases to add things which capture me as I go along.

I hope to write often, bearing in mind the vagaries of Indian internet and my own talents. Please feel free to comment – it keeps me connected to home.

Kim