Aloha! I wrote this post during my travels but due to poor connectivity was unable to post it. Do pardon the tardiness. I’m now back from my break and will be returning to my regular blogging schedule.

Journey Down Memory Lane: #AtoZ Challenge Reflections 2017

5 April, 2017, Morjim beach, Goa, India

I’m cooling my heels at Morjim’s black, sandy beach, Pinacolada on one side and a plate overflowing with the fresh morning catch of jumbo fried Pomfret, salad and some fries on the other. The balmy breeze is caressing my skin, and the sea is roaring a sensuous song. Reclining on a comfy beach chair, I gaze at the sea, and then back at my Pages file and the jumbo Pomfret (what were these guys thinking when they rustled this up for me!) and I’m totally one with the moment. I haven’t been on a solo holiday ever. It’s my first time, and I think it’s a great thing to do and every one should. I’ve been in Goa since yesterday. My bestie, soul sister and partner in crime joins me later today.

 

 

What better place to write an AtoZ reflection post than this. Yes, I deserve to reward myself for all the hard work and toiling I have been up to for the last one month. Rewarding myself for writing my Travel Epiphanies for the AtoZ Challenge 2017 with another holiday, was the ideal gift I could give my self.

This was my first AtoZ Challenge and I’m so proud to say I not only survived but I did pretty well. Not once did I feel like giving up. Yes, I had just scheduled 7 posts in advance, rest I wrote every single day of the challenge, along with the researching, the tedious task of finding old pictures from my Buffalo drive, or Cloud library or asking family and friends to dig out the ones I didn’t have. Lesson learnt: I will be better prepared next year and will schedule all my posts well in advance.

I was pretty confident of my theme: Travel Epiphanies, as travel is something I like doing the most along with writing. Each time I travel I experience an epiphany of sorts, a revelation that blows my mind away, and makes me question my sheer existence. Traveling is elixir to my soul. So there was no vacillating between theme ideas, and I had it planned out. Most of my topics for the alphabets were planned too, except for the last few X,Y, Z. I’m glad I wasn’t engaged professionally during the course of the challenge, as I’m sure if I was I would have not been able to do justice to my posts, or possibly crumbled to the pressure.

During the month of April, I almost forgot what it was to keep in touch with the family for the first 15-20 days or so. I worked like a woman possessed, writing, commenting, re-blogging; sometimes as late as 3 AM, as I wanted my posts to be up by midnight, of the said day. Later I realised I was pushing myself way to much and in the process, was losing out on my precious family time and my beloved sleep. 17th post onwards or so I chose to write the same day morning and post by lunch hour. That gave me time to be around family when they returned from school or work. Yet I missed my one on one time with the DH. Suddenly it felt like we were strangers living under the same roof. When he would be back from work, I would quickly eat dinner and then start reading/commenting on others posts. Though I must say, I didn’t get time to read others blogs as much as I would have wanted to. There were some extraordinary ones which hopeful I will catch up now. Well, the DH was understanding, asking me to focus on the challenge, as I continued to bemoan, the lack of love. I’m a drama queen you see!

But all was not lost, we went for a weekend get-away during Easter and that inspired two more travel epiphanies Upstream & Upbeat and Nebulous Night Adventure

It would be unfair to point out my favourite post, but I think I got the most hits for Far Far Away (my journey back to the growing up years), Alluring Forest Walks, Died & Went to Heaven  and Precious Cotton (my furry girl’s journey and Dog’s purpose in our lives)

I met some incredible travel writers and stumbled upon some stellar writing. Made some friends during the AtoZ Challenge and saw the power of persistence taking shape.

April has been a challenging yet, outstandingly fulfilling. I’m looking forward to compiling these Travel Epiphanies into an E-book soon. I would like to extend my heart-felt gratitude to each one of you who read, motivated and shared my writings and were the wind beneath my wings as I completed this journey, You are the impetus that will be my first step into the world of publishing. Gracias, Danke, Gratzie, Dhanywad, Shurkiya!!!

My theme for this year’s Blogging from A-Z Challenge was Travel Epiphanies that are my very own tales of adventure and revelation. I wrote 26 posts throughout the month of April. You can read them here:

A – Alluring Forest Walks

B – Boisterous Fruit Bats

C – Captivating Jungle Run

D – Died & Went to Heaven

E – Entranced by my Enigmatic Roots

F – Far Far Away

G- Gobsmacked in Glorious Goa

H – Happy Birthday to You

I – Intimidating-Yes; Imaginary-No

J – Jaunt to Fairyland

K – Kitschy Trip to Kasauli

L – Luxuriant Countryside

M – Mighty Cerulean Sea

N – Nebulous Night Adventure

O – Opal Sunsets & Ochre Sunrise

P – Precious Cotton

Q – Quintessential Cafe

R – Reflections by Resplendent Kali

S – Spiritual Journey

T – Tides of Togetherness

U – Upstream & Upbeat

V – Valiant & Victorious Ride

W – Walk of Wisdom

X – Xenial City of Nawabs

Y – Yonder & Beyond

Z – Zesty & Zany Life