Wings on My Ankles: A Wanderlust Woman Talks The Joy of Planning The Perfect Vacation, Packing Essentials for Covid, and Her Favorite Adventure
“The best part of any holiday for me is the planning part of it.” Got the travel bug? With the U.S. opening up and summer around the corner, today’s woman dreamer, Nilutpola Sharma, shares her exciting lifelong passion for travel. A wanderlust at heart with wings on her ankles, Nilutpola gets us ready for summer vacation, as she shares her packing essentials (for a safe & healthy vacation), how she plans the perfect trip, and her most memorable travel adventures. She writes, “For me it is always the thirst for the new , the never done before – A country , city, state I never visited, being under a different sky.” Enjoy this Fun Friday story, and let us know in the comments - where will you be traveling to next?
1) Why do you like to travel? What sparks the wanderlust in you?
I am one of the millions of people who prefer travelling every month even if it is for a weekend. It breathes life into me. Had I been loaded with money, that is all I would have done. Travelled! I think this addiction to travel was inherited from my late father who would travel a lot in his role as Secretary to the Government of Assam. My friends tease me saying that I have “wings in my ankles”, and I do believe that to be true!
2) Part of the fun of travel is in the planning. What is your favorite part of planning the perfect holiday? What do you like most about exploring new places?
The best part of travelling these days is that most of the planning and ticketing has been taken over by my husband these days. Albeit it has its lacunae as well, and more often then not, he does plan it exactly the way I think he should NOT have planned it. But oh well, at least that is one headache off my head.
Did I say headache? STOP the press, noooo, I stand corrected, I did not mean that ,it is just the opposite….
The best part of any holiday for me is the planning part of it. Fixing the dates, the place, o la la, the warmth that seeps through my veins and the tingles in my feet, I can feel that right now as I write, I wonder if there are others like me out there. I am not a museum person, I do not like spending hours and hours starting up walls and into glass boxes trying to decipher the impact of the item on history, so unless it is like a Cairo museum where you actually get to see the jar that has Tutankhamun or Nefertiti’s lungs preserved for eternity, I am out. I am not a beach person either, Early morning for an hour or two and late evening walks as the sun dives into the sea is all I can take of the beach . Of course, waking up to the screech of sea gulls and being lulled into a sleep with the sound of the waves lapping the shores, is a bonus. I can almost see you reading my write up and scratching your head, now what holiday does this woman want… my husband has the same dilemma as well .
For me it is always the thirst for the new , the never done before – A country, city, state I have never visited, being under a different sky, smelling the air that carries its own unique smell of the people and vegetation, the color of the earth , even the way the wind blows, and oh the food. No , I am not eccentric. I can vouch for that. It is different in every little place I have been to. Even the greenery is of a different shade. The experiences. little things that leave a mark on me for life. Like the simple shop keeper in a district in far away Assam, who I asked for directions to a kite festival and he took time out from his waiting queue of customers to explain and reconfirm that I got it by making me repeat the directions he shared. Passing his test , I smiled and said “Thank you” and the simple soul responds to me in English “Very Much”.
3) You also travelled during the pandemic a bit and now that the U.S. is opening up, more people are looking to travel. What are your packing essentials? And what are some items to pack for safe and hygienic travel?
No matter how much I travel, I always feel I am unprepared . The unknown adds to my excitement. However with the Covid restrictions finally being slowly lifted I am looking forward to some road trips for sure. I have flown several times during this pandemic in full flights and feel that road trips are better options. I of course ensure that I keep oodles of sanitizers ,loads of masks, and gloves handy along with my sunscreen, my glares and cell phone. Allergy meds , vitamin C and bug repellents are a must too . During these travels , I have also practiced carrying my own bed sheet, a thin blanket and pillow covers along with me . Alcohol wipes to sanitize the furniture are good to have but I must admit , I have forgotten to use them sometimes , despite carrying loads. Aah and summers mean of course to ensure that I am always hydrated so carrying a water bottle is a must. Oh, and I must add this, in case you are a working person like me , let me tell you, it is hara-kiri to leave without an auto response on your emails. Gosh, I am not kidding when I tell you, the countless times I have had fervent calls landing on my cell phone and ruining my perfect holiday despite flawless holiday plans. But I have finally learnt that lesson.
4) What was the most memorable story from one of your many exciting travel adventures?
Allow me here to leave you with a small story from one of my travels that continues to bemuse me. Sorry, correction, not a story but something I experienced and never found an answer to what really happened that night.
I was a single mom travelling with a group of my office colleagues and their families visiting Langkawi. Malaysia. The resort we were staying in was isolated and from my room , I could see the waves crash the rocky walls not more then twenty feet from where my balcony was . It was late evening nearly 10pm and some of the kids from the other families were playing in my room with my son as luckily, I had landed up with the most spacious room with a huge sitting area.
At 10:30pm, I tell my five-year-old son to walk them to their parents’ room, which he did after I repeated myself for the umpteenth time. Coming back with a grumpy face , he gave me numerous reasons why I should allow him to sleep late on holidays. I indulged him as I watched tv till he fell asleep exhausted from all the walking around through the day. It was just past 11pm and I switched off the tv as I could not make much of what the newsreader was saying in Malaysian . I must have drifted off soon after because I was rudely awoken by a loud banging . The room was dark, as I look across at the luminated numbers in the bedside radio clock and note that it was 2:15 am in the morning. The resort should really do something about such noises in the night, I think to myself. I must complain in the morning. Unsure where the banging was coming from and afraid that it would wake up Ryan I reached across to his side of the King sized bed. The bed felt cold and empty . Thinking he had rolled off to the bottom as he usually would , I stretched out and switched on the light , only to betaken aback at being greeted by an empty bed. The banging somewhere in the resort continued as if in unison with the sound of the waves crashing on to the rocks. “Maybe Ryan is in the bathroom” , I think to myself , a little surprised that he had not woken me up and I get off the bed to go towards the bathroom and then freeze as I realized that “the banging noise” was actually coming from my door. Someone was kicking at my door.
Wide awake , as cold fingers clasp my heart in a tight grip, I coax my feet to move forward slowly through the corridor towards the bathroom door as the banging rings louder in my ears. I push the bathroom door and it silently swings open, clearly bare . My brain simply stops working at this moment, perplexed, I call out his name, forgetting for a moment my fear of the banging on my door. And then comes the response, from across the door, “mama , open the door” as another kick lands on my door. With lightning speed , I cross the distance from the washroom, across the sitting area to the door and struggle with nervous clammy fingers as I open it and in marches my son pushing me out of the way and jumps straight on to the bed , mumbling, “why on earth did you make me wait so long”. Transfixed for a moment and unable to make out what happened, I quickly close the door and approach the bed , asking him what on earth was he doing out of the room at that hour. His little eyes were already shut tight as he responded back saying, “it was you who asked me to drop the kids back to their room”
Thank you so much Nilutpola for sharing your exciting adventures with us. We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!
Bio: Nilutpola (Paula Sharma), MA, a Certified Telehealth Liaison , CSSGB,Certified Call Center Manager, ITILv4, at Trapollo Health.
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