On many occasions us four would walk past a guy on our walk to the beach. He claimed that he was the strongest man in all of India and was even in the Guinness Book of Records. One VERY drunken night, three of us were on our way to Curlies (my least favourite of the bars) after a few classic and very strong games of Ring of Fire. (No surprise there then!) 2 minutes on our way we found him at silly o’clock in the morning and we decided that we had the best idea to see how much he could actually Read more [...]

One particular night which commenced with my current Goa crew (I use this term very loosely) Daniel (English), Joshy (English) and Dan (Ozzie) and so plenty of Old Monk rum and Rumanoth vodka were on the table along with the classic game of Ring of Fire. For the past 4 nights we had started each night the same way including anyone we could find. Because the elections in Goa were on, there was a week of dry days (where nowhere would sell any alcohol). Luckily I had a beautiful stash of Old Monk Read more [...]

I did hire a moped for over a week. Originally it was so that I could go on various road trips with others on a search to find better beaches and another occasion to visit Old Goa.  This was more beautiful than I could have imagined it to be. It definitely balanced out the boozy side. We saw magnificent churches and the ruins of what was once the biggest church in the whole of India. To try to imagine the size before its destruction was impossible. You wouldn’t believe how huge it was just by Read more [...]

It’s funny because when I was young and naïve (more so than now), I used to believe that love and sex were two completely separate things. Love was something in fairy tales which made lights twinkle upon every magical kiss. Your right foot would lift up towards your backside and it would be the most perfect feeling in the world. Sex, to me at the time, was a thing which adults did just for the sake of doing it and sharing the details with friends like the next step after kissing behind the bike Read more [...]

This was the nickname given to me by several others. This started on a particular night which I will never forget. It was the first Friday night and therefore Hippies night to shine. This was a bar, which along with all the other bars, was situated just above the beach. Sand filled the whole vicinity and stairs lead to the upstairs wooden seated area with great views of the sea. Feeling safe and secure around all of the Westerners, I felt that it was my turn to be acting my age and relaxing rather Read more [...]

Tonight I have reached a realisation. An obvious realisation. The realisation that I don’t need a man to hold me at night. That I don’t need a man to hold my hand as I walk down the street. That I don’t need a man’s approval of who I am or how I look.

I’m me. Independent me. Not dependent on men, me.

As previously stated, Goa was not on my list of places. If anything, it was on my list of places to not visit. But bored of the haggling and stress, here I find myself in Goa in search of Westerners, peace and relaxation on a beautiful beach. Okay, so I found all of what I was searching for and so much more. I was unaware that Goa was just a location for drunken foreigners to take as many drugs as possible and to have sex with anyone in their grasp. I wasn’t completely oblivious to this but Read more [...]

Throughout the journey I would wake up with the Indian man next to me stroking my arm, holding my leg or with his arm fully around me. Numerous times I would get up in pure rage from being touched and have to flick or physically chuck his limbs back in his direction and say harshly ‘Don’t touch me. You don’t need to touch me. Keep to your side. Why do you have to get so close?!’ To which I would always get the response of ‘Oh sorry, sleeping’ as if each occurrence was an accident. Read more [...]