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Sadhana Forest

Back to basics in a remote forest community

As my backpacking journey through India was drawing to a close, there was still one significant experience I was eager to tick off my list: to immerse myself in a hands-on environmental volunteering project. My prior stint in Auroville had sparked a curiosity about alternative, sustainable ways of living, setting the perfect stage for my next adventure. Discovering Sadhana Forest Sadhana Forest stands on the…

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Inner engineering

An unforgettable ashram retreat that almost never was

After a chaotic Boxing Day in Kochi, where seemingly everyone in the city had come out shopping, I made my way to the Isha Ashram near Coimbatore, one of the largest and iconic ashrams in India. As a follower of Sadhguru’s teachings and having been dazzled by Mahashivratri celebrations in years prior, the ashram was at the top of my short list of places to…

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Indian Railways

The joys and horrors of train journeys in India

Six years have passed since my last overnight rail journey, but time hasn’t deterred my excitement for the chance to embark on several more. While all of my railway adventures in India barely lasted a single night, for some of those trips the end couldn’t come soon enough – but were an experience, nonetheless. Booking tickets Travelling via train in India is an experience unlike…

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Prayer flags

Studying Buddhism at a Tibetan monastery

Dharamsala, the co-capital of the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, was my base for a sizeable chunk of my trip. Dharamsala is notable for being the home of the Dalai Lama and where large numbers of Tibetans call home after sadly being exiled from their own country over the last half century.  A long twisty drive on a bus from Chandigarh through the smoggy fields…

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Comfortably uncomfortable

My latest adventure through India

Here we go again. I’ve been on another long adventure. It’s been a special journey that I feel incredibly fortunate to have undertaken. I told myself in the summer of 2022 that this was a winter I wasn’t to spend at home. The bleak lockdowns during the previous two winters and general robotic routine of working from home had caught up with me. I’d been…

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