Traditionally, women in Desi culture are discouraged from experiencing the world outside of their homes and families until they are married. This is something that was drilled into me as well. I had to get married in order to travel. Because of this, my husband and I made it a requirement for our relationship that we would take trips whenever possible.
In light of the fact that we are both working in the medical field and keeping extremely full academic schedules, we have traveled quite a bit. As much as we would have liked to, we had to put our social lives on hold in favor of our travels.
As much as I enjoy traveling with my spouse, our schedules do not always permit it, and I needed a getaway immediately. I decided to try something different and go on a trip by myself. I have been so reliant on my spouse to handle all of the planning and organization that I have crippled myself in that aspect.
So, I took off for New York City on my own. A speedy getaway to reclaim some of my lost independence and spend some quality time with only oneself for a few of days.
Here are a few things that I would suggest to have a smooth trip.
- Plan your travel dates properly by arranging for someone to drop you off and pick you up at the airport.
- Make sure you book your accommodation and flights in advance, but don’t do so too far in advance, especially if this would be your first time traveling. You don’t want to give yourself too much time to talk yourself out of going on your trip. I made my reservation for the trip ten days in advance.
- You should go into this journey with at least a rough plan of what you want to achieve from it. Do you wish to take it easy? Do you wish to take in the sights? Do you feel like you need to take a step back and give your mind a rest?
- Also, check that you have sufficient funds for the trip in case you need to make big purchases while you’re there. For me, Uber was an expense that I didn’t expect, and it was close to $200 from the airport to the hotel and back.
- Don’t forget all your essential travel items! Click here if you want a break down of some of the products I purchased off of Amazon for the trip!