Dreams Unlimited

What started off as a fun experiment escalated quickly into long work hours, pitching in house maintenance activities, being fatigued by end of day - only to wake up to the same routine every single day. Whether you are a social butterfly or a social raccoon- being confined gets to you physically, emotionally, mentally. It is about not having the option to step out, not having any social situations and interactions. It has left a gaping void that cannot be filled as zoom meetings, VC's, hangouts are just not the same experientially. History will recognize this as a defining moment - all events will be described as pre-corona and post-corona. Things have changed permanently; there is no going back. For me, my priority was to ensure I'm taking care of myself - physically, emotionally and mentally. I started home workouts early on 5-6 days a week to ensure I was getting enough exercise. The endorphins released post a good workout are definitely a bonus. Thanks to my coaches Mun

Some context before I dive into my Day 1 experience. I live in Mumbai, India. The first I heard of the Corona virus was in the news - of something that has affected China; was in early Jan. At that time I was planning a trip to Singapore in March. By early Feb, there was chatter around the virus being found in Singapore. I still thought of it to be a few isolated cases. However, by Feb end, it seemed that things were serious in Singapore and visiting the place at this point in time may not be the best idea. So I cancelled my bookings, and decided to head to Varkala instead. Did not anticipate the virus spreading beyond Singapore, with a few cases here and there. In March, there were cases detected in India and we were urged to cancel all non-essential travel. I am not very risk averse and hence decided to wait and watch. Last week, when things literally started shutting down with private companies asked to have at least 50% of the workforce operating out of their homes was when I decid

In this post, i will talk about all you need to know when traveling to Egypt ranging from foreign exchange, safety concerns, travel within Egypt, shopping and some basic hacks. So let's get started. 1. Foreign Exchange (Forex): USD, Euros and the Sterling Pound should work everywhere but if you come from a nation that does not have these currencies or you simply do not wish to carry cash; you can withdraw from the ATM's as needed. We chose this option as Egyptian pound (EGP) is not easily available at currency exchanges in India and we felt withdrawing would be a safer and inexpensive option. You need to have an International Debit Card. I have a VISA card and my card worked only at Alex Bank. Thankfully, Alex Bank had ATM's at all the cities we visited. At one time, you can withdraw a max of 3000 Egyptian pounds which should last you 2 days. You have the option of multiple withdrawals as well. In Egypt, there is still a very strong prevalence of cash transactions. O

Food is a very important factor while planning our travels - we need to know whether we can rely on food available at our destination or do we need to carry the food we like. Since the cuisine and taste varies by region; I will detail the food I sampled and observed in each place of my stay after a generic overview of commonalities across Egypt. Before you read any further, please know that I am an out and out foodie - the kind that can climb mountains if there is good food at the top. So expect this to be a long post! Egypt has a huge hangout culture; you will come across a lot of places where all they serve is tea, coffee and hookah; some places just tea and coffee. And they are hugely popular across age groups and socio-economic groups. Take for instance below place in Alexandria. Tea / Hookah Parlor in Alexandria We walked in here after an overnight bus journey from Hurghada hoping to get some breakfast and FYI- Most folks do not understand English in Alexandria; we had t