I didn’t want to leave India, so I didn’t!

(Spoiler: I did leave India, despite what some people may have thought: I didn’t decide to live there forever…plus Lebanon was coming up so of course I left for that…)

Have you ever been on holiday and having so much fun, your heart is so full, that you would do anything to not get on your flight and just extend your trip? That’s precisely how I felt on the last day of yoga training. So I did what we all want to do: I just didn’t leave. It was 4pm. I was scheduled to leave the yoga place at 4:30pm, fly from Rishikesh to Delhi, then catch my flight from Delhi to Uzbekistan. I talked through options with my lovely friend Hannah, she gave me a look and told me to go with my heart, it seemed like there were some signs pointing me to stay, and I’m so thankful for her advice (and not just in this moment, the entire month Hannah was a gift of a friend: chatting about life, love, adventures, passions, and our next steps in life. I appreciate her so much!).

So at 4pm I didn’t have my mind completely made up. Inevitably I would have to leave India, I knew I had to visit Uzbekistan, I was so excited about it. But it just didn’t feel okay to leave this day. I was just so darn content, too happy, and I wanted to keep exploring these feelings while I had them. The past few years have been filled with #catchflightsnotfeelings moments. And after all I had learned and grown from the month of yoga, I couldn’t let myself just jump on to the next place right away. I gave Uzbekistan Airways a call (well I tried a few numbers and none of them went anywhere), and to be honest, I had no idea at this point what the implications would be if I didn’t get on my scheduled flight. I finally got ahold of a guy I think was in Delhi, and he said no worries, call me tomorrow and we’ll work it out. That’s all I really needed to say okay, it’ll work itself out. I’m going to do what I set out to do: FOLLOW MY HEART, NOT A SCHEDULE!  That’s the purpose of this whole adventure, let the moments happen, let your soul lead the way, and do what feels right in the moment. I finally have the freedom to do that. There’s absolutely nothing on the other side that I’m forced or tied to do. I was in a position where I was either going to go to Afghanistan alone or I could stay and spend days with amazing people who I really loved being around. EASY choice!

The moment was really intense actually. I had told one particular person that I’d either have to leave, or that they’d see me for 5pm yoga on the rooftop. You know the moment on the Holiday when Cameron Diaz is supposed to fly back to the LA, and Jude Law walks into the restaurant and sees her sitting at a table sipping a glass of wine, and they both smile so cutely? This was so my moment. Probably only in my head, but it was perfect. I walked up to the rooftop and into the yoga class and had this smiley exchange with my adorable yogi friend who was teaching the class.

The next day we booked rooms at really nice (remember these are still northern India standards we’re following here) hotel (Aloha Inn…you know I loved it). There was a stunning infinity pool that overlooked the Ganges River. We sat outside all afternoon, chatting, reflecting, laughing. And I just kept feeling overwhelmed with content. That evening a group of us ventured out into Rishikesh, had a nice dinner together and I got to have lots of quality time with these people I’d grown to love.

♡♡♡Special love to the beautiful new yogi friends I spent my extra days with: Hannah, Rita, Ide, Lalka, Rachel, Krishna, and Medhy♡♡♡

What do you think of when you picture a local Indian bus ride to Delhi? Not pretty? Yep you’re spot on. To top it off, I was feeling strange in the stomach. With the bumpy roads, I got a plastic bag and really thought a few times I was going to be sick. After stopping for lunch I really thought I was feeling better. WRONG. About 30 minutes back on the road I puked my guts out. Here’s where it just gets better: I’m sitting in my bus seat, remember this is a local bus, it’s packed, it’s hot, there’s def no toilet. I am so sick I am about to fill an entire plastic bag, and we really don’t have another one. And of course: I’m sitting next to a beautiful french man, who is calmly rubbing my back and writing beautiful poetry. Yep, this is really happening, this is my life. I was so sick but also just couldn’t stop laughing at the scene around me. Medhy and the girls were super supportive, Martina even threw my plastic vomit filled bag out the window of the bus for me, can you think of a better bonding moment than this?

So with that excitement, we arrived in Delhi and made our way to our hostel. The next two days were calm, peaceful, and I got the quality time I was longing for and enjoyed every minute of it. I mean not the minutes I was vomiting or sleeping on the bathroom floor because it was just easier than going back and forth from my bed, but those minutes seem insignificant to the feeling of following my heart and feeling love and loved again ❤