While hiking, there was a time when I couldn't hear or see the people ahead of me and neither those behind me. Of course I was scared, that being the first time I had ventured into the Santa Ynez mountains. All I could hear was me panting or the straps of my backpack hitting each other. For a long time, I thought the backpack sound was actually some animal following me. In my defense I was super-exhausted at that time. Well eventually, I discovered there was nothing I could do but let go and enjoy the mountains. I cannot forget the feeling I had for the one or two miles after. It was like I could hear and feel the mountains and the trees.

It is a humbling feeling. It is a way of telling you there is so much more to the world than you and your seemingly endless issues. This is exactly how I feel when I go to the beach. And that is how I felt when I was standing amid the glacier-carved monoliths at Yosemite or when I was zooming through the never-ending swamps at the everglades. It seems like there are so many worlds out there, of which we know little about. Snorkeling and getting a glimpse of the rich underwater life also did the same. This is what I crave for anytime I travel.

During my school years, we often went to Tirupati, and that one moment I took to stand at the edge of the hill and take in a deep breath of fresh mountain air was enough to give me goosebumps. That is one of the reasons why I love traveling. Oceans, mountains, lakes - anything big and unfathomable. I don't think its just about natural things.

I fell in love with San Francisco, then Portland and now Key West. I loved walking down the rolling hills of SFO, the waterfront and the city square at Portland and Duval Street at Key West. Five minutes at any of these places and you can see people from so many different walks of life walk by you. I enjoy the diversity that these places offer.

Of course, one would say being an international student at Santa Barbara would provide enough diversity. But it seems like all of us graduate students have the same goal, of course some are more passionate than others. Everyone is chasing a similar fabled idea of success, drinking the same beer, watching the same movies, going to the same gym. Of course, beyond all the fog, I am sure there are a lot of different minds out there and I am getting to discover them slowly. I think I have lost some of the immense patience I used to have at some point, to unravel people so to say.

But this is nothing compared to the varied people that traveling can put you in touch with. People who spend their lives scuba-diving, people finding happiness in a completely different sphere, people content with a 'few extra potatoes'. It's not like I am unhappy with what I am doing, I just love to see people living life differently. In anticipation of meeting more new mountains, oceans and people.