Passport to Delhi

My favorite aunt is pursuing a Master's in International Relations and hopes to work for the United Nations some day. She gave me a call a couple of days ago and told me about her most recent project. Her professor assigned the class to create a blog and log their 'travels' to a far off country. She asked if I could design her blog and I immediately accepted her offer with excitement. I did some research and quickly found myself captured by the world of travel blogging; there is so much rich history all around us. Every blogger's unique experiences and perspectives make each of their stories worth learning about. In fact, one of my favorite authors is National Geographic's Where's Andrew? Travel Blog. He has such a way of writing and his pictures photograph beautifully!

Even though my aunt already had me at blog design, I practically fell head-over-heels when she decidedly told me that her blog theme would be set in India. Coming from India and Pakistan myself, this project just became personal. The first and last time I went to India with my family was nearly 10 years ago. I remember the flagrant, spicy foods and the beautifully crafted sites but most of all, I remember the dirt. There's a word for dirt in Hindi and Urdu that we call "mitthi," which translates to 'the soil of our motherland'. This might sound absurd but when I see India's land covered in dirt, I finally feel at home. Even more so, there's something about the warm scent that fills the air, the kind and hospitable people and the make-shift bazaars that make a trip to India special. It feels right; I feel comfortable. And so, since India is dear to my heart, I knew I would enjoy the design process of the blog that much more. I followed with discussing the color palette and layout with my aunt and jotting down important details. When brainstorming blog titles, I came up with "Passport to Delhi" and we ran with it. My experience with designing this travel blog was a joy and an honor. There are still some kinks to work out but here is the blog design that we decided on together:

I was inspired to travel somewhere adventurous and earthy myself, so some friends and I are planning a road trip to one of California's forests. I can't wait! More on this soon. :)