Many of our friends and family have asked us "Why India?" and "Why during Christmas and New Years?". Well there were many reasons. We had been quietly planning this trip for some time, and South India offered, to us anyways, a place where we could seek out diverse people and cultures, do some family adventuring, explore beautiful landscapes, and visit places with spiritual significance.

It was also about understanding people and cultures that are different from what we were used to, about family togetherness, about not working for a few weeks, about being in a warm climate, about being thankful, and about giving, sharing, learning and having fun. And, as this was our family Christmas present to ourselves, we didn't have to bother with buying presents! Our travels truly took us to extraordinarily diverse regions in terms of landscape, people and cultures. It was a trip that met and exceeded our expectations.