Now is the time to Act

I did something I never did before, and it pretty much drove me mad. I tried to wait till the last minute to buy my flight to India. The itinerary and reservations in India were set a while ago, but I thought I could hold out for the fares to drop. Unfortunately in June this is not a good idea. Other times of the year, the fares do drop, but it must be too many people are traveling at this time of the year, so it is not a good time to buy in those last few weeks. However, NEWS FLASH, if you are planning to go to India in three to six months from now, buy your tickets NOW. They are very cheap!

I know many people go through a travel agent to take care of arrangements, but I'm pretty much a do-it-yourself kind of person and this has been made easier by various search engines. My favorites right now are Google Flights and Justfly. For travel in India my current favorite is Cleartrip Bookings. I have noticed that search engines change, it is advisable to switch around. When a new competetor comes on the market they tend to have better deals for a season. One thing I avoided was the search engines that led you to a phone reservation system. I don't like giving info over the phone, and the ratings are pretty low. People have shown up at the airport to find out they actually don't have a ticket. 

To say the least holding out to the end, which I just couldn't do, is not for the weak of heart. Yes, maybe I could have gotten a ticket for $200-$400 less, but the nail biting task of checking the rates every day was making me anxixous. By the way those pesty little logarithms lock rates in if you keep searching on the same device. It IS advisable to go to a library to mix up the devise from which you search. So in the end peace of mind was more important than a great deal and I bought the ticket. Still, if I ever on a whim decide to go to India, I am pretty sure I can do it at other times of the year, just apparently not beginning of summer.

So, you may ask, why the heck am I going at the hottest time of the year. The monsoon promises to start this week and I have very romantic memories of the monsoon. I prefer being a realist, though I am very sentimental, so a healthy dose of shattered memories may not be a bad thing. The main reason I hope to continue to travel as long as I can is to stay connected to the global world we live in. Sometimes you have to step out to see the forest from the trees. And in everything I always try to hear what God might be speaking not only in my little corner but throughout the world. The fact of the matter is that in finishing up my book I feel I need the change of venue as I work on some important details of the story. I also hope to scope out the publishing world. So the best time is now. [Plus, I think there are some big family events coming soon upon my return....stay posted].

I do hope to continue to share my journey with you. Many thanks for following and supporting me . I truly hope that the book will be finished and ready for publishing soon, but I'm finding rewriting takes a lot more care than I had anticipated. So I keep plugging along one day at a time.

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