The Contradiction that is Central America

I was recently in Central America with Overseas AdventureTravel on their trip, Route of the Maya. This is a wonderful trip for anyone wanting to explore Central America for the first time. For me however, it was my fourth time back there, and my goal was to finish seeing the rest of the Central American countries I had not seen. It was a surprise to me that they felt complemented that I wanted to return. They are a kind and gracious people, so if they were complemented in this way, I was more than happy to oblige. 

Solo Travel: The Mystical, Magical, Musical Soul of India

I am the sort of person who has a smile on my face standing in the TSA line at LAX.  I never underestimate that which always makes me feel this happy. Most recently, it was on the way to Singapore, as part of a 5 week solo journey which included the Overseas Adventure Travel Soul of India trip.

Celebrate Cultural Connections: Women Preserving their Heritage

Photos: Jann Segal

I observe when I travel. It is part of my sightseeing experience, but more often part of my post –trip reflections. I have felt the tears of history in Vietnam; observed how clotheslines can reflect how an entire society lives all over the world, and very particularly in India; and beyond doubt, how women preserve their culture and heritage worldwide. I am sure that men participate somehow along the line, but it seems that the role of women is more prominent. Performing small acts or rituals to preserve cultural heritage is truly something to celebrate no matter the culture. For an understanding of different cultures makes us richer. Many countries have women’s cooperatives where this activity is nourished, and the women are afforded a livelihood as well.  As it turns out, the countries where I have observed this most prominently were countries I also wanted to return. In two cases, these were countries I visited on an independent trip and later returned with Overseas Adventure Travels. In the case of India, I took an OAT trip there to two separate regions, but also included independent travel.  In all cases, the way the women preserved their heritage was unmistakable.

Visit Southern India’s Temples and Behold the Excellency of Life in Tamil Nadu

Photos: Jann Segal

I recently took a tour of Southern India, and one of  the highlights was seeing the magnificent temples. India is known for them, and while the southern Indian temples look alike on the outside with a large base that gets steeper as the temple reaches skyward, the experience inside the temples could not have been more unique. I traveled alone for some of the trip, and the rest was the Overseas Adventure Travels trip, Soul of India. And this trip truly feeds your soul.

Visit India during Festival Season

I was fortunate enough to visit Southern India during their festival season in January of this year. I took the trip with Overseas Adventure Travel, but added two additional weeks in India by myself. I had no idea this would allow me even more festival time to enjoy when I planned the trip, but it turned out to be wonderful.

The group was in the state of Tamil Nadu during their their annual Pongal festival, which is a harvest festival. The festival is timed each year around the lunar calendar. On the f first day of the festival, the people burn belongings that they no longer need and cant give to charity. So the air is filled with quite a bit of smoke the first day. The people get up as early as four in the mooring to begin this ritual, and smoke cans be seen throughout the entire day.

Photos: Jann Segal

The second day of the festival, the people present a bowl of the Pongal (rice and milk blended together what other ingredients as well if desired) to the sun god in an earthen pot and place it outside their homes as an offering. They also create large and colorful designs outside their homes with lime powder known as Kollams. The colorful designs remain throughout the duration of the four days and typically until a rain washes them away afterwards. They are one of the foremost symbols of the Pongal festival, and for travelers, they are photographic delight of color.

Explore Clotheslines in Southern India

Photos: Jann Segal

I am always fascinated by clotheslines when I travel .So intrigued in fact, that I wrote an article called Clotheslines, and as I perused my photos for trips I have taken around the world, I identified all the different types of clotheslines I had observed, and what they were used for.

Visit India’s Karela Backwaters for a Look at Rural Life

I was on the Overseas Adventure Travels trip to southern India called Soul of India in January this year. One of the highlights of this newly revised tip was spending two nights on a houseboat on the backwaters of the Southern state of Karela. And to use an Indian parlance that I noticed on my trip, where something can be “like X, but not X," I noticed the backwaters ware like the Amazon, but not like the Amazon.  We left the spice plantation where we stayed in Thekkady near Perriyar National Park, drove through the verdant tea and rubber plantations, and arrived at our houseboat in Alleppey after first stopping to see the “loo with a view.”

Visit Southern India for a Multitude of Blessings

Photo: Jann Segal

I was in Southern India with Overseas Adventure Travels for two weeks this year, and added an additional two weeks on my own afterwards. Their Southern India trip, Soul of India, is rich with the culture and natural beauty that typifies soulful southern India. It was truly inspiring to be in a country with such religious and ethnic diversity. And even during troubled times, their diversity and religious freedom is part of their law, embedded in their constitution. So while Hinduism is a dominant religion there, so is Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkim, and Christianity, Judaism had seedlings there as well, with many in the large Jewish population playing an important part in the spice and tea trades of the South before the people moved on as part of their own diaspora. Aside from the religious diversity, the Indian people there speak over 137 languages, and have over 3,000 casts and sub-casts!

Visit Iceland in the Fall and Enjoy Northern Lights and John Lennon Peace Tower

Iceland in the fall has some great things to see that cannot be seen in the summer, all having to do with lights. To two that you want to take in are the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and the John Lennon Peace Tower. I was on the Overseas Adventure Travel trip, Untamed Iceland, in October 2016. In addition to seeing the fall colors, these two “light shows” were high on my Iceland to-do list. I did not return home disappointed.