Sunday Summary #19

Happy Easter from India

Namaste ,

Welcome to An Urban Journey’s 19th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in our hotel in Jodhpur, India, the Blue City. India’s lockdown has been extended another two weeks until the 1st of May so this will continue to be our home for the time being! We are fortunate to have Vasu, an 18 year old TikTok star, who manages the hotel, cooks our meals, and makes amazing chai. 

We have gotten into a solid routine here, most of our days are work days, however some days we binge on netflix. So far we’ve wrapped up Friends, The Tiger King, and are now watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Our daily routine starts with coffee and coming up to the hotel’s terrace.

We catch up on emails and social media here, and after a couple hours Vasu brings out brekkie. Typically we are served an Indian breakfast, either Poha, Upma, or Paratha (above). Then we continue editing vlogs or working on various software projects until about noon when we head downstairs into our room. Jodhpur has an arid climate and the entire western part of the state is made up of the Thar desert. This means it gets pretty hot! It’s normal to be around 105° in the hottest part of the day, but we’re grateful it's dry heat with only about 15% humidity.

From here on, we sit in the comfort of AC and/or our ceiling fan. We have a small table and a bed that we can work on. We stay working downstairs until Vasu brings our lunch around 2pm. The majority of the time, we eat a type of curry and veggies, either mixed vegetables or palak paneer (spinach & cheese) with chapati or cheese naan. During lunch we take some time to chill and watch an episode on netflix, and then we work until about 5:30.

At 5:30 the community here in Jodhpur, all go on their rooftops and have family time (above). It’s really special to be able to see the local families playing cards, cricket, badminton, or even yesterday we saw a father teaching his son how to ride a bike. Sometimes it gets a little lit, Vasu will ramp up some Hindi music on a loud bluetooth speaker, other families will light fireworks, and we just sit back and enjoy the craziness with some homemade Chai. We like to sit back, watch the locals, and play card games until dusk.

Once the sun goes down, we head downstairs and work until dinner which is around 9pm (above). We end the night with a few more netflix episodes and rest for a new day!

During the past few weeks, Jenn has been killing it with many vlogs released. We’ve wrapped up South America and are fully enveloped in New Zealand. Editing these vlogs make us miss our time touring that beautiful country. We are looking forward to going back one day!Galapagos

• Swimming with Sharks and Galápagos Penguins | Galápagos LUXURY Cruise Day 7

• World’s Most Ecological Airport | Galápagos LUXURY Cruise Day 8

Our final travel days in South America

• Our 16 Hour Travel Day | Guayaquil, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile

• Leaving South America after 3 Months | Santiago to Sydney to Auckland

New Zealand 

• Starting our New Zealand ROAD TRIP | Auckland, New Zealand

• Exploring Glowworm Caves, Waterfalls, and Natural Bridges | Waitomo, New Zealand 

• Learning about the Māori Culture and Geothermals | Rotorua, New Zealand

• Hiking Taranaki Falls | Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

• An Amazing Harbour | Taking the Interislander Ferry to the South Island, New Zealand

• Eating Pancakes, Pancake Rocks, and Hiking Pororari Trail | Paparoa National Park, New Zealand

Thank you to everyone reaching out with concerns,we hope everyone stays safe!

Namaste,Jenn + Elliot