planning to cross over

Early in the summer of 2015, after a long grueling project where many had put in hundreds of hours of overtime to get a new product out the door, my manager came to me with an important request. They needed a team of 6 engineers to put off their summer vacations to work on finishing some important regulatory work that needed to be cleaned up before the FDA visited us again. They offered to give us generous vacation packages to use at a later date. I was one of the 6, and would lead the group. The prospect of a nice vacation with my wife was attractive enough to agree.

I sent a Skype message to my wife about vacation plans.  "Dream big," I said. We discussed where to go. Italy? That had been our dream for our 20th anniversary, but college expenses made us put that off. India? We had met so many kind and loving souls from India over the years, and her being a Yoga teacher who had experienced Bali made this a strong possibility. Bali? Would I join her in Bali at her next yoga teacher training?

Soon after, her scheduled training in Bali was canceled. This sealed the deal. We decided to make a trip to India. It was a destination that many couldn't understand, but for us it seemed like a long held desire had become fulfilled. Many of our co-workers had been to India on work related trips. They didn't understand why we would want to go there for a vacation. It's a very crazy place. You've seen "Slumdog Millionare," right?

India is a complicated place, full of contradictions. It is the physical intersection of many faiths. Extreme wealth, and extreme poverty. It is an intense place, always full of surprises. My wife and I are not sit-a-the-beach vacation kind of people. We have observed that our life requires important "crossing over" interludes. When we get stale, in a rut, and we see that we are not growing emotionally and spiritually, it's time to stretch ourselves in a new way. Without struggle there is no true growth. India? Sounds like the best place to drop ourselves into.

So, she planned out all the trains, planes, and automobiles. We settled on our first trip being to the northern "Golden Triangle". We spent months getting ready to be gone for three weeks. Then, we waited to cross over.