I Stumbled!

When I started working in the higher education sector in India, it turned out to be a real eye opener for me. When I was studying, I either went to better places or our generation was a bit more tractable. When I started teaching, I found the first two places completely impossible. This period of gloom lasted around two years. But I will write about that some other day. I will write about one good thing that came out of it.

My husband and I have always been fond of traveling but before I was really thrown into bad jobs, traveling for me was a nice change. But now it has become a religion. In between the breaks both my husband and I, dream about the vacations we are going to take later!

Our Trek in Har-Ki-Doon

It also happened that during my bad jobs I had zero opportunity to do research. I used to feel very restless then. It was then I started trying to write either in magazines or for websites. I started with the Indian ones and most of the time I never even got replies for my queries or unsolicited manuscripts. If I sent them by post after 2 to 3 months I would get a reject card! Even with the foreign publications it usually was no reply.

Our Recent Trip to Leh

Then one day when I was browsing the net, somewhere I saw a bunch of travel websites. One of them was http://www.gonomad.com/.

If you take a look at my post:
http://traveltalesfromindia.blogspot.com/2005/09/one-tale-from-abroad-most-unusual-walk.html

It is a watered down version of what I sent to GoNOMAD.com. And to my surprise I got a reply from them within three hours! Of course they rejected it. But getting a reply that fast itself was so reassuring, after all someone was reading whatever I was trying to write.

That got me hooked, and sometime later I sent them another story (on Goa) and this time I did not get an immediate reply. That raised my hopes. I thought, if they had to reject it they would have done it immediately. Later, I got a mail where they asked me for photographs related to the story. That raised my hopes still higher. Finally, that story came on their website after nearly three months and the check came one month later after the publication. In India the foreign currency checks take more than 15 days to get cashed, and I have still not seen the money in my account. But, it has turned out to be such a thrilling experience. The story on Goa can be found at:

http://www.gonomad.com/alternatives/0508/goa.html

After this, I tried searching for other sites that pay, and though I found a few that do, but so many that do not. I tried very hard to find another website where I could send my other two stories but after my initial search proving so fruitless, I got lazy. I again sent them my two stories and they again have asked for the photos after a long time!

Before I sign off, some of the best stories that I found on GoNOMAD are listed below:

Photography Tips:
http://www.gonomad.com/traveldesk/0505/photographers_advice.html

To Drive or to be Driven?
http://www.gonomad.com/transports/0505/ireland_drive_or_bus.html

On Paris
http://www.gonomad.com/destinations/0508/paris.html

I may continue writing travel stories and looking for avenues to publish them or I may get busy with my job, but either way I am going to remember GoNOMAD for giving me the first avenue for my stories.

Goa in December with a Difference

Along with my husband and two nephews, I trekked in Goa, in the month of December through http://www.yhaindia.org/ (YHAI). The above photo is of the Dudhsagar waterfalls and it is from an era when I did not have a digital camera. Goa is a fabulous place but gets too crowded for words in December. But by trekking, we avoided the crowds most of the time.

I wrote about this trip and it got published at GoNOMAD's website. You can see the story at:

http://www.gonomad.com/alternatives/0508/goa.html

This is my first published travel story and I hope I will be able to write a few more. The best part is GoNOMAD pays for every article it publishes. I am relishing my experience and I thought I would share it on my blog too.