India is such an amazingly vast and beautiful country, it can be a difficult decision deciding which region, city or area to visit if choosing it as a vacation destination. For that reason alone I am lucky that I was sent to Goa, India for a business trip. And I say that is the only lucky aspect because I was busy in meetings and presentations for the majority of the time I was there and really didn’t get to spend a great deal of time exploring the area. However, one thing I know for certain based on what I was able to see and do, is that I definitely have to return there again just to experience and enjoy everything I can.

When I arrived in one of the business oriented Goa hotels I was focused on the presentation I had to deliver the following morning and was not expecting or even ready to be so completely captivated by the architecture I found myself surrounded by. This alone made me carve out an afternoon to go visit as many of the buildings and religious temples as I could. One of the things Goa is known for is its remarkable cultural heritage and the amount of great temples and magnificent places of worship it houses.

Oh, I was also to spend part of an afternoon on the beach. This was an absolutely amazing time. I had talked a project partner into discussing our meeting agenda at the beach. This was actually a difficult sale because most of the people I work with are extremely serious and business minded. However, even Phillip admitted that he thought Goa was beautiful and he was appreciative that I suggested we take the discussion out to the beach. There was a local barbeque seller out that day and we had some kind of a barbeque sandwich. This was very tasty and the perfect compliment to watching the volleyball game taking place a short distance from us. By the way, our meeting went very well and the trip ended up being as much of a business success as it was a personal one.

The first time I saw the Grand Canyon was on a road trip with my Grandma and Grandpa.  That trip was the reason, the only reason, I found the Chevy Chase movie “Vacation” funny years later.  We did that.  We drove up, parked and walked to the edge.  My Grandpa said something like “big”, “beautiful”.  We agreed, got back into the motor-home and continued on.  It was not until many years later that I went back and fully appreciated this natural wonder of the state of Arizona.

Statistics state that this how most people see the Canyon, more than five million a year, from their cars or just looking over the ledge of the South Rim.  First time I ventured down was in the middle of a snow storm.  We had rooms not at one of the best hotels in Phoenix, but in some cabins not far from the edge.  We spent most of the day throwing snowballs at the fir trees, trying to knock off the snow from the branches.

I was restless, it had been a couple of hours of this, and it had been many years since that first sight with Grandpa, and I wanted to go in.  As night was setting in, we decided to have a good meal at the lodge, sleep and head to Canyon in the morning.  I bought a wool hat when I woke up.  Not the best idea as I’m allergic to wool, but it was cold and I did not know what else to do.  We started down the very small path.

What was extremely terrifying was that the fog was thick, and it was difficult to see.  Anything.  I remember my tennis shoes crunching the snow, I didn’t have boots, I was from Phoenix, and I remember literally hugging the side of South Rim as we tried to make our way down.  Needless to say, we didn’t get very far, but we had gotten in.  The following summer we went back and made it to the campgrounds on the bottom of the Canyon, and it was worth waiting for.