Some trips begin with a destination.
Let’s go to Italy.
How about Hawaii?
I’ve always wanted to see Paris.
Then the planning begins—pick the dates, find the flights, choose the hotels, and decide what to do once you arrive. But our upcoming trip to Nepal and India (November 2026) didn’t come together that way.
This trip’s planning began with three experiences I couldn’t stop thinking about.
A festival in Nepal where dogs are honored for their loyalty and companionship. A 700-year-old fort in Rajasthan where history isn’t something you visit — it surrounds you. And a sunrise over the Taj Mahal.
Everything after became an exercise in how I would be able to connect those experiences. That is why when I share this itinerary with others, I sometimes say we built this trip backwards.
We did not begin with choosing countries, selecting dates and then deciding what we should do once we got there. This trip began with the experiences we hoped to have and slowly built a journey around them.
The festival in Nepal (Kathmandu) led us to look at Jaipur. Jaipur carried us deeper into Rajasthan. Rajasthan led us toward Agra and the Taj Mahal. And then Delhi gave us a final chapter in India, and Doha (in Qatar) became a place to pause before the long journey home.
The map came later—the story came first.
Every memorable trip begins with one unforgettable reason to go.
Sometimes—if you’re lucky—it begins with three.
It Starts With Dogs
If someone asked me why Angela and I are flying halfway around the world to start our adventure in Nepal, the answer isn’t just to see Mount Everest.
It’s dogs.
Each autumn, Nepal celebrates Tihar, a five-day Hindu Festival of Lights. One of those days is Kukur Tihar, when dogs are honored for their loyalty, protection, and companionship. In Hindu tradition, dogs are viewed as guardians.
They are adorned with flower garlands, a tika is placed on their foreheads, and they are given food and treats. Pets, working dogs, and community dogs are all recognized and thanked.
For anyone who knows how much Angela loves our pups Payton and Ms. Marley, this probably does not require much further explanation.
And of course…you can bet more photographs will be taken of dogs than temples—definitely more. Be prepared for that.
Kukur Tihar (Ms. Marley + Payton)
Tihar - Festival of Lights
The experience that started this all.
The Tihar celebration in November gave us our first anchor: Kathmandu. Once we knew we would be there, I began to build outward.
In Kathmandu, the plan is to wander through the courtyards and temples of Durbar Square, circle the enormous white dome of Boudhanath, and visit Swayambhunath—the Monkey Temple—overlooking the Kathmandu Valley.
Weather permitting, we’ll also board a plane for a flight over the Himalayas—not toward them, over them.
We hope to see some of the tallest mountains on Earth from the air, including a clear view of Mount Everest. It sounds almost too large to comprehend from home, and I suspect it won’t feel entirely real until we are looking through the aircraft window at a mountain range that has shaped history, religion, exploration, and imagination for centuries.
Himalayas (Nepal)
One of the few flights where the view matters more than the destination.
Our hotel in Kathmandu is called the Central Courtyard Thamel – intentionally simple, and that matters. Why? Not every destination requires a grand hotel. Sometimes a hotel is simply a comfortable place to sleep, shower, and begin the next day. And this particular hotel is just that; located directly in the heart of the city, which allows us to be in the middle of the festival action and wander throughout the city freely.
We could spend considerably more on a place to rest our heads, but doing so would not necessarily make our time in Kathmandu more meaningful. That money can be used elsewhere—on the flight over the Himalayas, a guide who can help us understand what we are seeing, a meal we will remember, or one of the experiences waiting farther down the road.
From Kathmandu to the Pink City
From celebrating the pups and flying over Mount Everest, we fly to Jaipur (India), with a connection in Delhi.
There is no direct flight, but sometimes the best itinerary is not the one that creates the cleanest line on a map — it is the one that carries the story where it needs to go.
Jaipur is known as the Pink City, but the color was not part of its original design.
In 1876, Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II had much of the old city painted a terracotta-pink color in preparation for a visit by Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales. Pink was associated with hospitality, and the city was preparing an elaborate welcome for its royal guest. The appearance endured and eventually became inseparable from Jaipur’s identity.
The name may say pink, although the actual color is often closer to rose, salmon, or terracotta—and the old city continues to preserve that distinctive appearance.
A royal welcome in 1876 helped give Jaipur an identity that has lasted for generations.
There will be palaces and ancient forts…of course. It would be a shame to travel all that way to Rajasthan and not visit the UNESCO Heritage Amer Fort. But what draws me to Jaipur is not simply another list of monuments. It is the city itself—the streets, colors, markets, food, crafts, and movement of everyday life taking place around buildings and traditions that have survived for nearly three centuries.
It is a place where royal history and ordinary life do not exist in separate museums. They continue to live alongside one another.
The Pink City is not only something to see — it is something to experience.
During our time in Jaipur, we will be staying four nights at the Intercontinental Jaipur Tonk Road, which we booked with IHG Ambassador and Anniversary free night certificates. Note that we did not choose Jaipur because an IHG hotel was available; we chose Jaipur because it belonged in this story. Our loyalty with Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) simply helped us stay there. That distinction matters, because points are most useful when they support the journey rather than control the journey.
Now on the other hand … there are IHG hotels such as the Six Senses Fort Barwara when making a stop to stay may alter one’s journey.
More Than Just a Place to Sleep
Then comes the place that may have done more than anything else to shape this journey: Six Senses Fort Barwara.
This property began as a fourteenth-century Rajasthani fort. It has stood for roughly 700 years, watching generations pass through the landscape around it.
Today, it has been thoughtfully restored as a luxurious all-suite resort—a simple hotel it is not. Some hotels are places to sleep; others are destinations. In this case … Fort Barwara is a destination and is big part of the reason we will be making a stop in Rajasthani.
A 700-year-old fort that became one of the anchors of the journey.
Images of the property kept returning to me while planning this trip — ancient walls, stone stairways, towers, domes, quiet courtyards, and lanterns glowing after dark. It does not appear to have been polished in a way that erases its history. Instead, it seems to have been restored in a way that allows the past to remain present.
Angela and I will spend four evenings where warm desert air, flickering lanterns and fading light settle across century-old stone walls — four evenings inside a place that one may wonder about the stories that would be told if the walls could speak. (But at the same time, glad they don’t!)
When the hotel itself becomes one of the reasons to make the journey.
Those four nights in the Six Senses Fort Barwara equated to approximately 487,000 IHG points. The cash price for the same stay was roughly $4,210 (when we booked earlier this year).
I share those figures carefully — not to say, “Look what we booked.” The opposite is closer to the truth.
Providing this comparison of points vs cash is more to help illustrate that the ability to splurge for a resort of this kind is not far from reach. You may say … 487,000 points is a lot, Mike! How can this be in reach?
Let me assure you that these nearly half a million hotel points were not collected at one dramatic moment or one large purchase. These points have accumulated over years and many because of everyday purchases — a hotel stay, a point promotion, a business expense, fuel and a meal … all adding up, one at a time.
Quietly, gradually, our IHG point accumulated, waiting for the right opportunity. Which for us, the right opportunity is now.
Recall previous articles where I state that not all points are created equal. Hotel currencies such as IHG points work differently from flexible programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards. But the larger principle remains the same: you do not have to redeem points simply because you have them.
Sometimes the best decision is to wait. Those points could have paid for many ordinary hotel nights over several years. Instead, we allowed them to sit until they could unlock an experience we might never have chosen to pay for all at once.
That is what points mean to us — not free travel, but travel that becomes possible.
Hoping a Tiger Finds Us Interesting
One of the reasons Fort Barwara refused to leave my imagination wasn’t just the fort itself.
It was what lies just thirty minutes away.
Ranthambore National Park.
Once the private hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, today the park is one of the best places in the world to search for the elusive Royal Bengal tiger.
The plan is that one morning we’ll climb into an open safari jeep with an expert naturalist and head into those same forests, hoping to reconnect with nature and, if we’re fortunate, catch a glimpse of one of the world’s most magnificent animals in its natural habitat.
Of course, there are no guarantees. We may spend hours watching deer, monkeys, peacocks, crocodiles, and countless other wildlife without ever seeing a tiger. And honestly… that’s exactly how it should be. Uncertainty is what keeps the experience honest. I’d love to come home with an incredible photograph, but somehow, I think I’d be just as happy knowing we searched.
If we are fortunate enough to round a corner and see a Royal Bengal tiger in the wild, it won’t be because someone put one there for us. It will be because, for one unforgettable moment, nature decided to let us in.
Some of the best travel experiences come with no guarantee at all.
The rest of our time at Fort Barwara will be intentionally slower—a property tour, time by the pool, an Ayurvedic treatment (or two or three for Angela), long dinners, and room to walk the grounds without racing toward the next reservation.
A well-planned trip does not need to fill every hour. Sometimes good planning means creating enough space to experience the place you worked so hard to reach.
Waiting for the Taj
From Rajasthan, we continue to Agra. This portion of the journey is built around one of the most recognized structures in the world — the Taj Mahal.
But even here, our plan is not simply to arrive, jump in, take a photograph, and leave.
We are staying for two nights at The Oberoi Amarvilas, positioned approximately 600 meters from the Taj Mahal, with unobstructed views from every guest room and suite.
This is one of the places where we intentionally chose to pay cash. We did not force a points redemption or choose a different hotel simply because it would cost less. Making the decision to use cash vs point is an example where sometimes the experience deserves the expense.
Approximately 600 meters away—and part of the experience long before we walk through the gates.
The Oberoi Amarvilas is special not only because of the view of Taj, but because of the care behind all the details — the Mughal-inspired architecture, the fountains and reflection pools, the hand-crafted details, and a reputation for hospitality that seems to knock the socks off almost everyone who stays there… we will let you know soon enough!
This hotel has become part of the anticipation of visiting the Taj Mahal. We will arrive in Agra and see the Taj Mahal in the distance. We’ll have dinner knowing it is there, wake the next morning knowing it is still waiting, and spend another evening honoring its presence in the distance.
The fact that we will not enter immediately is purposeful. We are saving the actual visit for our final morning — before sunrise.
There is something I love about this choice. In a world where we rush to consume every experience in an instant the moment that we arrive somewhere; we choose to wait. We are allowing anticipation to build and to become part of the memory.
The timing was intentional too. Our sunrise visit falls on a Monday morning. Based on my research and the advice of the hotel concierge, that should give us a quieter experience than visiting on Sunday, when crowds may be heavier.
There are no guarantees of light crowds, of course. This is still the Taj Mahal. But after traveling that far, it seemed worth arranging the itinerary around the best opportunity we could reasonably create.
You may be thinking … couldn’t’ we stay somewhere less expensive and still visit the Taj Mahal? Of course. Could we arrive in Agra, see it that afternoon, and leave the following morning for Delhi? Absolutely.
But that is not the story we want this experience to tell.
We want to slow it down and allow the “Taj” to reveal itself gradually—first as a distant silhouette, then as a view across the hotel grounds, and finally at sunrise.
The places we remember most are not always the ones we spent the most money to visit.
They are the ones we allowed ourselves time to feel.
One Final Chapter in India
After Agra, we continue to Delhi, where we will arrive at our final hotel in India — The Imperial New Delhi, chosen less for the idea of luxury, and more for its history.
The Imperial opened in 1936, and its hallways, architecture, artwork, and public spaces carry another chapter of India’s story. By this point, we will have experienced temples and stupas in Nepal, the energy of Jaipur, the quiet grandeur of a restored Rajasthani fort, the uncertainty of searching for Bengal tigers, and sunrise at the Taj Mahal.
Delhi feels different. Its metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million people, and centuries-old monuments stand alongside government buildings, modern neighborhoods, crowded markets, and streets that seem to move with a rhythm entirely their own.
I do not expect to understand Delhi in two days. I simply want to experience it.
We plan to explore Old Delhi by rickshaw, move through the spice markets, and see a few of the city’s major historic sites. But I suspect some of my favorite memories may come from the moments in between—a conversation with a shopkeeper, the smell of something unfamiliar cooking nearby, or simply watching daily life unfold around us.
Delhi becomes the closing chapter rather than simply another stop—one final opportunity to experience another side of India before beginning the journey home.
Ending India in a hotel that carries a history of its own.
Twenty-Four Hours in Doha
Then we fly to Doha (Qatar), where we have built in a one-night stay at Raffles Doha before continuing home to San Francisco.
The truth is simple: we were already flying through Doha, and I have always wanted to see it.
Twenty-four hours is not enough to understand a place, but it is enough to become curious about it. It is enough to wander through Souq Waqif, where narrow alleyways, spices, textiles, cafés, and falcon shops preserve a piece of old Qatar in the middle of one of the world’s most modern cities.
And, enough time to stroll along the Corniche, and watch the Doha skyline begin to glow as the sun goes down.
Then we will board our flight home.
Sometimes the best stop is not one you planned an entire trip around. Sometimes it is an opportunity already sitting in front of you.
I simply could not pass it up.
Twenty-four hours is not enough to get to know a city—but it is enough to begin wondering when you might return.
Looking Ahead
This edition of Between Departures is about a dream, the three experiences that started it, and the route I built around them.
At this point, the heart of the trip is set: Kukur Tihar, the flight over the Himalayas, Jaipur, Fort Barwara, Ranthambore, The Oberoi Amarvilas, sunrise at the Taj Mahal, The Imperial in Delhi, and Raffles Doha.
Those are no longer possibilities on a planning board. They are our next journey.
Could something still change? Of course! Travel has a way of reminding you that even the best-planned itinerary is never entirely under your control. But we are not reconsidering the heart of it.
We still have the rest of August, September, and October before our November 5th departure from San Francisco. There are visas to confirm, transportation details to finalize, bags to pack, restaurant ideas to collect, and the practical work of preparing to be away for three weeks.
Stay tuned …
Because extraordinary journeys rarely happen by accident.
Because the journey doesn’t begin at the airport.
It begins between departures.
Mike Lynn
Chief Travel Strategist
A Quiet Note About the Resources We Use
As Between Departures grows, I would like to begin sharing more of the tools we genuinely use—the credit cards that help us earn points, the programs we transfer them into and the resources that make planning easier.
We will always try to keep those recommendations practical, honest, and connected to our actual travel. The story comes first.
From time to time, a link may be a referral or affiliate link. When it is, I will identify it clearly. If you decide something is right for you and use one of those links, we may receive referral points at no additional cost to you.
The decision still has to make sense for your own life, travel habits, and finances. A credit card is never worth carrying a balance simply to earn points.
The goal is not to convince anyone to recreate our trip exactly. It is to share what has worked for us, explain why we made certain choices, and perhaps help someone else build a journey of their own.
