Since 2013 I dreamed about going to India. In Brazil, going to India is not a common option at all. Anyway, I always had a different taste for traveling: my first trip abroad was to Peru, the next one was a social exchange in Egypt and the last one was backpacking in Bolivia and Argentina for 3 months.
I always thought that I should go to ”heavy” places while young, because I would use my body strength, after all, it would be never as fit as I am today. Today my body allows me to walk, run, my balance is good, I can deal with cold and heat. I know that when I’m older I won’t be like that.
I also realized that I like to travel with time. I like to know people, culture, tastes. I don’t like to be in a hurry when traveling. That’s the reason my ‘’country list’’ is not that big. In Egypt I stayed for 3 months, the same happened when I went to Bolivia and Argentina.
I decided that I would go to India after I started practicing yoga, but it is not only about my passion for Yoga, but once I stepped into this world, I met a lot of people who had been there and all of them wanted to go back or already had traveled a lot of times. Teachers, students, travelers. All of them had a shiny stare when talking about India. I wanted to feel that too.
At first, my plan was to go in 2015 after completing my University Course, but in my internship, I earnt so little that It wasn’t enough to India. That was the moment I decided to go to Bolivia, Argentina and a little bit of Chile.
At the end of 2015, I decided that I wanted to do a Yoga Teacher Course. As a good Capricorn, I talked to teachers, students, tried a lot of Yoga classes, researched a lot of schools. Also, I meditated about ‘’ do I really want to teach or do I just love Yoga?’’. Talking to teachers was crucial to make my mind because they told me the real life of a Yoga professional. I decided that I would do it!
In 2017 I signed in for a Hatha Yoga & Yoga Therapy course in São Paulo, 2 years training. I opted for a long term course because I wanted to have time to study, learn and get ready to teach. The most important thing for me was to learn and not to get a quick certificate.
When I started the course, I said to myself that as soon as I would get my certificate, I would go to India, but once I had to pay for the course, I couldn’t save a lot of money. Anyway, every month I saved, it didn’t matter how much it was, but I had to do that otherwise the dream would never happen. During these 2 years I looked for flight tickets, schedules, and everything I could search online. But unfortunately when I finished the course, I still didn’t have enough money so I decided to work a little bit more. I didn’t want to go to India for a month, I would go with the one way ticket only and I needed to have an organized financial plan.
So I had decided that I would go in the first semester of 2019 no matter what, so I kept on looking for tickets and then I finally found one that was good for me. During this period I was also in contact with a Yoga School and they accepted me as a volunteer (about it I will talk another day).
I talked to my boss and we organized the day I would leave my job. Thankfully he was so comprehensive and kind with my decision. And suddenly, destiny showed up for me: they would need to make changes in my project and they would need to relocate everybody. So my boss knew I would leave anyway, so he fired me! That was the best thing that could ever have happened because in Brazil when you are fired, the government pays you insurance for 5 months and you receive other amounts. Also, I would have 1 month to organize my trip!
When I realized, my dream was actually coming true. Suddenly what felt like months became weeks. I was like crazy organizing things, taking my visa, buying what I needed.
My boyfriend helped me to create an amazing excel tool for me because I didn’t like apps to take care of my money.
I blinked my eyes and it was May 8th, 2019. I was saying goodbye to my parents at the airport, aware that it was a ‘’hello’’ to my dream. And what a dream. Years planning and dreaming…
To dream is good, but to make them real is better!
Today I’m writing from Lonavala, it’s 34ºC and I’m at the Yoga Institute I also dreamed to go. It was a real adventure so far, It wasn’t easy, I had a lot of challenges during the whole journey and they are to be talked in another post.
If you read so far, it may happen that you want to visit India or have any other dream. And I can tell you: Is not easy to make dreams come true, it was, they wouldn’t be called dreams. It is possible indeed and I can guarantee that every challenge and every cent spend is worth it!
Thank you for reading my experience and if you want to see how I manage to get over all my challenges to achieve this dream, be ready for my next posts!
Namaste,
Mila.