* “Not all who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien

I am a physician who has been practicing in New York City for over 20 years. But in my other life, I am a wanderer.

In 2000, while traveling in Spain for a month, I wrote what I would now consider my first “travel essay”. Prior to this, my correspondences with friends and family during travel had consisted mainly of emails and postcards containing bits of information about how my trip was going or what I was doing or planning to do.  That is, until I was blown away by the Alhambra in Granada. I remember that evening vividly. I was sitting in a quiet square at the foot of the hill where the shining Alhambra stood, savoring my red wine and tapas while listening to beautiful melodies from the strings of a Spanish guitar nearby. It was such a simple experience but one that brought me so much bliss. As I walked to my hotel that night, I was so inspired that even though it was almost midnight, I had to look for an internet cafe so that I could put in writing the thoughts and images that were bursting within me.

I have been writing these “travel essays” ever since, and they have taken on a different and, I would like to think, more meaningful route – that of my reflections, not as a tourist, but as a traveler to places where my wandering eyes and feet would take me. Inspired by words of encouragement from friends and family who have been gracious recipients of these writings through the years, I am now taking this next step – a travel blog, not the kind that shares budget tips or must-see lists, but the kind that shares ideas, reflections, and observations, in the hope that, perhaps, it may inspire others to take that next step beyond the familiar, and begin to wander and see the world. 

Wanders of OZ

12 June 2016

Marrakech 2014