Back From India

(So long, and thanks for all the fish! "Fish?!?" you say! This could be fish from anywhere in the world, but I must use it to represent my trip to India. I stayed in an ocean town and ate a lot of fish while I was there. I smelled a lot of fish, often times when I didn't want to. People kept talking to me about fish. I even met some fishy people. It was a theme that I'm still deciphering) 

I'm fresh off the plane from India. Yep, I was out of the country for most of November. I wasn't a good pilgrim--I traded in my Thanksgiving Turkey for curried chicken and basmati rice. I haven't been home for too long, and most of you are like, "Whaaa???? You didn't tell me you were going to India!" Well, that's usual for this butterfly spirit. I'm always going on a surprise adventure at the last minute. I had no idea that I was going to India until one week before, back in early November of this year. My friend and filmmaking partner Peter Bussian asked me to represent the film we're working on--Scarlet Poppy--at something called the Indian Film Bazaar in Goa, India. 

A friend recently said to me, "Your life sounds so exciting, but I couldn't stand being you..."

And I totally understand why, when I have stories like this. Sometimes it's challenging to be me! I learned of my trip to India only one week before leaving, so I had to drive from LA at 1am to reach San Francisco the next morning to get my Indian visa. Trust me, if I could have done it any other way, I would have. I just didn't have the luxury of going at any other time. No complaints-I'm all for whatever it takes to embark on a new adventure, I just find it funny. I've had many moments like this--from asking the Afghan Embassy for a tourist visa at the last minute to hitchhiking with Cambodians who didn't speak my language, to commuting in a tractor towing sheep in the Himalayas. And regardless of the chosen vehicle and the lack of sleep, I ALWAYS get to my destination on time :-)

It was exhilarating, another butterfly adventure where I got to network with likeminded creatives, dreamers, movers and shakers. I met filmmakers from all around the planet: Indians (of course), Australians, Europeans and even Los Angelenos. My Indian and global network expanded in incalculable ways, and I'm ever so grateful. 

I didn't have much time for tourism, but that's ok. I prefer travel for work. It gives me purpose and it satisfies my soul. I did visit Ganeshpuri--it was the shining jewel of my time in India--but I will share that experience in my next blog entry. 

Now I'm resting, regrouping, and manifesting the next adventures for 2012. I don't know what's coming, but I predict even more curry, Indians, films, last minute travels, and hopefully not too much smelly fish in my near future. Stay tuned folks.