Travelling locally, nationally and globally !!

Tomorrow I have to give a speech at my workplace on Travelling. So i spent some time preparing for it this week. This was all on my mind this week. Below is my speech on Travelling -

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“The world is a book, and those who don't travel only read one page.”

I will be giving my second speech today and title is travelling locally, nationally and globally.

Do you have a passion? What is it that you day dream about when you think about living a life that you desire? 

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One of my passions in life is travelling. I absolutely love travelling. I love excitement, adventure and variety that i get from travelling. It makes me more aware of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures than if i just stayed in the same place doing the same routine. Travelling can be accomplished in a variety of different levels including locally, nationally and globally.

I would like to share with you how i have included travelling in my life at each of these different levels.

There was a time when i think i did not travel very well due to college studies and busy classes and a small budget.  With my passion for travelling i discovered ways in which i can satisfy this need by going to different local places that i have not visited before. I took advantage of days when my relatives visited us and went with them to museum, gardens, aquarium, zoo, orcehestras, special restaurants, mall, historical monuments. There is always many many places that you can visit locally when you just look around.

There are also some places like local resorts which offer discounted rates during offseasons. I also took advantage of such offers and deals to such places so that i could fit it into my budget and could visit places at discounted rates. It was a great way to satisfy need to travel when it was not easy for me to go on long trip.

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Gradually I was able to take more trips across the country. National trips can take on a variety of themes. One of the theme could be places of national significance. eg Delhi. National trip could also be to go see a place of natural wonder eg: Himalayas or thar deserts. A national trip could also be for educational purposes maybe visiting different colleges or travelling for training for a particular job that you would be taking on. Travelling could also be for excitement eg: Amusement parks like Essel world or water kingdom. Travelling across the country could also be for simple relaxation at a resort. Whatever is the theme of national travelling i like them all.

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International travel is an opportunity for an incredible learning experience. Global trips add an extra element of exotic excitement with different cultures, languages and food. I think that knowing the language of another country really adds to the full expierience. 
International travel can be done for cheap if planned correctly. Taking advantage of foreign exchange rates allows travelers to extend their vacations and have experiences that would not be affordable at home.Trips to other countries can also have different themes the main reason people think of is for pleasure as in sightseeing maybe with a tourist group. Another reason for trip maybe a job offer for a period of time in another country.Another reason maybe that a  person could go to see friends and relatives and stay for a period of time. Personally i found the best way to visit another country is to have another person that you already know who lives there, who you can stay with and who can show you around.It really helps when you are in another country to have somebody there. 
It would be great to visit a country and meet your friends who live there. 

In conclusion i hope that i have given you a glimpse of how travelling has enhanced my life and i would like to challenge you that if you do not travel too much you could atleast take some time to checkout local places in your area and see how travelling in that way can enhance your life too. 

Linking up to running with spoons !!

2015 Goals !!

We are already 8 days into 2015...whoa...days are flying so fast !!

2014 was CHALLENGING - TRANSITIONAL - BLESSED for me and my family in s many ways. I got to experiment with many new opportunities and also had moments of struggle, but overall 2014 was a good learning year. I have high hopes for this year and some goals to conquer. Since I have been thinking about all this week, i thought what better way than to document them on my blog which will help me try to stay a little more accountable!

1. Wake up early - Err...this also means going to sleep early. I always tell myself that i need to go to bed by 11 but would get stuck doing things and and end up finally at 1 a.m. This makes me leaving so exhausted because I got to sleep so late. 

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2. Stick to exercising daily - With over a year of consistent walking, it is time that i focused more on toning workouts. So what better than to participate in the Tone it up Love your body series starting this January. My goal is to stick to this challenge for 6 weeks. After that, my goal is to workout minimum 5 days a week consistently and track progress.

3. Learn to calm down and stay focused and controlled - I tend to get emotional very often sometimes even though its not required at all. This makes me waste time and energy and get diverted rather than concentrate on my goals. So starting this week, one of my goals is to stay focused on my goals and exert better control over my emotions.

4. Try cooking new foods at home - Lately looking at my meal planning, I realized that i tend to cook the same food over and over without experimenting or trying new foods at home. This tends to get boring and we end up at the restaurants during the weekends. So this year, i target to cook minimum 2 new food at home every month. 

5. Drink more water - I really suck at this. I just tend to forget drinking water !!! Can you believe that???
My goal this year is to have a water bottle filled at my desk so that it stays right in front of me and i am reminded to drink water. I target to drink 2 Liters of water  everyday.

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6. Read more books - This is something that i need to get back on. I definitely need to get serious on this  goal and target to read minimum 2 books every month. This would help me grow and also help me gain confidence and participate in more toastmaster meetings.

7. Blogging - Last year i was blogging mostly my workouts and a bit on my travel here and there. But this year I want to get more active with my blog and continue to educate myself more about blogging. My goal is to have 5 posts per week till June. 

8. Travels - I am so thankful that we both love to travel. Even on our smaller trips, I want to take more photos and document it here on the blog so that I can cherish those moments for years to come!

9. Get more organized - I tend to get laid back on weekends spend more time on Facebook rather than organizing things and preparing for the week. What has been following is a week of chaos trying to search and find things and getting things done at last minute. This year i want to spend time on weekends organizing things for the week and also clean the house so that it stays intact. 

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10. Unplug at least one time a week: One reason i go to bed late is due to my computer. I will be aimlessly scrolling through Facebook checking what others are upto before I go to bed and I end up exhausted . This is something i want to replace with a good habit this year and at least once a week I want to unplug and stay disconnected from Facebook !!

Linking up to Running with Spoons !