G’day, mates!

G’day from, uh… lockdown.

Yup.

As I type this, Melbourne’s currently dealing with an unexpected COVID outbreak and we’ve been placed into lockdown until it’s under control.

Dave’s been vaccinated! I have shingles! My birthday’s been cancelled!

It’s been a rollercoaster of a month.

Pushkar felt different.

From the moment I arrived, it felt unlike anywhere else I had visited in Rajasthan. This is one of the oldest cities in India, and one of the holiest on the planet.

And yet, it felt so laid-back — laid-back for India, anyway. Pushkar is a beautiful small city, situated around a sacred lake, and has long been a major pilgrimage destination for Hindus. In the 1960s, however, Pushkar developed into a popular spot on the infamous Hippie Trail, and attracts just as many spiritual visitors today.

Many choose to stay for weeks at a time.

Because of that, Pushkar has a reputation for being touristy and full of faux-hippies, so I originally planned to just spend one night in town. I wanted to see as much as possible and then flee for somewhere less popular. In the end, though, I found myself with a few extra days to spend in Rajasthan and decided to allocate them to Pushkar.

It was the best decision ever.

Hands in the air if traveling more is your dream but money stops you from making it come true.

That’s what I thought. How annoying is that?!

Up until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 that put a halt to air travel, the number of air passengers and checked bags kept growing from one year to the next.

According to SITA’s 2019 report, in 2018, 4.36 billion travelers checked in more than 4.27 billion bags. The leading provider of IT services to over 400 airlines worldwide further highlighted that over 28 million bags are mishandled each year.