The Art of Being Prepared for India
Traveling in India for the first time, especially on a tour that travels across a large territory, means that you will encounter:
- widely varying climates with seasonal variations and weather conditions,
- significant distinctions between rural and urban areas which impact safety considerations, attitudes towards foreigners, availability and quality of technology and international services like banking and internet, and timeliness and speed of services
- big variations in culture due to the religion observed in the region
- divergences in available vegetables, fruits and meats depending on farming conditions, geography, soil quality and traditions, which then impacts available spices, herbs, taste, diet, and regional cuisine
- variances in politics, spoken languages, dialects, and English fluency
- alterations in laws, rules, acceptable clothing styles, types of crime, income and so on... ad infinitum!
One cannot impose the same expectations formed from living in North America upon a foreign country, especially regarding efficiency and speed of services, due to infrastructural and temporal non-similiarities. So while one can be prepared for some differences, such as the types of clothing needed for different climates, there are others in India in which the best way to be prepared is to expect the unexpected.
Fortunately, the information era has made available free resources from wonderful travel writers, with practical advice on being prepared for traveling in India. They are beautifully written and entertaining at the same time. The Art of Being Prepared for India means perceiving online research as your pretour adventure. Here are some excellent recommendations to start you on your pretour Journey-of-a-Lifetime!