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Dan and Kristen’s Expert Discovery Trip

There’s no substitute for seeing a destination with your own eyes, and that’s exactly why our advisors travel. Earlier this year, ATJ’s own Dan and Kristen set off on a three-week journey across India, a country that wasn’t originally on their radar, but ended up being exactly the kind of outside-the-box destination that changes how you see a whole region. From the sensory overload of Mumbai to the still backwaters of Kerala and the marble opulence of a Chennai palace hotel, they traded the guidebook version of India for the real one.

What they found was a country of contrasts that somehow made sense. It felt at once completely unfamiliar and, as they put it, like “a huge puzzle but with all the pieces easily fitting into place.” They got goosebumps walking through Dharavi, watched Mumbai wake up before dawn, ate at a food stall in Cochin that no guidebook would ever recommend, and decided that Munnar’s tea-covered mountains were as close to leaving India as you can get without crossing a border.

Below, Dan and Kristen share it all: first impressions, the moments that gave them goosebumps, some India travel tips and an honest, stop-by-stop look at where this remarkable journey took them.

Dan and Kristen’s Expert Discovery Trip

India, Through Dan and Kristen’s Eyes

“It’s an amazing place, but you really need to be there yourself in order to understand.”

First impressions Honestly, we didn’t have much of one going in. India was one of the more unknown countries among the places ATJ offers, and it wasn’t originally at the top of our list. It was only after Mohan from Travel Scope visited our office that it started to feel like an outside the box destination, and we ended up going in part because we had no real preconceptions to begin with.

What surprised us most The people. It shouldn’t surprise us anymore, since it tends to be true almost everywhere we travel, but people were so friendly and welcoming everywhere we went, especially remarkable in a place with such dense population and high levels of poverty.

How we’d describe it to a friend It’s been hard to answer that one since we’ve been back. The best we’ve come up with is: it’s an amazing place, but you really need to be there yourself in order to understand it. That might sound cliche, and it could be said about a lot of destinations, but with India it felt especially true.

What moment gave you goosebumps? Visiting Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest “slum,” is the one that stands out most. It felt like its own city within a city, and everything functioned far better than we expected. Kids were playing and laughing, incredible smells of food were coming from everywhere, and there was a real sense of pride and community. It’s clearly a tough place to live, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the faces of the people there.

What moment “wowed” you? Our Mumbai at Dawn tour. Watching the city wake up between 5 and 7am was remarkable, a real sense of controlled chaos everywhere you looked, from the fish docks to the flower and produce markets to the newspaper distribution system. Seeing it all work together like clockwork was a genuine wow moment.

Did it feel safe? Yes, very safe overall.

Our #1 practical tip Stay patient with how things work in India. The best advice we got was to not try to figure it all out or understand exactly how something works, just let it wash over you.

A cultural custom that stuck with us So many, but one in particular: everyone, especially the women, wore incredibly bright, beautiful, clean clothing. Even in areas where it seemed like nothing could stay clean, you’d see women in the most beautiful saris.

What we learned We’d read about it beforehand, but it was still amazing to see how well people of different religious backgrounds coexist. It’s not uncommon to see a temple, a church, a synagogue, and a mosque all within feet of each other.

On the hotels The Leela Palace in Chennai was unreal in terms of opulence, truly over the top, and exactly the kind of property our five star clients would love. Our favorite overall was the Kumarakom Lake Resort: rooms styled after traditional Keralan homes, with the ambiance, service, food, and pool all exactly what we look for. Every hotel we stayed in was over the top with service.

If Asia feels intimidating… Give in to it and let it wash over you. Notice how friendly people are, and look for genuine chances to interact with locals. Don’t worry about the traffic, the honking, or the noise, things work more fluidly there than they do here in the US, and once you immerse yourself for a bit, you’ll start to see and understand it.

Destination by Destination

Mumbai

Complete Sensory Overload

What stood out: The haze and air quality, right from arrival.

Who’ll love itAnyone who thrives on a frenetic, big city pace, especially in Asia.

Who might notTravelers who struggle with crowds, noise, or less than pristine conditions.

If someone only had time for one stop from this itinerary: Mumbai, hands down. It felt the most quintessentially Indian of anywhere on the itinerary, and since we’ve been home, we keep coming back to it as our favorite part of the whole trip.

Chennai

Scratched the Surface?

What stood out: How opulent our hotel was, the Leela Palace, overlooking a slum on the ocean. A pretty wild contrast.

Who’ll love itAnyone in the mood for five star opulence, the Leela Palace alone is worth the stop.

Who might notHonestly hard to say, we had limited time here and never quite got a true feel for the city beyond the hotel.

Pondicherry

“Relaxed” Beach Town

What stood out: The far less chaotic feel overall, and the fact that it’s one of the few places with much of a drinking culture. More than one local told us it’s where domestic tourists come to drink.

Who’ll love itAnyone who wants a feel for India without the megacity pace.

Who might notTravelers wanting a faster pace or more to do, it’s a smaller town by India’s standards.

Munnar

Peaceful and Relaxing

What stood out: Realizing Kerala would feel completely different from everywhere else we’d been, more tropical, even before we started driving up into the mountains.

Who’ll love itAnyone wanting to escape the city energy and spend time in nature.

Who might notNobody, honestly. As Dan put it: only a terrible person doesn’t like nature.

Worth knowing: Munnar is a tiny mountain community, and you truly feel like you’ve exited India in a lot of ways.

Coconut tree climber on the Kerala backwaters

Kumarakom & the Kerala Backwaters

Backwaters Are Amazing

What stood out: That this region has a feeling all its own. There’s a relaxed quality to being on fresh water that’s different from being by the sea.

Who’ll love itNature lovers, and anyone who wants to experience a true community. Life here is tied to the river system in a way that felt really strong.

Who might notHard to say. If you like to travel, you’ll like it here.

Worth knowing: This was one of the major highlights of the whole trip. Anyone doing a South India itinerary should be required to visit the backwaters.

Cochin

Loud Commuter Ferry

What stood out: Our hotel, the Brunton Boatyard, sits right next to a commuter ferry station. Huge, loud ferries cross the river every 15 minutes from 6am until 10 or 11pm, horn included. We found it kind of funny, though we suspect not every guest would.

Who’ll love itAnyone intrigued by South India, Cochin is worth carving out real time for.

Who might notHard to say, we honestly wished we’d had more time here ourselves.

Delhi

Wealthy and Poor

What stood out: How different the north felt from the south. After 17 days in Kerala and beyond, we felt we had officially been annointed team South India. Old Delhi and the Chandni Chowk market made for the most overwhelming couple of hours of our entire trip.

Who’ll love itHistory lovers, and anyone who wants to see the contrast between wealth and poverty in India taken to its extreme.

Who might notAnyone who doesn’t want that contrast up close, especially in Old Delhi.

Start your Journey

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tales of travel

Dan and Kristen’s Expert Discovery Trip

India, Through Dan and Kristen’s Eyes