One week from today I am leaving on my sabbatical !
I should back up and say that I've been very fortunate to work at a place where historically, after five years of employment, you are eligible for a one month sabbatical.
I still remember when I started, five years ago, and co-workers were in and out from their sabbaticals thinking - what would I ever do if I made it to five years and took a sabbatical?! And here we are.
I was a little extra in mapping out my trip exactly how it will happen - so, no, I'm not spending any time in London (unforunately!) but I am flying through twice. I also want you to see the ridiculousness of getting from Nashville to Bombay, and also from India to the tiny town my mom is from. I'm not complaining, but wow. #travel. This Triphappy widget is kinda neat in tracking my trip, I can't believe I'm covering almost 26,000 miles! Zoom in to see things in more detail.
One slight bit of context about how I decided to spend my sabbatical. I realized pretty early on I'd want to do a ~*heritage journey*~ of sorts: India, where my Dad is from, Finland, where my Mom is from, and California, where I grew up and all of my family is today. I've spent time in all of these places before, but this time, I am trying to be intentional about it i.e. also doing things I've never done or wouldn't normally do, simply because I have this bonus month to do it. This mostly means being a bougie tourist in India which I have NEVER done before.
From my last trip to Finland in 2015 - that full post here!
Next Wednesday evening I'll begin my journey to India & boy is it a haul! I don't actually arrive in Bombay until the early morning of November 2nd. My sister and brother will be arriving about a day later. Excited to explore a city I'm pretty certain I have been to before, but we don't have any concrete plans.
November 5th | Bombay --> Goa
I built my entire trip to India around spending some QT in Goa. Technically I have been to Goa before, when my dad tricked us in 2004 and took us to what was essentially the Fresno equivalent. Like, technically you're in the state of California, but only just. SO excited for this. Looking forward to lots of beach time, hopefully visiting a spice farm and butterfly conservatory, being in the birthplace of Vindaloo (favorite) and those Portuguese influences!
November 9th | Goa --> Bombay --> Jaipur
Skipping through Bombay to get to Jaipur in Northern India. Jaipur is known as the "Pink City", and thus my millennial heart rejoices. Super excited about our hotel and seeing some amazing ruins!
November 13th | Jaipur --> Bombay
I mean, this starts my journey to Finland, basically.
November 14th | Bombay --> London --> Helsinki
Next stop, Finland! Art & I will have an airport rendezvous in London and head to Helsinki.
November 16th | Helsinki --> Joensuu
This is really a brief stop in Helsinki on our way to my mother's tiny hometown of Nurmes.
November 17th | Joensuu --> Nurmes
Pit-stop in Joensuu en route to Nurmes. I actually love the beautiful city of Joensuu though and looking forward to spending some time there with extended family.
November 18th | Nurmes --> Joensuu
This really comes down to an overnight trip to my mom's hometown, to see my sweet grandparents and visit the family farm. I'm seriously marveling at how my parents ever traveled back and forth from India to Finland, I mean, this is a trek.
November 19th | Joensuu --> Helsinki
Excited to spend a couple full days in Helsinki, exploring, shopping, and hanging with my uncle & family.
November 21st | Helsinki --> NYC --> Charlotte --> San Francisco
The haul from Finland to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving, which is my favorite time and place of the year. I'll be kickin' it with my entire family and a few best friends, there may be wine tasting involved and there will definitely be ping-pong.
November 25th | Bay Area --> Los Angeles
I really have a dream to rent a car and take the beautiful drive down State Route 1 to Southern California, stopping wherever I fancy - Hearst Castle? Big Sur? Art has to head back to work (what, not everyone can just take three weeks off?) so this is just a solo California road-trip. Then I am SO excited to spend some time with my nephew who I miss so much (and my brother & sister-in-law.)
November 28th | Los Angeles --> San Diego
I'm really looking forward to finishing my trip with a bang - visiting my older brother in an area I have grown to absolutely love.
December 1st | San Diego --> Nashville
And this brings me back to Nashville, right back where I started from.
There we have it!
Because some of you might be wondering - I will be packing in a carry-on for ease and logistics and my temperature range is *78* degrees. Yes. Am I crazy? Can I do it? Will keep you posted. I don't think it will be a particularly stylish trip, but I'm hoping to blog about this post-mortem.
No one has asked, but will I be blogging while I'm gone? I'll hopefully have a few posts pre-scheduled to go up (though even that is subject to me getting it done) but otherwise, not planning on it! The best way to follow along with my adventure will be on Instagram/personal Twitter + blog Twitter.
Okay. Almost ready for my big adventure! Thanks for reading!
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