I have finally arrived back home back in America and happy to lay in my queen sized bed with no queen (sad). I unpacked and took the time to process the trip in my mind knowing it is all over. I started with appreciating the little things in America I take for granted that I could not easily access in India. A few examples would be clean water and food, internet, air-conditioning, Korean BBQ, and hamburgers. During the trek I would constantly think about these amazing things and would be homesick often due to missing these things. Though I was happy being home, I couldn’t help being a bit sad about missing the memories and friends I made throughout this journey.

As I am typing this I am listening to Lonely by Akon which is a song that reminds me of my close friend, Thomas Lee, where we would sing this everywhere. It was ironic hearing this song with Thomas because he is in a long term relationship yet he’s singing this, probably out of spite to make fun of me for being lonely. It’ll be weird not hearing his random facts about planes and him sticking up 3 or 4 fingers to me which is an inside joke. I’m going to miss Simon’s wake up ritual where he wakes up like a dead person with drool hanging from his mouth like a cartoon character. It’ll be a while until I can make yellow fever jokes with him and his goofy laugh. I spent the most time with those two due to being in the same kitchen and tent group with them.

I learned a lot about myself throughout this trip and learned to enjoy the process of failing throughout the way. There was so much I could not do and I struggled throughout the trip. Whether it was setting up the tent to knocking down the food I enjoyed every second on the way. Like Sisyphus rolling up the boulder constantly day and night, which is meant to be a punishment, for it to just roll back down as it approached the top. Backpacking with the 60lb bag made me constantly feel like Sisyphus and in a way I felt like carrying the weight of myself as well as others was a punishment for my mistakes growing up. I was happy to carry my peers weights in order to challenge myself, but there were times when I felt like I was going to give up. I decided to name this blog “Burgatory” in a way to make a meme towards my dear pal Thomas Burga, but to also symbolize the experience in the mountains as Purgatory. I felt so close to the heavens while trekking through the mountains, but the pain walking down this path felt like hell. I learned more about myself and my leadership style through my actions. I love helping people lowkey and I enjoy assisting from behind the scenes since I don’t necessarily seek validation or credit for helping outright. My motto is that if I can make someone’s life a little easier without them knowing, it’s a win in my books. I also learned other individuals’ leadership abilities and found it very different from mine.

In all honesty, I was not really looking forward to the Taj Mahal and was looking forward to the flight home, but the moment I gazed my eyes on the Taj Mahal was when I instantly changed my mind. I had the pre-conceived notion that the Taj Mahal was going to be very anti-climactic like the Eiffel Tower, but the Taj was surreal. I posted a picture of it on my Instagram story and got so many likes. I found it fascinating by the fact that they kept the Taj Mahal so clean throughout the years and how they do a deep clean every so often.