Travel blogging after a while, and my head is just full of thoughts - why am I even writing this in the first place? Is it because I’ve simply ran out of content or just want to justify my lousy travel schedule in a year that I thought I would own. Per say, it’s none.
The fact that I have lost interest in travel is an absolutely invalid statement. In fact, this year, I perpetually travelled conscious and there are several reasons for it.
Jan 2024
A little over 6 months after I began to fly internationally again (resumed: June 2023), travelling back to Singapore after 4 years was an eye-opener. Walking along the serene coastline of Sentosa, I saw something that I never imagined I would - atleast in the world’s strictest country! Trash - that’s right! Trash on the beach!
Imagine that in Singapore? Unbelievable, right? My first thoughts too! But, this made me think of how uncaring we are of our surroundings. In Singapore, I would personally fear littering. But, is it just ‘cause of a S$500 fine? That is all? Isn’t it a part of the planet that I call home too? Nah, it’s not my country at the end of the day. But, how does that matter?
We, as tourists, often take multiple destinations and even travelling to them for granted. The fact that each plane ride we take increases carbon emissions by 1,600 kilograms is insane to imagine!
And guess what? This time, Jan in SG felt hotter than it ever has! At first, I thought my now Bangalorean soul is used to living in a midsummer night’s dream pleasure, but I was in for a blow by the city I had been calling home for the past two years very soon.
One thing about Singapore is their thirst for creating the greenest space in the world and that deserves to be lauded. The flowers and trees on the beach made it count!
P.S. Gardens by the bay has some new lavenders to check out. Do take a walk up to and visit during your next trip :)
Fresh blooms at Gardens By The Bay (SG City)
The cleaner side - there were plastic bottle here too :')
Shot At Sentosa Island
Feb-June 2024
My favourite place to live in India (atleast for the time being) but the garden city didn’t feel like it anymore. Starting mid-Feb, Bangalore wilted to change and I could feel it in every sense of the word.
The days were getting hotter, and the mornings cooler. I remember wearing a jacket to work (in which I would freeze mid-morning) but had to take it off at noon. Summer months came out to be worse with temperatures hitting 97⁰ F!
Nah, the weather gods aren’t angry - it is us who is responsible for this drastic shift. Can we not be a bit more mindful and turn the lights and fans off while stepping out? Might as well walk to work if it is withing 2.5 kms than take a car? Also, not make 200 e-copies of excels sheets and documents that we work with on a daily basis? Small changes but it could lead to an (un)cruel summer.
A mid-April hot summer evening (temp at 95⁰ F)
BLR (on the March day it touched 84⁰ F degrees :)
Also, trust me you don’t need to upgrade to that iPhone 16 just cuz your neighbour bought it. Take a pause and think what all of this might add up to.
July 2024
Now that had to be the bombshell highlight. I was visiting after about 6 years (for a wedding) and what I saw actually did make me sad. Puri, probably has the dirtiest beach in the whole country, to cut to chase.
Relatively cleaner path to the beach
From beer cans to poop, there’s hardly a thing you won’t find amidst the sand! And, mind you, these are done more by tourists than locals! And boy, was it chilly! The rains were heavier than usual which got both weather authorities and fishermen concerned over a looming cyclone (thankfully, none yet), but the state of affairs is what the state must desperately look into!
Those 48 hours had to be one to recall - and not cuz of the best things I experienced!
Jaipur (October 2024)
An impending one, which I would hop on to next week but I do hope to see good things in terms of tourist consciousness and climate to say the least :) meanwhile, let’s enjoy some photos that I took from my 2020 trip!
Jaipur in March 2020 (pandemic making its jolts felts)
9 am at Jaipur Palace (March 2020)
This year I indeed did travel a lot lesser (cuz I wanted to be -1 from that list of carbon emitters, primarily) but one intersecting factor amidst every place I went to is that I tried to be a better tourist.
Definitely might sound like a lot of lecture on but climate change is real and we can see that in every single place that we be at. It’s no longer about ‘I’m not causing it, why bother?’, it’s more of making others not to do it. I know we are stuck in this cycle of influencing certain lifestyle factors. Might as well be a good influence :)
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