Important Blog News: I Guess We Are Not Going Back To India Anytime Soon

EXTRA! EXTRA! My blog has transformed to suit our lives better.

It looks like we are not going back to India anytime soon, after a nightmare long time to renew our visas, we are still in Portland after 4 months and just bought a used car, so we are hanging out here for a while.

We still have the house in India with some things we would like to get back (ironically, including my winter jacket), and we’ll be sending money to pay rent, but there is really no compelling reason to go back at this point. We can’t even afford flight tickets right now, so that is part of it. We feel that if God wanted us to go back, He would first of all, send us enough money to be able to, and second of all, give us the “order” or the feeling or the purpose to go back. We have none of that.

Our projects for India will be suspended until further notice.

So, since we are not in India anymore, my blog cannot be called “A New Life in India”, but we have no idea how long we will be here in Portland, so it cannot be called “A New Life in Portland” either, plus that doesn’t sound as interesting, no offense Portland, I love you.

I came to the conclusion that “A New Life Wandering” will suit our unpredictable lives forever no matter where we are.

wan·der·ing [won-der-ing] adjective

1. moving from place to place without a fixed plan; roaming; rambling.
2. having no permanent residence; nomadic.

We definitely fit those definitions.

The “new life” part of the title comes from me making a drastic change to my life in 2009 when I decided to leave my comfortable (and even a bit spoiled) life, drop out of college, move to a different country, be cut off financially from my dad, join my soulmate, and live a life trying to surrender to God every day.

Up until 2009, I was leading a relatively normal life which dramatically changed as I chose a life with God (and my soulmate), instead of a life of conforming to friends’, family’s and society’s expectations. And ever since 2009, my life has become a continuos unpredictable adventure which I started sharing with all of you since July 2013.

The changes I have made to the blog:

1. The obvious one, I changed the banner and title.

2. I changed the url. (If you had bookmarked, rss feed saved, or linked to my blog in any of your posts or widgets, now is a good time to update that, and you are awesome for doing so.)

3. I changed my about me page.

4. I changed my about me short description in the sidebar.

And that’s about it!

Oh, I recently changed my theme also, but that is not related to the news, and it wasn’t a drastic change.

What to expect from now on:

• Personal stories, reflections, and experiences. This is a very personal blog, which I try to keep honest and not sugar-coated. Everything I write about is from my perspective.
• Travel – tips, info, trips, and more. I have been to 20 countries and expect to keep traveling. It’s a big part of my life, a passion, and also part of being a “wanderer”.
• Photography – Most of the photography in this blog is mine unless otherwise noted in the caption with “source” or “photo by”.  I am an amateur photographer, but I love it. I have been wanting a better camera for a while, and hopefully will be able to get it in the near future. I am a very visual person and I couldn’t imagine my blog without the photographs.
• Spirituality – The core of my husband’s and my life is God. We are not religious, but we couldn’t imagine our lives without God.
• Food – I haven’t had the chance to experiment much in the kitchen in the last few months, but I love food and I enjoy experimenting and sharing recipes every now and then. India was a fun place for that.
• Friday Roundups – I recently started this series consisting of a weekly post where I share with you interesting and fun links around the web.

As mentioned, Portland is not as exotic as India, but I hope you will stick around and follow us along our unpredictable journey of seeking a simple life, wandering around the world, and surrendering to God. I really appreciate you for sticking around, leaving comments, liking posts, sharing, and reading. The interaction and virtually meeting all of you truly makes the blogging world way interesting and fun.

Thank you!

– Mani