Our First Time In India!

First Impressions of the World's Most Densely Populated Nation

“I don’t think we will ever forget our first night in India! Life just seemed to be moving a little faster.”

This was the caption to our first Instagram post from the world’s most densely populated nation.

The Indian subcontinent has been on our travel wishlist for as long as we can remember.

The intense flavors of the cuisine, the rich cultural heritage, and the world-renowned architectural icons were always calling our name.

However, we also knew that we were going to experience the biggest culture shock of our lives.

India is a massive country with an even more massive population. In fact, it is the largest population in the world.

1.4 BILLION people call India home.

This number is almost impossible to comprehend, but the two statistics that I think do the best job of illustrating the scale of this population are as follows:

1. India’s population is about 18% of the total population of the world.

2. Even if you TRIPLED the population of the United States, India’s population would still be way ahead. Furthermore, the margin between the populations in this fictional scenario would be larger than the actual population of the US right now!

I was always under the impression that this gap was insurmountable, but I recently learned that China will likely usurp the “Largest Population” title within the next few decades.

These types of things are perspective shifters. It is so fascinating to learn how much smaller the US population is in comparison to these two countries despite being the third largest overall.

Because of the massive population in India, life definitely moves at a different pace.

The traffic is hectic and unpredictable. All outdoor public spaces are quite crowded, not to mention airports and train stations.

And crossing the street? Whew, get ready to fear for your life!

It was the most adventurous destination we have ever put into our itinerary.

We are world travelers now, baby!

Our first stop on our 18-day Indian adventure was the mega-city of Mumbai.

With a population of about 20 million people, it is the 2nd largest city in India and the 6th largest city in the entire world.

To add to the intense culture shock, we also arrived in Mumbai right as two major events were underway.

As we flew into the airport, we spotted fireworks popping up in every direction. The celebration of Diwali was entering its third day of festivities.

Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights that celebrates the triumph of good over evil. It lasts 5 days, and we were arriving right in the swing of things!

The cab ride from the airport to our hotel was one of the most unforgettable moments of our travels. A true culture shock even more intense than Istanbul or Doha!

As we made our way through the Mumbai streets, we were suddenly in the midst of a scene that was beyond description.

Fireworks EVERYWHERE!!

Fireworks in every direction!

Sparklers, firecrackers, full on air-bound pyrotechnics being launched from the street!

Pure CHAOS!

While I will admit that I had a few trepidations about how close the blasts were getting to the car, it was impossible not to be enthralled by the scene unfolding around us.

The festive atmosphere was palpable. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but we knew that it was far from anything we have ever experienced.

Diwali is the biggest holiday in India by far. In a lot of ways, it is like their Christmas in the sense that families gather and celebrate.

Despite a city ordinance that prohibits loud noises after 11pm, the fireworks lasted until well after midnight!

Once we got to the hotel and settled in, I had to go out for a walk just to take in the atmosphere.

In addition to the fireworks, there were beautiful decorations everywhere.

One of the signature traditions of Diwali is to create pattern displays of colorful sand known as “rangoli”.

We saw them all over the place throughout the week, and we were just so amazed by the intricate detail. They were stunning!

Now, speaking of culture shock, we did see a symbol on many of these rangoli displays that confused and alarmed us at first glance.

After doing a bit of research, we learned that the swastika symbol actually originated in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.

Believe it or not, the swastika is meant to represent well-being, and it is cherished by many people in India as a good luck charm.

It is such a shame that it was eventually hijacked by Nazi Germany and turned into a symbol of evil and oppression. Sidney and I are so programmed to have distaste towards that symbol that it was difficult to appreciate its true meaning even after we learned about the history.

It was really wild to see it on many people’s homes and even on the dashboards of cabs.

The rangoli displays often had lit candles around them as well, which is part of the theme of light over darkness. They are meant to welcome guests and invite the Gods and Goddesses to bring joy into homes.

It was also incredible to see everyone dressed in their traditional clothing that night!

Both men and women wear vibrant colors to celebrate Diwali, and women often wear traditional saree or lehenga dresses.

While the Diwali festivities would have been fascinating all by themselves, I did mention that we arrived during TWO major events in India!

The second was the ICC Cricket World Cup, which was already down to the semifinals when we got there.

Not only was India hosting the event, but the Indian national team was in the midst of making a run to the finals!

We arrived two days before the semifinal match between India and New Zealand which was being played right where we were in Mumbai!

Now obviously, the sport of cricket is not very popular where we come from. However, this is NOT the case in India!

It is the most popular sport by far, not just in India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

I honestly didn’t even realize this, but cricket is extremely popular in a handful of the Commonwealth nations as well (England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa).

What I’m getting at here is that the Cricket World Cup is a HUGE event! In a city of 20 million people, it seemed as though every single person was absolutely locked into the match taking place at Mumbai’s historic Wankhede Stadium.

We tried to get tickets, but we quickly realized it was a battle we were not going to win. People were coming in from all over the country to see the match.

It was probably for the best in the end. We did not realize until we got to India that the World Cup matches last 8-10 hours on average! I definitely think we would have struggled to last that long in the 90 degree heat 🥵

Either way, we definitely wanted to experience some atmosphere! The day of the match, we took an Uber to the stadium to walk around.

As we got within four blocks, the scene in front of our eyes was hard to put into words.

The streets were PACKED with people sporting their India cricket jerseys and the national colors of orange, white, and green!

I have been to many sporting events with high stakes. There is always a palpable energy in the air. The combination of excitement, anticipation, and nervousness reflects just how much the game means to so many people!

The stakes of this cricket match couldn’t have possibly been any higher. The event is only held once every 4 years. On top of that, India only gets to host the event once every 16 years or so.

It was a MUST WIN game!

After spending a few hours walking around the stadium, drinking in the atmosphere, and ending up in more photos than we could count, we made our way to a fantastic establishment called Geoffrey’s Pub to watch the match.

This is when we first realized how insanely long these matches are 😂

We assumed it would be comparable to the runtime of a baseball game!

Unlike baseball, each team only bats once. However, they are at bat for quite a long time!

Since India batted first, we ended up staying for over 3 hours. But eventually, we decided it was probably a good idea to go out and explore for a while. The match would undoubtedly still be going on by the time we got back!

Mumbai has no shortage of areas to explore. The best part is that seemingly every corner of this massive city had plenty of delicious street food available to fuel our journeys.

Of the many things we loved about Mumbai, the street food culture was chief among them!

Never in my life have I eaten such peculiar things! (and I mean that in a good way)

One thing we learned very quickly is that cuisine in India is almost completely vegetarian.

While we did find some dishes with chicken or lamb from time to time, the overwhelming majority of things we ate were meat-free.

Because of a specific association between cows and Lord Krishna in The Hindu religion, the slaughter of cows is considered a great sacrilege and therefore, there is absolutely NO beef eaten in India.

There is also very little pork eaten on the Indian subcontinent because of both the large number of Muslim inhabitants, and a general association with pigs and disease among the entire Indian population.

This was perhaps one of the biggest plot twists of my life I can remember! Going multiple weeks without eating meat is a concept that would have been very displeasing to me in most cases.

However, I was BLOWN AWAY with almost every dish we tried during our Indian adventure. No meat, no problem!

It was absolutely shocking to me how much flavor they were able to pack into the cuisine without the use of meat. On top of that, I always felt like the food was very filling and satisfying!

So, you must be wondering by now - if they are not eating meat, then what the heck are they eating??

Well, an important thing to point out is that there really is no such thing as “Indian” food. The cuisine varies greatly from region to region within the country.

There are SO many regions, and therefore, SO many different variations of cuisine.

However, there are definitely similarities when it comes to ingredients and there are definitely dishes that are enjoyed nationwide.

Mumbai is famous for “vada pav” which tourists often refer to as the Indian street burger.

This became one of my absolute favorite things to snack on throughout our time in Mumbai!

It is actually very similar to a burger slider (but obviously no beef involved)

The main ingredient is a crispy potato dumpling which is known as “vada”.

The “pav” is a small burger bun made of a delicious sweet Indian bread. Both the top and bottom bun have a robustly flavorful chutney spread on them. Then, the final touch is a single green chili pepper.

One is definitely all you need! Those little suckers were SO SPICY!

Another popular item in Mumbai that involves the deliciously sweet “pav” buns is known as pav bhaji.

The pav is lathered with a generous amount of butter and then filled with a spicy curry made with a variety of smashed vegetables.

We noticed that there was no shortage of two things when it came to Indian cuisine: butter and spice!

I can truly say that I was having sensations on my taste buds that I have never experienced before.

SO MUCH FLAVOR!

One more delicacy I can’t forget to mention is dosa. This is a South Indian specialty that we quickly fell in love with.

It is essentially the Indian version of a crepe, but there are distinguishing features that make it extremely unique.

First off, the batter is made from a fermented batter of urad beans and rice. This creates a very light and airy consistency. In addition to the texture, the golden brown color of the outside once it is buttered up and fried is absolutely tantalizing.

What really makes dosa special is the savory filling of potato and spices, along with the accompanying coconut chutney and spicy sambar for dipping!

We found a restaurant with such incredible dosa that we returned 3 times throughout the week! Our waiter and the owner recognized us every time we walked in (we did stand out quite a bit 😂)

The hospitality in India was quite remarkable, and this was the first of many encounters we had with locals throughout our visit that made a huge positive impact on our overall experience!

I will get much more into the cuisine in future newsletters. There is a lot to cover in that department! But for now, let’s get back to the Cricket.

After five, yes FIVE whole hours of exploring the neighborhood of Churchgate, we checked back in on the match. It was still going!

India ended up beating New Zealand quite emphatically, and in doing so, earned a place in the World Cup Final against Australia!

It was an awesome experience to see the city of Mumbai celebrate such a special victory. This was their first appearance in the Final since 2011, and it made it even more special that they were also hosting the event!

Our time in Mumbai was full of surprises, but we will never forget the incredible experience of witnessing a World Cup victory right in the middle of Diwali festivities!

Before I end the newsletter, I wanted to acknowledge that Tom Jacobs, one of our most loyal subscribers, sadly passed away earlier this year.

When we first started our life as full-time travelers at the beginning of 2022, our newsletter would average between 30-70 readers per post.

When we first started posting videos on YouTube, we were ecstatic if we got over 100 views on a single video. We are now approaching 3 million total views and 12,000 subscribers.

I can vividly remember how discouraging it was in the early days when the engagement was so hard to come by. We had to put a lot of work into this before we saw any results whatsoever.

But with that said, one thing we could always count on was a like and a comment from Tom.

He watched every single video, read every single newsletter, and always made sure to provide encouragement and feedback in the comment section. We are so appreciative of his constant support, and he will be dearly missed.

Thank you, Tom.

Looking back on the beginning of our journey, it is hard to believe how lucky we are to have seen as much of the world as we have. We are truly grateful for the crazy life we get to live.

India was a deeply transformative experience that is going to take a few newsletters to properly break down. We will be back next week exploring the north of the country!

Thank you all for your patience, I know it has been a bit of a hiatus since Qatar! Things have been quite busy for us, but we are back on track for Friday releases 😊

See you in the next one!