Good thing I ignored you

On a sleeper car from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, to Jaipur

It was only 2 weeks before my proposed takeoff date for a long getaway when people came out of the woodwork telling me I SHOULD NOT go to my finally chosen destination (not referring to my mother, who never wants me to go anywhere).

I had spent hours trolling through my airline mile accounts for options and googling the “best of…” for January when I finally settled on my dream destination of India. That's when cries of dissent were heralded from all those who would hear me.

Not just heartbroken, but very much stressed, since I still didn’t have much time to spare (last minute travel is pretty standard for me, for better or for worse!)

As humankind is wont to do, I started looking to other sources to justify my currently held decisions and beliefs. I messaged my contacts who were actually on the battle field, people IN India, who I was lucky enough to have at my disposal.

My first stop was actually the Points Guy, famous for travel hacking, I follow him on instagram and saw he was in coincidentally in India. I messaged him and asked about the political climate.

To my surprise he confirmed that things were fine.

Still….worried that he was stuck in his resort reviewing a luxury suite without real contact to real-time events I messaged yet another contact.

Again, she confirmed that the news in America was possibly sensationalized and was in no way a representation of the events happening all over the giant and overpopulated subcontinent of India, especially tourist destinations like famous hill stations.

(I need to stop and say here that I’m not glossing over the conditions and policies of this country I know so little about. Im’ speaking as it pertains to my safety as a tourist)

And...that’s all it took!

As I had already spent hours on the phone with agents at Delta and American Airlines getting approved for my ‘emergency loan’ of airline miles (see below) and tossing around departure and arrival destinations, I was ready to confirm all my flight holds.

None of this is to say that the politics of India are NOT important and I won’t go into that, as it’s not my government to comment on. The point is I had to really consider what my sources were and what cautionary “advice” I was willing to take.

I almost derailed an entire dream vacation with only days to spare.

In many ways, this parallels my dance career; everyone telling me ‘No, don’t do it.”

Now I find myself with one of the most fulfilling dance and acting careers that I couldn’t even have dreamed of.

People too often offer up their very well-meaning and unsolicited advice (including and ESPECIALLY me!)

Sometimes we can even disregard GOOD advice based on our opinions of the source.

When it comes to something like foreign travel, yes, it’s important to be cautious, but as we know, no one ever knows the full story, so I went straight to the boxing ring to hear from the boxers about what was really going down and 19 days later I can say that I had a perfectly safe and enjoyable experience.

And none of it would have happened if I had listened to the wrong people, naysayers!

(Obviously, I LOVE you all. This is not directed at anyone, but it's a moral of my story)

Studying a form of classical Indian dance at the Indian Institute of Kathak, with founder Dr. Swati Argwal

Be prepared for the opportunity to strike!

If you get my newsletter, you already know about my “emergency loan” of miles for my trip to India. This is one of the cards I used. Maybe you don't have a vacation in mind yet, but you need to start building your miles NOW so that they're available when you DO want to book that vacation.

Apply for a Delta SkyMiles card here and get a large opening bonus. I'll get a small bump, too!