As I am about to return to the U.S. in a couple of days, I have been reflecting on my last nine months in Dharamsala, India. This was my first time living abroad for an extensive period of time and also my first experience conducting research without the worries of other responsibilities such as taking courses and teaching classes. For the most part of my fellowship, I had kept a journal entry on a Word document as a way to filter through the day’s work and think about my upcoming research tasks. From these entries, I want to share two overarching lessons that I have learned in my time here in Dharamsala, India. Those are: setting healthy boundaries between work and fun, and trusting my intuition in navigating a new place by myself. I hope my reflection can be helpful to incoming Fulbrighters beginning their grant period in India.

Entering my history PhD program right after completing my bachelor’s degree has taught me that there is no actual model of a work-life balance we all believe is achievable, but we do have to create our own version of what success means to us when it comes to work and personal relationships to our loved ones. And in living in India for nine months, I was reminded again of how important it is to not only set high work expectations but also to enjoy life in the present moment. As the first person in my family to get my bachelor’s and master’s and currently working on my PhD, my parents have a hard time understanding the unusual nature of my job, where working at home with my laptop looks like I’m just chilling out. And work never ends in grad school, you can take it with you anywhere you go. That is what I love about my career and what I initially ended up stressing out over. Being in grad school for the past four years, however, has instilled in me that yes, school and research is important, but that is not the totality of my life. There are other aspects of who I am that is just as necessary to work on and maintain as well, such as making sure I spend time with family and close friends. During the past nine months I made it a point to communicate with my loved ones on a regular basis.

Moreover, I made my work schedule during my grant period very flexible during times I felt unsure of what I was looking for at the archives. There were moments of confidence finding specific documents and times where I was overwhelmed with so much information that I didn’t know what to collect. In retrospect, that was a part of the research process and productivity for me didn’t mean being at the archives every day. I remember just taking a break from work and resting at home. I befriended a Fulbrighter who is based in Delhi and hung out with her in Majnu ka Tilla, Connaught Place, Lodi Gardens, Khan Market, Jama Masjid, Chor Bazaar, among other popular places in Delhi. I also made several friends at my host institution and we used to get chai at the local dhabas and go trekking. Prioritizing fun and relaxation helped me gain clarity with my work goals.

Tied to having fun in Dharamsala and Delhi, I also counted on my intuition to make decisions about commuting in Dharamsala and Delhi. The most economical option to travel from Dharamsala to Delhi is by overnight Volvo bus, which I paid around 800 to 900 Indian rupees. I felt safe taking the 12-hour bus by myself because the people riding these buses were mostly Tibetan people. And since I was fluent in Tibetan, I knew I could just ask them questions about bus breaks and stops along the route. In Delhi, I took Uber a lot. For me, it was a safer option because I didn’t know how to use their Metro system and Uber shows the driver’s route on the app. My U.S. phone is under the T-Mobile T-plus plan and this plan switched me to a local Indian network such as Vodafone or Airtel when I landed in India. Therefore, I didn’t have to rely on Wi-Fi for the Uber app to work. I believe downloading the Uber app from an Indian number didn’t work quite the same because the app required an Indian debit or credit card. In general, buying tickets to travel places required paying by cash in person or using an Indian card to do it online.

I hope these two aspects of my reflection will be helpful to any interested students hoping to conduct research in India. I suggest being flexible with your goals, making sure you feel safe, and reaching out to other Fulbrighters during your grant period.