HarPiyTravel

When Travel Is Life!

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Harmit, Piyush, and Aayansh chase, The golden light where highways bend. A shutter captures nature’s smile, On wild trails that never end.

Traveling from India to the USA: Immigration Insights

July 22, 2026
Reading Time: 2 minutes
This Sunday I returned from India to the USA. It was a 22-hour flight journey and then another 3-hour drive home. Due to recent immigration restrictions and issues, everyone is scared and uncertain about what can be asked and how the experience might be.

I flew from Delhi to JFK, which was my port of entry, and then from there I had a connecting flight to Dallas. Immigration was at JFK, so I had to collect the checked bags, complete immigration, and then recheck them before going to security.

These days, almost everyone has a question about the immigration experience, so I thought of sharing mine. We landed around 6:30 AM, and the immigration line was long. The immigration officer serving my queue was taking longer than usual, and I noticed the scared faces of other passengers as they answered him. He was also asking them to show some papers. What? I don’t know. This is all I could guess by looking at them.

When my number came up, I was ready with passports (me, my kid, and mother-in-law) and my I-797 (H-1 B) document. He asked me a couple of questions about my mother-in-law and me, asked us to look in the camera one by one, and then let us go. He didn’t ask for my I-797, surprisingly.

Questions asked:-
1. Why are you here?
2. Where will you be staying?
For my mother-in-law
1. Is she your mom?
2. Is she gonna stay with you?
3. How long will she be here?
When I said she would be here for 6 months, her return flight is in January. He asked again: Which date in January? I had to dig into the Expedia app on my mobile, and it took me some time to fetch the itinerary. I told him the date, but then he asked to show the itinerary. I showed him, and then he asked to make sure she leaves on the said date.

After that, security and everything was standard. Overall experience was good. I am not sure about all that negative news, but my experience was smooth, and 2 weeks before my spouse came to the USA, her immigration was smooth as well.

Tips:-
1. Be confident; there is nothing to worry about
2. Be ready to answer the questions
3. Have all supporting documents related to your visa
4. Don’t speak too much; answer whatever is being asked. I should not have mentioned January when I was asked about how long my mother-in-law is gonna stay.
If you have any questions, feel free to post them.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!
Top Apps Eating Your Screen Time: A Personal Reflection

July 21, 2026

Reading Time: < 1 minute
What app eats up most of your screen time — and do you even feel bad about it?

There are several apps on my mobile phone that battle with each other to gain the upper hand. The top qualifiers are YouTube, WhatsApp, Jetpack, and Google. Based on my goals, interests, and schedule, their ranking keep on changing.

I was in India for three weeks and my most used app was Jetpack which I use to interact with you all through my blog posts and why would I feel bad about it. I actually love writing.

Now I am back in the USA, and whenever I get time, I use YouTube to watch entertainment and knowledge videos. I listen to self-help and finance-related videos during my office travel, and once home, I watch reels to kill time. Sometimes I regret it and feel ashamed of not doing productive work. At other times, I feel like a slave to watching reels. But from time to time I control it.

Whether we like it or not, we have become slaves of technology, and it’s unavoidable. Living without a mobile phone sounds interesting, but it would disconnect you from the world, which is not ideal in the era we live in. The idea is to have moderation.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!
Traveling Through Books: Inspiring Journeys and Stories

July 20, 2026

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Daily writing prompt
What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel?

Those who follow this blog closely know we love traveling. When there comes a gap of 2-3 months without a trip, I feel uneasy. The feeling is hard to describe, but I just want to go somewhere in case of a gap like this. Colorado is our favorite neighboring state, so when we want to go somewhere without anything specific in mind, we head there. So far, we have covered 3 of Colorado’s 4 national parks and multiple towns, including Colorado Springs, Montrose, Denver, Glenwood Springs, Telluride, Ouray, Estes Park, Grand Lake, and many more.

My most recent trip was to India; I actually came back to the USA yesterday, but it was for a personal emergency. Just 2 weeks before that, I did a boys’ trip to Ouray. Before that, we did a family trip to Utah and covered 3 national parks. Now that September is approaching and the next long weekend is coming up, we will be planning something for sure.

Coming back to today’s question, my travel journey is not inspired by any particular movie or book. I started traveling very early on, when I was working back in India. My friends and I used to go trekking in Maharashtra, and then we slowly started visiting other tourist places in India. I love reading and read all kinds of books. A particular book that excited me and increased my hunger to travel is West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. I read this book in 2021; check this post. It’s a beautiful story about two Giraffes being transported from New York to the San Diego Zoo, becoming the first giraffes of the famous zoo. The story that unfolds and the road trip is like a dream for any traveler. I should read it again.

Another Book/Movie mention would be Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis. I didn’t get a chance to watch the movie yet, but I loved reading the book. Firstly, the plot is very interesting, as it’s about the romance between two cannibals who are trying to accept their reality and find comfort in each other after learning about each other. Then there is this road journey they do together to run away from their past and find the peace they need. It’s a great read.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!
Clever Excuses Kids Make: A Fun Insight

July 17, 2026

Reading Time: < 1 minute
What is the best excuse you have heard lately?

The best excuse I heard lately is from my 4-year-old kid. That little fellow is full of excuses, and most of them make sense, at least from his point of view.

Right now, he is with me at my parents’ home. He is bonding well with them. My dad is not so well, so he is mostly interacting with my mom and her daadi (grandmother). Every night, he insists on sleeping with me, but I am mostly on my Kindle before sleep. Sometimes I tell him stories from my childhood books, and he loves them.

Now my mom, a better storyteller, is around, and he realizes that too. Every night he goes to bed with me, then goes to his daadi, saying, “I want to sleep with daadi.” He listens to at least 5 stories from her(he remembers them well and tells her exactly which story to tell). Once all stories are finished, he asks to go back to me for sleep.

When my mom asks why you are going to your dad? You promised to sleep with me. He gives excuses –

1) I am getting a smell from you (he says this to me too when he goes to my mom)

2) But I have to sleep with Dad too. I want to sleep with both of you, so now it’s Dad’s turn.

We both smile at his cleverness. Kids are like that; they can get anything they want just by being true and honest. I learn a lot from him.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!
Are We Products of Our Environment or Experiences?

July 16, 2026

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?

It’s a great question, I heard it somewhere. We don’t have anything of our own; whatever we do, become, or decide, society plays a great role in shaping it. It is even said we don’t have any life decisions of our own.

When we are born, we are a clean slate. Then our parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, and our surroundings fill it with ideas and goals. If you follow the pattern, there is a craze to go to foreign countries in South India, and then Punjabis have an affinity for Canada and the UK. Bihar has the largest number of IAS officers every year.

Take my example: my elder sister is in IT. She received a handsome package upon completing her Master’s, and her salary was higher than my father’s, which showed my family a golden path to success. I just followed their instructions, completed my master’s, and am now a successful IT engineer. In my success, I have no role other than the actual effort. My sister’s success influenced all the decisions.

In Philosophy, it is called determinism. A man can never decide on his own. So our lives are shaped by our surroundings, and we have nothing of our own. After we can make decisions of our own, we are influenced by our own experiences. Sometimes, when our dear ones don’t listen to our genuine advice, we say they will learn from their own experiences.

Now, whether they will learn or not, that varies from person to person. Apart from external influences, learning from personal experiences is the best way to improve one’s life. Negative experiences affect us deeply, and no one wants to experience them knowingly, but they are the most important for our growth.

Positive experiences, on the other hand, bring happiness and a drive to move forward and achieve whatever we desire. They can also be deceiving and hamper growth by introducing ego, fear of losing, and isolation. One must be very careful not to fall into the trap.

So, in short, we are completely shaped by our experiences, and we are nothing but reflections of our society.

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!