Tag Archives: Ishq In A Backpack
Travelogue Hawaii: Deciding to Go (Sona)
Hawaii was never at the top of travel list. In fact, I don’t think it even made the top ten. Or the top twenty. I think the same holds true for Navdeep. So why are we headed there for two weeks of our hard-earned winter break?
Here’s the thing: every break, we pretty much plan to go to California. Since Kavya was born, and even before then, really, we wanted to make sure we got to spend some quality time with Navdeep’s parents and sister in California — especially as the family expanded to include little Seerit and Joshvir. But this curtails our ability to travel elsewhere. So we had the brilliant idea that we should go somewhere else — and that Navdeep’s parents should simply meet us there.
At first we thought Alaska. But given the Winter scheduling of the trip, it didn’t seem like it would be all that fun to go there right now. So then we said, let’s pick somewhere warm and exotic and closer to California, somewhere that would allow us to explore and enjoy each other’s company without over-stressing or renewing our (missing or expired) passports even. Somewhere where Kavya could have quality time with her grandparents in a leisurely fashion. Somewhere, after all of those requirements, that wouldn’t be boring.
And none of us had ever been to Hawaii, so that became an option. It was big, it was warm, it was technically American soil, it had beaches and culture and even active volcanos. Initially, we booked just four days in Waikiki Beach via a time share. THen my mom decided she’d join us. And paying $1100 a ticket for four days on the beach didn’t make sense, so we decided to add an island or two. This is a BIG family trip. Over the course of six months of planning, we added ten days, two more islands, four additional family members and a whole lot of adventure. In the end, it was 14 days on three islands with eight adults and one toddler.
Essentially, it’s a big bonding experience for us all. Not a single one of us have ever been to Hawaii. None of us have ever seen an active volcano, either, so that should be a big highlight of the trip, too. There’s plenty of adventure on the agenda: the windy and beautiful Road to Hana, underwater helmet-diving in Waikiki, a five a.m. lava boat tour. But another big highlight should be just chilling on the beach and enjoying each other’s company. Because we need that family time. My family of five — my parents, my brother, my sister and I — haven’t been on a trip all together since we went to Mexico a decade ago when I was in college. Navdeep’s parents and mine have never traveled together — Kavya’s going to be overwhelmed with grandparental love and hugs, not to mention kisses and cuddles from Tarun Mamu and Meena Masi.
All in all, Hawaii is a family adventure I’m really looking forward to — as much as it surprises me to say it. This time around, though, it’s not so much the place as it is the people I’ll be traveling with that make the trip worthwhile.
Musings: The Six Oddest Places We Slept in India
Imagine waking up to this view everyday!
Traveling in India for six months, we had our fair share of odd experiences — but the most interesting seemed to be when it was time to rest our weary heads. From bumpy buses and crowded trains to a thatched hut on the beach, here’s a round-up of the six oddest places we slept in India.
The Beach Hut In Goa
Honestly, it was as awesome as it sounds. A thatched-roof hut with poles sunk into the warm beach sand. It contained just a bed and a chair and a functioning, American-style bathroom (very necessary). As soon as we stepped outside, we could see, smell, and even taste the ocean! It was perfect for lounging, swimming or having a casual, Goan Feni-soaked afternoon. Dinnertime was a candlelit meal of fresh seafood and locally grown veggies, a picnic right there on the sand. It was the first time we discovered, even dinner could be haggled for! (And breakfast was chocolate corn flakes for Navdeep. But only once. Turns out, it was regular old corn flakes with chocolate syrup on them! Ew!) Can’t wait to come back.
The Tree House In Periyar
We may have missed the elephants and tigers and bears on our safari in Periyar, but the three nights we spent camping out in the treehouse at Carmelia Haven made the trek worth it. It was amazing — an actual tiny little one-room house in a tree, with little windows overlooking the garden, and a giant bed taking up most of the space. Sure, we didn’t have our own bathroom and it wasn’t nestled in the middle of the forest, as some within the grounds of the conservation area were, but it was a unique and amazing experience just the same.
The Barracks at the Golden Temple
We have family in Amritsar, so we didn’t really need other accommodations there. But once we learned that you could actually stay at the Golden Temple, we had to experience it for ourselves. So, we showed up in our Indian attire at the reservations booth and Navdeep asked for a room in Punjabi. We were given one, sure, but it was not quite what I was expecting. It was dormitory style without lockers, and squat toilets. Shared squat toilets. I saw a rat scurrying about and looked pleadingly at Navdeep. Did I mention that we were there for my birthday? Navdeep took pity on me (not that he had much choice), and we gave it another go. This time, we dressed as backpackers, him in jeans and T-shirt, me in a long flowy skirt and we both wore bandanas. We were immediately given another room, this time a large, airy suite with a private bath and balcony. All for 50 rupees a night! And right at the foot of the Golden Temple. It was an absolutely magical experience.
The Beach-Front Cottage In Puri
We were only in Puri for one day — we stayed there overnight when was stopped to see the amazing Sun Temple in Konark Bhubaneshwar, which is intricately carved with poses straight out of the Kama Sutra. Once we arrived at the lovely, airy, immaculately-kept Z hotel, a old, rambling palace, we wished we’d given ourselves more time in the area. We wandered the storied beach at the Bay of Bengal before settling into our, which was huge and breezy, with a four-poster bed and a view of the sea. One point to note, though: this is a tourist hotel, which means when we called to reserve a room and spoke in Hindi, there was no availability. However, when I called five minutes later and spoke in English, with a clear American accent, suddenly a room was available. Go figure.
The Bumpy, Stinky, Squishy Bus to Jamu-Kashmir
If you think sleeping on a plane is rough, you’ve clearly never tried 0vernighting it on a non-deluxe bus in India. We spent 15 hours stuffed into a 15-inch two-seater on a shock absorber-less clunker that sputtered more than 1000 miles from Pathankot into Kashmir. The bus — on which I was the only female — made an unexplained late-night stop for several hours in the middle of a bridge, with water on either side of us. And there was no bathroom, so, I awoke from one fitless stretch of sleep to several men, lined up in a row outside my window, peeing on the bus. That’s right, on the bus. Fun times. Later, of course, we learned that the equivalent flight would have cost a mere $50 and run 90-minutes. So obviously, we winged it back to New Delhi.
The Houseboat in Kashmir
The houseboat experience in Srinagar, Kashmir, was amazing — though very different from the one we had in Kerala. This was more like a literal home on a boat, one that was docked at one edge of Dal Lake. It had a real bedroom, dining room (complete with china cabinet), terrace, the works. We stayed for four nights and enjoyed traditional Kashmiri curries and biryanis, lounged on the terrace as salesmen on shikaras floated by with their wares, and watched locals row by in their shikaras, going about their business, selling veggies, shawls, or heading off to school.
Weekend Honeymoon: Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Looking for a quick, romantic getaway? With its sparkling lights, posh dining and worthy sites galore, Las Vegas is a sure bet for romance – especially if you want to tie the knot or renew your vows. In fact, Navdeep and I got married there (before the big, fat Desi wedding), so for us, it’s a super-special weekend honeymoon destination.
Friday 1 p.m. Settling In
Considering that United did not bother feeding us on the eight-hour trip west, we were famished when we got to Sin City’s McCarran airport. However, we restrained ourselves from diving into the nearest Burger King.
Instead, we checked into our lovely room ($110 per night, plus tax) at the Egyptian-themed Luxor, complete with a view of the Sphinx’s bum. The room was in the grand pyramid of the Luxor, which sits primly on the North end of the iconic Vegas Strip. Not as posh as some of the grander hotels – the Bellagio and the Venetian will set you back $250 or more – it was a comfortable, if slightly outdated space.
2 p.m. Fueling Up
After settling in, we were famished. We decided to grab a snack while hitting some of the Sin City sites, so we nabbed bargain-priced 24-hour pass ($10 for two) for the Deuce bus, a double-decker monster that runs up and down the Strip every ten minutes or so. We hopped on and rode over to Caesar’s Palace, where we plopped ourselves down for a leisurely coffee break at Bobby Flay’s understated-yet-colorful Mesa Grill. Sipping (skim!) cappuccino, we devoured a divine chocolate espresso layer cake complemented by crunchy pieces of toffee and a rich caramel sauce ($22.50). The caffeine and chocolate were just what we need to get us through the afternoon – especially because shopping was on the agenda!
3 p.m. Forum Fun (Or Not)
Post-snack, we strolled through the Caesar’s Forum Shops, stopping to watch the talking statues, which were reminiscent of those rockin’ animals at Chuck-E-Cheese that always scare the little kids. Creepy!
After hitting the Houdini store (uber-creepy!), we made brief pit stops at Juicy Couture, Anthropologie and Intermix before Navdeep got really bored, so we decided to head out for a long walk up to the South Strip.
4 p.m. Sky High
We stopped briefly to admire the Stratosphere, which floats above the strip skyline like a spaceship paused to ponder before making its landing.
Across from the Strat is the Hollywood Wedding Chapel, where Navdeep and I tied the knot three years ago. We didn’t go inside, but instead admired it from afar as we recalled our first big adventure in Vegas.
6 p.m. Ultra-Lux
For dinner, we skipped the Cheesecake Factory and instead headed to the Venetian, on a mission to find Cheesecake’s slightly more upscale cousin, The Grand Lux Café, which my sister Meena had been raving about for months.
Once there, we ravaged the warm sourdough and pumpernickel bread, then settled in for hearty (read: bigger-than-our-heads!) portions of chicken marsala and chicken pot pie. Dessert was a light, flaky strawberry shortcake topped with a dollop of pillowy whipped cream ($60 for two).
8 p.m. Getting Into the Spirit
After polishing off that meal, we could hardly move. Lucky for us, we didn’t have far to go. We scored prime seats – row D! – at the Venetian’s rendition of the Phantom of the Opera ($180 for two – search online for discount deals), complete with giant falling chandelier. This is definitely a date musical – there’s all the jumpy cuddliness caused by the horrifying theatrics, but it’s also quite a weeper. The play’s anti-hero, the aforementioned Phantom, is truly a tragic character, and his sorrow leaves you reeling just a bit at the end.
On the walk back, we strolled hand-in-hand through St. Mark’s Square at the Venetian, where it was still a balmy, blue-skied Italian afternoon, despite being way past midnight PST.
Saturday 8 a.m. Love and (Hot) Chocolate
The next morning, we arose bright and early and went on an early morning walk down the strip to the Venetian, where we fueled up on coffee cake and hot cocoa ($10) at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – one of only two I’ve ever seen outside of California. The other, which we also visited, is at the Miracle Mile Mall, which is nestled into the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. Coffee Bean, FYI, kicks Starbucks’ ass.
9 a.m. Charge!
We hopped the Deuce again to head to the Premium Outlet Mall, located 20 minutes off the Strip. Save cab cash (the more to shop with!) and transfer from the Deuce to the108 bus (you can use your Deuce pass), which stops right in front of the outlets! The Must List: Juicy Couture, Dooney & Bourke, and D&G, where we nearly scored some couture trousers for Navdeep for $30. Alas, they were too big. But I picked up a lovely pink Juicy bowler bag for 70 percent off. We also got Navdeep some wool fancy pants for $40 at the Banana Republic outlet.
1 p.m. Fat Saturday
After a killer morning of browsing and shopping – Navdeep enjoyed the Bose store and free samples at Godiva – it was time to get our buffet on! We decided to hit the ravishing Rio ($26 each), which has long been heralded as the best in Vegas. And it lives up to its rep, with an expansive selection of freshly prepped, piping hot pizza, burgers, seafood and a dessert case out of my dreams, complete with miniature crème brulee and chocolate mousse.
3 p.m. A Romantic Stroll
Stuffed, we waddled back to our hotel, strolling on the way through the colorful botanical gardens at the Bellagio, where we also caught the hourly dancing fountains show. We also hit MGM, where we watched caregivers massage the caged lions, and as the sunset, paused to ponder the lovely half-scale Eiffel Tower at Paris, Paris.
6 p.m. Italian Rendezvous
Back at the Luxor, we plunked down a few dollars at the slots, then got gussied up to go check out a few Vegas hotspots. First up, dinner at Canaletto’s, refined Italian set on the canals of the Venetian – and uber-romantic. We watched couples float by in their gondolas as we shared the bruschetta calda, followed by Fegato alla Venetzia (calf’s liver!) for Navdeep and a tamer risotto con secoe e funghi for me. ($65 for two, no wine.)
9 p.m. Drinking and Dancing
We stopped for a quick jello shot – with whipped cream – at Fat Tuesday’s. Then we headed to Mandalay Bay’s Minus Five, the only ice chamber club in the United States – where the eerie blue-lit room is set a literal minus-five degrees, prime vodka-consuming weather. But as we sipped our vodka cranberries and martinis, we were decked out in club-provided thermal coats and gloves, which made balancing our spirits quite precarious.
Post-drinks, we headed to the posh-but-squishy, ultra-exclusive Bank, a club at the Bellagio that is frequented by celeb-types, although we didn’t see any that evening. We danced for a few hours, but the music is not up to par here – we’d probably have had a better time at good ole’ Polyester’s on the other side of the strip.
Sunday 1 a.m. Cheap Date
Hungry again post-clubbing, we found a 24-hour Mickey D’s at our hotel and celebrated our last night in Vegas with some chicken nuggets, fries and a Big Mac. Dessert was Swensen’s ice cream – Rocky Road for Navdeep, and chocolate chip with sprinkles for me.
5:30 a.m. Egyptian Sunrise
Bright and early the next morning, Navdeep and I watched the sunrise from the picture window in our room, then played a few more slots for good luck. And we used the $12 bucks we won to pay for the cab ride back to McCarran airport. All in all, Vegas is a sure bet for romance.
Getting There
Bargains abound when you’re headed to Sin City. Non-stop flights from New York start at $300 and most major airlines can get you gambling in about five hours.
Where to Stay
Weekdays in Sin City mean hotel steals, with even smack-dab-on-the-Strip properties available under $60 a night – try Bally’s or Planet Hollywood, which is home to the expansive Spice Market Buffet, for mid-level comfort. Feeling flush? Aim high at the Venetian (starting at $150) or the Bellagio ($200 and up). Note that weekend stays will mean higher prices all around.
Travelogue California: The World’s Largest Gingerbread House in San Francisco?
We had all of two days to spend in San Francisco with my parents-in-law, and for some reason, I was stuck on seeing this two-story gingerbread house — made of real gingerbread, of course — at the Fairmont Hotel. So everyone decided to indulge me. (This isn’t so surprising, by the way.)
To capture the essence of San Francisco, our mission — and we all chose to accept it — was to abandon our car and navigate the hills and curves of the city by the bay completely on foot. Surprisingly, we more than managed (despite the stroller!) and we didn’t get lost. Not even once.
It turns out that getting to the aforementioned gingerbread house, though, was quite a hike. We started out from our hotel — the lovely Tuscan Inn, which hosts an evening wine reception and offers freshly brewed a.m. coffee — at the Fisherman’s Wharf, and headed west. Which turned out to be straight upward for more than a mile. Great exercise, yes, but not super-fun when you’re pushing a ten-month-old in a rickety stroller.
In any case, the trek itself was fun. Along the way, we stopped in North Beach for croissants and cappuccinos on Columbus Avenue. Then we paused for a break — which we certainly needed by then — at the Cable Car Museum (free!). The museum itself was fascinating — it showed the working gears of all three cable car lines, along with restored cars from the 19th century. There was a short documentary film, and photographs of the city before and after the great earthquake and fire of 1906.
The museum, it turned out, was only a few blocks from the Fairmont, but we didn’t realize that because of the giant hill in front of us. We huffed and puffed our way to the stately old building, which has been standing between California and Sacramento streets since 1907 — a year after the fire.
Eat this Page: Aloo Paratha (whole wheat Indian flatbread)
Parathas are whole-wheat Indian flatbread that can be as healthy as you want them to be. You ca eat them plain, or stuffed, for breakfast or lunch. This recipe uses our favorite filling – aloo (potato) – with a much healthier adaptation from expert paratha maker, Binder Bhua, Navdeep’s aunt in Punjab. She is very Punjabi, so doesn’t understand the concept of “no ghee” and finds the idea of a dry parantha unfathomable, hence the glistening parantha in the photo above.
PREP COOK SERVES
30 minutes 20 minutes 6 parathas
POTATO STUFFING
2-3 medium potatoes (1 lb or so)
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
1 or 2 cloves of smashed garlic, if desired
1 teaspoon ajwain (caroway seeds)
½ to 1 teaspoon lal mirch (cayenne powder)
½ teaspoon salt
1 or more green chillies, to taste
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera), ground
½ teaspoon dhania (cilantro/coriander), ground
½ teaspoon anar dana, ground
DOUGH
4 cups of wheat flour, sifted
additional flour for dusting
water, as needed, to knead flour into a firm, but pliable dough
rolling pin
flat floured surface
EQUIPMENT
tava or griddle pan
ghee (clarified butter) for frying and topping; for a healthier option, use olive oil. You can also use butter.
Thick Indian style plain yogurt for dipping
aam ka achar (mango pickle)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large bowl, mix sifted flour with water, adding a few drops at a time and kneading the mixture until a firm but pliable dough forms. When you have a large, smooth round, cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate for at least half an hour. This process can be done ahead of time as long as the dough is covered and refrigerated.
2. Peel and boil one pound of potatoes (2-3 medium sized) until soft but not mushy. Let cool.
3. Finely dice onion, chilies, and ginger. Add garlic if desired.
4. In a small pan, dry roast jeera (cumin seeds) until it turns black. Grind jeera, anar dana and dhania (cilantro/coriander) into a fine powder.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, mix pototoes, onions, chilies, ginger, garlic, salt, lal mirch (cayenne), jeera (cumin), anar dana, and dhania (cilantro/coriander) until well-blended and of smooth consistency.
6. Remove dough from fridge. Form pedas, which are small, two-inch rounds. Lightly flour each peda.
7. Take a peda and flatten edges with the palm of your hand, until a three-inch disc is formed. Flour both sides of disc, then lay on flat, floured surface. Roll out peda into a four-inch round disc.
8. Add two heaping teaspoons of potato stuffing to the center of the disc. Fold in edges to close around potato mixture, ensuring there are no leaks.
9. Using the rolling pin, carefully roll the stuffed peda out into a six inch round, dusting with flour on both sides to prevent sticking.
10. Heat tava or griddle pan to medium heat. Carefully flipped rolled six-inch parantha on to the hot pan. Cook for one minute, then flip and cook for one minute on the other side. Add a dollop of ghee or butter to the top of paranta, spreading over the surface of the bread. Flip again. Enjoy the sizzle as it browns. Add ghee or butter to the other side, spreading over surface. Flip and brown this side. When both sides are crispy and golden with brown spots, your parantha is ready.
Repeat process for each peda until you a have a hearty stack.
Serve hot off the tava with dahi (thick Indian yogurt) and aam ka achar (mango pickle) for dipping and wash it all down with Sona’s special adraki chai.
Eat This Page: Sona’s Special Adraki Chai Recipe
Everyone’s chai recipe is different—but I like to think mine is special. So here, without further ado, is my super-secret, much-coveted recipe. My Kadak Adraki Chai combines the kick of ginger with the mellow flavors of fennel and cardamom. And I like my tea strong (or kadak in Hindi)—so add more milk and less tea for a milder chai.
PREP COOK SERVES
2 minutes 5 minutes Makes two big mugs
INGREDIENTS
1 heaping teaspoon loose black Darjeeling tea
2 tea bags (Sona recommends Tetley)
1 two-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
½ teaspoon fresh cardamom seeds, gently smashed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lighted smashed
2 cups water
1 cup milk, at least 1 percent (for a creamy texture)
Optional: Cinnamon or cloves add a nice touch
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Peel and smash ginger, and light bruise fennel and cardamom seeds to release oils and bring out flavor.
2. Add ginger, fennel, and cardamom to saucepan with two cups water, loose black tea and tea bags. Bring to a rapid boil on medium-high heat.
While boiling, add one cup cold milk. Bring the liquid to second boil.
3. Strain the now-golden liquid into two large mugs, carefully keeping loose tea and other ingredients out of the cups.
Enjoy hot, preferably with pakoras or cookies.
Our Gear: India 2007
HARDCORE BACKPACKS
I’m carrying a One Polar 80 backpack I bought in China for $10. It’s been loyal to me so I’ll be loyal to it. Until it falls apart. Then I’ll get a new one. We got a great deal from Rei Outlet store on a pretty robust Victorinox backpack with removable daypack made by Swiss Army. Hopefully Sona doesn’t topple over with this one on!
It seemed like a good idea at the time. We ordered the Kelty Corona Double Capacity Sleeping Bag to keep us clean and warm in dodgy hotel rooms. As you can see, if we brought this along, there’d be nothing else for us to carry. We’re still keeping it though. We’ll bring it along next time we go on a camping trip, even if it is in the backgarden! We randomly stopped at a Big 5 in Fresno after doing a grocery run at Foodmaxx and found our replacement sleeping bags. While not as spacious and cushiony as our Kelty, these are also not as humongous. Two of these fleece Texsport sleeping bags can be zipped together and voila: double sleeping bag.
CANON 20D
I’ve had my Canon 20D for a couple years now and am thrilled with it. After our India trip, I upgraded to the full-frame Canon 5D which I am also thrilled with. As a professional wedding photographer (www.nsdphotography.com) the lenses I own are a reflection of my shooting style. I don’t do heavy lenses because that means I have to lug those mofos around. I have two flashes –the Canon 580EX and the 420EX along with the following lenses:
10-22 f/4 – Wide Angle (only works with the 20D)
50/f4 – Portrait Lens
35-135 f/4 Normal Lens
70-200 f/4 Telephoto
CANON ELPH
Sona’s nerdo brother and sister, both have the Canon ELPH. And now we do too! It’s reliable, looks sleek and takes crisp images. We have the 7.1 megapixel version and a 2GB memory card. The main draw is we can take self-portraits of the two of us without risking my fancy pants camera crashing to the ground.
SONY HDV-A1U KIT
While on the road, we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves with a bulky video camera but we did want the image quality that a bulky video camera brings. So after lots and lots of research and deliberation, we decided to go with the super-tiny Sony HDV-A1U kit from B&H online (save the sales tax by shipping it outside of NYC). It’s perfect because its small size lets us pretend to be tourists or professionals when we feel like it. It has the gumption to mimic film by shooting HDV in 24p. The best bit is that you don’t need really expensive or hard to find tapes to shoot it on. It uses standard MiniDV! We’re using several standard ones and two Sony MiniDV tapes “designed for HDV.” We won’t get into everything brilliant about our kit here, but the lavalier mic is pretty spiffy and will come in handy for any interviews we wind up doing.
OLYMPUS DS-2300 DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER
Even though this stupidass device records in DSS format, it’s still a really handy gadget. It fits into Sona’s pocket and records pretty clearly. We use this for on the fly interviews when we don’t feel like hauling our lavalier mic with us.
MANFROTTO
For the most part, I like to run around with a camera in my hands, but every so often I’ll need a tripod for steady shots in low light or when I do family and bridal portraits. Manfrotto is the shiznit and it is for this reason we have so many of their products. The 3021 tripod and ball head are fantastic for steady shots. Sona bought a video head and monopod to attach her video-camera to so our footage doesn’t look like a crisp and professional shaky home video!
STORAGE
COMPUTER GEAR
We have two camera specific backpacks. Sona has the LowePro CompuTrekker and I have the Tamrac Cyberpack 8. Both of them can fit
our laptops too which works out well. We had to upgrade to a bigger sized bag to handle Navdeep’s super-sized 17-inch Dell, but Sona’s petite 12-inch PowerBook is very portable. Both computers are equipped with photo and video editing software, along with Final Draft in case Sona gets the urge to write. We also lug along a 500 GB hard drive for photo and video storage.
SECURITY
MONEYBELT/PASSPORT HOLDER
This is what we’re using to carry our valuables. No fannypacks or expensive leather made products for us. The orange one I bought in Nepal and the yellow one from Tibet.
MAGNA CART
Instead of paying $200 some bucks for a rolling backpack, we decided to just get a set of wheels. This can allegedly hold 150 lbs so this should do the trick to carry our camera bags at least.
LOCKS
We did look at one of those mesh net things offered by PacSafe but while it does look intimidating to the average crook, it also looks very enticing. A pair of pliers or a strong set of teeth and someone has an all access pass to our goods. Instead, we opted for a more subtle approach and are using a simple lock that came with the backpack.
INSURANCE
Initially we wanted to just add our equipment to my parents’ existing homeowners insurance but that didn’t give us a very secure feeling. They would cover it, but there were a lot of limitations. We felt like if anything did go wrong, there would be that fine print telling us that we weren’t covered. After scouring the internet, Sona and I finally decided on Safeware to insure our laptops and camera equipment. They cover everything from power surges to plain ole clumsiness, and you can decide if you want short term insurance or long term. We opted to get it for the year.
SOFTWARE
After briefly considering using template based content management systems like WordPress and Joomla, we decided to make our lives a lot more complicated by creating Ishqinabackpack.com from scratch, using Dreamweaver.
Neither of us are strangers to travel, but we are very different travelers. Navdeep can brush aside a cockroach from his food and continue eating. Sona flies into hysterics at any creepy-crawlies (real or imagined) within a ten mile radius. 
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