Far From Home
Singapore-based Patricia (@oneoceanaway) visited India twice in the same year with her husband, Michael. And though the second sojourn was a few days before the pandemic forced the world into a lockdown, this Spanish wanderer has nothing but happy memorie
Q. Tell us a bit about yourself. What is the story behind oneoceanaway? I am an enthusiastic traveller and architectural designer. I’m originally from Spain but have lived in five different countries: Spain, Sweden, Australia, Germany, and Singapore where I currently reside. Michael, my husband, works in the finance industry and was bitten by the travel bug ages ago.
Oceans Away is the song we chose for our wedding as it represents our lifestyle and love story. We also moved to Singapore, which is one ocean away from home. So, we decided to make it our brand name.
Q. What prompted you to travel to India? We were inspired by stories of friends who travelled there, and we saw amazing photos on different platforms, such as Instagram.
Q. What was your first impression of India? The charm we found in the people who were super friendly and welcoming; colours of old cities, spices, and festivals; and the contrast of a modern, ambitious country with a sublime cultural heritage.
Q. Which cities/places did you visit here? And which one turned out to be your favourite? We came twice to India within a few months because we loved it so much. Our first trip was to Rajasthan where we visited Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur. The second trip was to Agra and Delhi. I think it’s really hard to pick out a favourite as each one was so unique and beautiful, but Jodhpur stole our hearts.
Q. Can you narrate one experience that stands out from your holiday in India? Our second trip coincided with Holi (March 2020), which we celebrated in
Delhi. Even though it was the beginning of the pandemic, the experience totally blew us away. We had never experienced a festival with so much colour, happiness, and fun. The day will always remain in our hearts, and we will definitely return when the pandemic ends.
Q. What is one unique aspect about travelling in India, that you did not see elsewhere? We have never seen so many colours and beautiful palaces. We loved walking for hours in the narrow streets of Jodhpur and looking up to find palaces.
Q. A word of advice to international travellers visiting India for the first time. Respect and soak in the culture. We also recommend taking trains from destination A to B, as taking a train in India is an experience in itself. We also believe that the train is a much faster way to travel in India than cars.
Q. Do you plan to return to India? What’s next on your Indian bucket list? Absolutely! If there was no COVID-19, we would have returned already for our next adventure. The contenders for our next trip would be Udaipur for its dazzling architecture and Kerala for its beautiful landscapes.
Q. How do you suggest international travellers plan their visit to India? As we have a lot of Indian friends and colleagues in Singapore, they were our
main source of information (although all of them recommended we not take the trains in India). Besides that, we recommend checking blogs, as well as the Pinterest and Instagram accounts of well-known travel bloggers.
Q. Top five travel essentials while moving around in India. Ola and Uber for easy and fair taxi rides; a camera to capture all those precious moments; backpacks— Michael is a fan and always travels with backpacks as it is easier to carry things around; a good travel guide in the form of a book or a local that can tell you all about the place; and courage to try new things in terms of food and drinks.
Q. What do you miss most about the country? I think I most miss the food, the people, and the colours that one can see on the streets everywhere.