To be honest, this newsletter was supposed to be written and sent from Himachal, but one cannot go against nature’s will. And when we do, through over-development and careless expansion in the mountains, disasters occur. The past week had been sad and scary, hearing the devastating news of landslides and floods in the Himalayas. I had been following @abhiandnnow’s updates through posts and stories on Instagram, and based on suggestions from friends and family, I thought it was best to postpone the plan to travel in Himachal till things get slightly better.
As much as I tried to make this informed decision in a mature way, I still found myself drowning in the dismay of the uncertainty of my travel plans, as I was really looking forward to my first long-term travel as a nomad post quitting my job. But such hiccups, right at the very beginning, are proof that things can never go exactly according to your plans and travel is just one aspect of it. Hopefully, I’ll evolve as a person to adapt to these kinds of sudden changes slowly.
But as things go unplanned, amazingly beautiful things can happen too. Amid this mess, I took a short weekend trip to Pune to catch up with a few friends. We went for a drive around Malshej Ghat and a short hike to Kalu Waterfall on the way (which is famous for flowing upwards due to winds). Though we couldn’t catch the waterfall flowing upwards, the sight of the Sahyadris still took my breath away. It was my first time witnessing the hills of the Sahyadri range so up close, and the light drizzles and monsoon made it even better.
Take a right turn a little ahead from a beautiful lake property, Saj by the Lake. Roll down your window, feel the cold wind brushing against your face while your eyes stay fixed on the captivating greenery all around. You’ll find yourself on a bumpy ride for a few minutes before you reach the starting point of the hike.
If you take a local guide, well, it’d be perfect. But if you trust your friend’s navigation skills and their memory of the path they took the last time, you’ll probably end up on a longer path filled with adventures - crossing rivers, ruining your shoes in deep mud, and wandering a little more before you reach the viewpoint of the waterfall, only to realise they had hyped it up a bit too much. But trust me, all this madness will be worth it because of the views all around and the sweet, short hike.
Well, I came back to my hometown post the weekend and celebrated Rakhi with family. It was fun, but amid these breaks, procrastination slowly crept in and I lost my will to go to the gym and work out, wrote less (almost nothing), and created too little. It’s like a short break that stretched into a whole life, and I think the more you stretch it, the easier it is to break your creative streak, especially now, as there are no boundaries or systems to hold myself accountable.
I talked about trying to build routines in my last newsletter, but with time I feel it is more important to hold onto them because restarting seems to have more friction than starting altogether.
On outgrowing spaces
When I moved out from Bangalore and shifted to my hometown in Madhya Pradesh, the packed boxes with my life of three years reached earlier than me (thanks to India Post haha) while I stayed a little longer to spend time with my friends. But since then, for over a month now, they had been lying in different corners of my parent’s home, waiting for someone to open them.
And while my brother did try to open and see what all was there in the boxes, I’m sure he too was overwhelmed looking at the copious amount of random stuff and left them as they were. When I came back, I saw them every day as I climbed the stairs up and down from my room, quietly passing by so they didn’t stare back at me to unpack themselves and let go of their responsibility to take care of my belongings. But I kept ignoring them until last night when I was compelled to sort out a few clothes to take for my next travel. And once I began, there was no going back until it was complete.
So I gave in to the pressure - beat the friction threshold, rearranged everything, pulled an all-nighter while passively watching a series to keep me distracted till I unpacked, and finally sat on the bed gazing at the wardrobe and the room that couldn’t hold my belongings any longer. They say when you move out of your hometown, you outgrow your old self, but little did I know how much even the most random things you own can make you realise how much you’ve outgrown your space, your home, and the people around you over the years.
And I kept my extra baggage in suitcases (both literally and figuratively) and packed my backpack minimally (so unlike me) for another month-long trip away from home. I’m leaving to explore a part of India I’ve never been to and I’m both excited and nervous because it is a mix of experiential and adventurous experiences.
I can’t wait to share more about it in the next few newsletters. So while you wait for the next story, send words of support (or guess where I’m headed next?) - it means a lot!
Love & Strength,
Nimisha
Uncertainty in the only certainty as they say…keep going 🥳
So relatable! I really like how you deal with sudden change of plans and put everything into words :)