After some busy days full of temple visits and trips down memory lane we were ready for some time relaxing by the beach. So we said our goodbyes to Tamil Nadu as we tucked up in bed on our first of many overnight trains in India (great experience by the way). Our destination? A beach town in Kerala called Varkala. Perched on large cliffs overlooking a slim stretch of golden sand beach, it is home to ayurvedic massage parlors, countless yoga studios, and shops selling elephant-stamped trousers, silver jewellery and cotton yoga-mat bags.

We spent three nights in Varkala, yet I struggle to think of what we actually did there. We were both quite exhausted from some busy days and not sleeping well, so we used our time here to rest and relax. Our accommodation was really nice and affordable. It was also only a few minutes walk from the beach and a really lush resort called Soul & Surf which was out of our budget. Fortunately, they had a delightful cafe overlooking the Indian ocean where we spent many hours reading our books and trip planning on the comfy couches. I tried looking for some waves, but they were tiny (apparently the monsoon season is best for surfing in India).

Moving from a few days of fast paced travel in busy cities to a laid back beach town where we could slow down and relax was a bit of a shock to our systems. For the first day we felt like we should be sightseeing and doing activities. We had to give ourselves permission to slow down and relax. It can be easy to feel guilty about not doing enough. There is a fine balance between fast paced travel and more slower paced travel and this is something we are still getting used to. Travelling for a year, it is simply not possible to go fast the whole time, so interspersing high octane travel with periods of rest in nice places seems to be a good strategy to ensure we don’t burn out our travel engines.

By the end of our time in Varkala, we were feeling well rested and excited to explore some more of Kerala. Our next stop would be another slower paced spot, a small town in the backwaters north of Varkala called Munroe Island.