Wanderlust.

I feel a real, tangible sadness every time I sit in class and my English teacher tells us she visits two new places (Egypt last December, Cambodia this December) every year. A sadness that makes me want to jump out of all the yellowness (inside joke) and catch the next bus to Uttaranchal.

I don’t want to go into the details- the restlessness in my feet, the tingling in my nerves (/blood vessels?), the pulsing in my head, that feeling of wanting to scream my lungs out and grit my teeth all at once- but at the end of every day, I tell myself I will have visited all the following places before my hopefully natural death at age 81.

1) Macchu Picchu. Cos it looks beautiful in pictures.
2) Leh. Ditto.
3) Rishikesh. For the white water rafting and everyone goes there.
4) Walden Pond. For artistic succour.
5) Paris. Cos its Paris, and He wants to go there (I think).
6) Istanbul. For the tapestries I hope to get at a substantial discount.
7) Lord’s. Obvious.
8) Wimbledon. For strawberries, cream and because daddy will then have led a full life.
9) Stockholm. So I can stalk Nobel laureates at the Grand Palace hotel.
10) Stonehenge.
11) Australia. Sky-diving at Cairns.
12) Venice. To take fancy pictures in the gondolas.
13) Zambia. Victoria Falls.
14) Khandala. Cos its in that Aamir Khan song.
15) Greece.
16) Italy. After Eat Love Pray. For the sinful food.
17) Iceland! For the Northern Lights and the smart people.
18) Cuba. For a roadtrip, just like the one in Viva Cuba.
19) Lyons. To see the INTERPOL headquarters?
20) Majorca. Cos it was in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Bet you didn’t notice.
21) Vietnam. With Asmita.
22) Basel, Switzerland. For Fed, and the fact that Karla from Shantaram says it’s a nice place.
23) Bhutan. The resorts and the view.
24) Egypt! Pyramids.
25) Shillong. Cos they say Metallica wants to perform there. And it’s the north-east.

You?