life choices | On My Canvas

A Love Letter to Armenia

a lada car on the road in armenia seen while traveling in armenia

A Love Letter to Armenia

I want to write about Armenia right now. There is so much to say.

Did I see it enough? What did I feel? What colors do I remember?

I may have many notes from Armenia, but I have to speak from the heart. Sitting in this Sarajevo apartment, while the FIFA World Cup football matches play on the television that I have muted, with the cat having gone to her house, I mean I had to close the door and window on her, I am ready to write about Armenia.

Today was a lot of admin work: money transfer, phone factory reset, emails, and so many more things. I also went to the supermarket, but that was much later. First, I packed up from the first home, walked here, and checked in smoothly. I had thought I would meet a bulky or big guy, or someone my age with a family. Most probably an older, serious kind of person. Instead, I was shown the house by a young guy. Nihad is twenty-five. He is managing his father’s apartment, a father who is no more, sadly. He passed away last year from spine cancer. What a Siberian sniper’s bullet couldn’t do, cancer did. The cancer shifted from the spine to the brain, and after the surgery, when they thought he was getting better, the family lost him within two days.

By looking at the house, you can’t tell the religion of the family. Maybe someone more observant than me can. There are beautiful glass bowls and white lacy curtains, but they don’t tell that the owner is Muslim. Bosnian Muslims form the majority of the country’s population, and I am happy to have found a host amongst them.

beautiful brezza car parked in himachal mountains india feature image for buy a used car versus new car in bangalore karnataka (1)

Buying a New Car Vs Used Car in Bangalore (Karnataka), Deciding On a Car, and Booking a Car in Bangalore

I wrote this piece in January 2021, when I was looking for a car. Publishing it now with minor grammatical errors. I am sure many things such as prices and car models would have changed, but the basic ideas regarding new car versus used car, how to trust old car dealers, how to do proper due diligence, which car model to choose, how to book a car in Bangalore, what kind of discounts run, how to negotiate the prices of old cars, insurance and extended warranties, car delivery timelines, etc would be the same. Take what you need and leave the information that is not applicable to you or has changed.

Good luck and drive safe. Enjoy 🙂

marina beach dubai marina walk the uae (1)

When I Took The Tram to the Marina Beach Dubai, Walked the Dubai Marina Walk, Indulged in a Water Taxi and Falafel, Strolled in the Air Above the BlueWaters Island, and Finished the Day By Taking The Wrong Metro

The morning had started slowly. I had been sleeping on the couch at a friend’s home in South Dubai. They had been accommodating another family who had taken shelter in their home because they were too scared to stay in their own high-floor apartment in a downtown skyscraper. I woke up groggy, not having slept so well. While having tea at nine am, we heard loud interceptions.

The interceptions and the bangs had been dying down, though. My friends, Haninder and Aina, both agreed that it would be okay to go explore a bit of Dubai.

UAE flag loating above the palm trees blue sky UAE visa on arrival for indians article feature image

UAE Visa on Arrival For Indians: Eligibility, Requirements, and Immigration

As I have a US visa, I didn’t take a visa for UAE. I decided to visit UAE on a whim. In early February, I was looking for flights to Turkey. As days passed and flights got expensive while I decided on the date, I do what travelers do. I put in my destination in SkyScanner, a website I have been using for years. I also put in my source destination and looked for flights around the world for the entire month.

Dubai had been on my mind since I had traveled to Chile in 2016 and had an all-night layover on the Dubai airport. I knew it is a major airport and connecting hub. There were many flights from Calcutta to Dubai and from Dubai to Istanbul. The combined fair of the two flights would be slightly more than the single flight from Calcutta to Istanbul. The prices looked great, and so a plan formed in my head.

I searched for visas to Dubai for Indians. I had a hunch that I could fly to the UAE on a valid US visa. My search confirmed my intuition. For Turkey, I could get an e-visa, given my US travel visa (a travel friend and a dear reader had confirmed).

the grand souk sharjah best places to visit in sharjah for free

A Day in The Dusty Emirate of Sharjah, The UAE: Exploring on Foot, Seeing Some of The Best Places to Visit in Sharjah

Sharjah is another emirate in the UAE. While flights have been rescheduled, as I mentioned in this subtly titled piece, I had more time on my hands. Of course, I wanted to see another one of the seven Emirates of the UAE, after visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Several ways were on my mind. Either I could go to Sharjah by bus for a day trip or stay overnight. I had booked one night in a hotel in Sharjah, thinking that I shouldn’t spend all my days in Dubai. That was a fully refundable booking as I was unsure of my plans. Then, while walking around the Old Dubai creek, I saw a board of the Sharjah tourism map, and next to it were mentioned ferries or water taxis to Sharjah.

That sounded too good! The Dubai Creek was fringed with boat stations and marine stations. These marine stations had the water taxi and ferry schedules. The particular boat station Al Gouibiba, which was near the Bur Dubai Marine station, had Sharjah on display. The first time I asked the counter, I only enquired about ferry times, not duration or price. Weekdays had a ferry starting from morning, 7:30 or so, and on weekends, the ferries only ran in the evening. I thought to go on the four pm ferry and return by the eight pm ferry. Or if I was going to stay in Sharjah, then take a one-way ferry.

things to do in abu dhabi visit mosque united arab emirates

Things To Do in Abu Dhabi: Going Around the City Slowly

My first day in Abu Dhabi began at 3:30 am. I landed at the Zayed International Airport, completed immigration (I have explained it in my UAE visa guide for Indians), and took a bus to my host’s house. Remi is a Frenchman who works and lives in Abu Dhabi and is active on Couchsurfing, providing space and shelter to travelers. Couchsurfing is a platform where hosts willing to share their homes put up their profiles, and travelers looking for accommodation write to them about themselves and their travel dates.

Couchsurfing benefits both: travelers get a home, and home dwellers get company and also the opportunity to be hosted when they travel.

Remi had told me I could show up anytime and that he would leave keys for me at the reception. Even at four am, when I took a bus from the airport to his house, street lights were on, buildings were shining, and many people boarded the bus. On that fifty-minute ride, I dozed off. After the bus, I walked to his home, Google Maps directing me skillfully. A few people were out and about, and some restaurants were open, too.

dubai-creek-uae-dubai-seagulls-people-water-creek

This is How My Solo Trip Began

So this is how the nightmare began. I shouldn’t say that, though. Many people must have had it much worse.

I was in Dubai at my friend Haninder’s house, working on my newsletter, when I read a message from him. He had gone out.

“Heard the interceptions? Loud blasts?”

What blasts?

“Not really? You did?” As if that wasn’t obvious.

I checked the news.

Dubai airspace shut down. Flights canceled. Iranian missiles and drones hitting UAE. UAE intercepting the Iranian air attacks. Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan bombed as well.

NO. NO NO.

writing with hand papers with lot of ink writing ink pot computer

How to Edit a Memoir I am assuming you have the first draft of your memoir. I have written about writing the first draft of my travel memoir, sharing my experience. The main thing one needs to do to write the first draft is to write it. To not edit it, to not overthink it, …

the author travel writer priyanka gupta posing with the backgroud of a train from chennai to howrah for the article what is backpacking feature

Everything I have Learned about Backpacking: My Backpacking Advice for Beginners

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In 2016, I took out my old grey and rusted brown backpack, Rusty, from the cupboard where it had been for the last three years. I was traveling to Chile to teach English as part of a volunteer program. As I was going for at least six months, I packed Rusty, a small wheeled suitcase, a laptop bag, and a black leather purse.

I stayed on a cold island in the south of Chile, and most of my bags stayed put. I only carried Rusty on short weekend trips within the country.

The four-month volunteer program was over soon. It was time to set sail for my longer backpacking trip through South America. With some push from my travel friend Alison, who also happens to be a backpacking genius, I accepted that Rusty wasn’t the best backpack after all.

main feature image for the article best places to see in udaipur rajasthan showing a window overlooking the udaipur city houses and the city and the aravalli hills in the distance tiny

Exploring Udaipur Slowly, and the Best Places to Visit in Udaipur, Rajasthan

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Okay, so let’s set it straight. Some of the below things happened in Udaipur.

A man stalked me; it doesn’t happen in all Indian cities, though I wouldn’t say this kind of thing never happens. A friendly banter is often interpreted as a desire for something more. In Udaipur, I had bought a blue and yellow georgette sari that had been hanging outside a shop. Its colorful flutter had caught my eye as I returned from an exploration of one of the best places to see in Udaipur (Rajasthan). I spoke with the shopkeeper casually, and when I left the shop, he was following me on his bike, having shut his store, calling out to me as if I was waiting for him to take me to a fort and show me a molten yellow sunset.

I also climbed, no scrambled up, a very muddy hill. It was the Karni Mata Temple hill, or the Machla Hills, on which the temple is located. Though a ropeway climbs to the temple from Udaipur city, at that time, it was closed. I took a staircase to the temple. But, I think, after following the stairs for a while, I had taken a shortcut, a mud path, as is expected of me. As it hadn’t rained in Udaipur for months, the path was dry, my feet slipping.

the climb to karnimata temple udaipur from manik lal park rajasthan karni mata is one of the best places to visit in udaipur rajasthan — The staircase I had taken from Manil Lal Park to Karni Mata temple in Udaipur

i think at some point i had taken this path which is muddy — the muddy path, which I eventually always find

I had arrived at Karni Mata temple’s back gate, which was closed. So I had to maneuver around. In ten minutes or so, a well-dressed straight-postured young man, who introduced himself as a royal family staff (maybe someone important, perhaps a young son’s friend) said he had come to get me. The guard who had refused to unlock the back gate for me had apparently called him. He, the son, not the guard, was courteous and concerned. “Ma’am how did you reach here?” He watched me curiously.

I felt slightly odd to be called ma’am by him, a guy who supposedly had come from the fort or the palace and who said all the royal family members were scheduled to do a puja in the temple later that day. I don’t remember all of it, but he was saying that it wasn’t safe for me to be up there alone in the evening.

lot of books neatly placed in rows in a book store display featuring travel memoir journeys beyond and within this photo is used as a feature image for article best books on how to write a book (1)

My Best Books on How to Write a Book: I Read These While Writing My 1st Travel Memoir

Not all the best books on how to write a book carry this tagline. So many titles, such as Bird by Bird or On Writing, fall directly into the list of best books about writing books. The other books for writers that I have dared to add here are those that have nurtured my growth as a human and a writer for over eight years. These titles aren’t promoted as the best books for writing, but by being so amazing and wholesome, they have slowly guided me along while I wrote my first book, one page, one day, and one breath at a time.

I had written about writers often drinking from the common wellspring of the greatest writing ever written in my favorite books from 2022. I have drunk the books listed here. While reading them, the book had become me, I was her, and everything else ceased to exist.

That afternoon when I learnt to bike and couldn’t believe what I was doing, or when I saw the Himalayas for the first time and was stunned by the pure mountains (more details in my book), and life had grown exponentially larger from what it had been in moments, these books have enlarged my life, too.

A lot of books have changed my life. The Little Prince and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance also belong to the same category. I am not including them here. This list of the best books on writing books is limited to those that directly helped me write better, especially travel and nonfiction, my travel memoir to be precise, made me see how to edit a nonfiction book, inspired me to write and keep pursuing art no matter the outcome, allowed me to feel what I was feeling as a lone writer at work might, and some are science books that enhanced my understanding of the human organism. To write about our species, we should understand the physics of our species.

Not a list is perfect, and not a list is suited to everyone. But this is mine. These titles run with my blood. They sit in my stomach. They shape each word my fingers type and my pen inks.

Enjoy my best books for creative writers. I hope that some of these storm you and cradle you as they have me.

Good luck!

a girl, the author of the article, priyanka gupta holding a blue umbrella in her hands looking up smiling standing under open sky under coconut trees water visible behind her

What Does it Mean to be Blogging for Eight Years?

For eight years, I haven’t woken up a day thinking I had nothing to do. You must have heard of, “Hey, my project is over. We are celebrating. Now onto new things!” I could never say this. I can exclaim these words after publishing every blog post, but I don’t feel like it. My project is understanding and documenting the act of being alive, and it is never over, until it is over.

I also always have more than enough to write because for almost five years my partner, Sagar, and I have been living nomadically in India. We don’t have a home, our stuff is in our car, Scooby, and we have been traveling slowly. In June 2025, we parked Scooby at Sagar’s parents’ home in North India. Now we have been traveling with our backpacks (Here are my best travel resources).