Passions – Page 3 – ⋆ Second Gen Desi ⋆

Reading Time: 8 minutes

It’s been seven months of living in Milan, and I think I’ve had plenty of pasta and pizza to satisfy my authentic Italian cuisine checklist.

What I truly miss are foods that are “sacrilegious” here, like pineapple pizza or bagel breakfast sandwiches made with eggs and cheese.

Not exactly my vegan favorites, but man do I miss the plethora of vegan options that were in Los Angeles...

Back when I ran a food-focused, lifestyle blog (Will Study for Food), I made it a priority to check out restaurants and write full reviews on them. It was something I truly enjoyed, and while I never got to an extreme level of “food influencer”, I was able to connect with local restaurants from time-to-time to participate in tastings, or review products from food companies that got in contact with me.

But I soon grew tired of constantly posting about food. My blog post format was starting to get repetitive because seriously, there’s only so many ways you can be creative when it comes to writing food reviews 🤷🏽‍♀️.

Since starting Second Gen Desi and moving abroad, I have started to miss my food blogging days, but here in Milan, I wasn’t in the mood to take pictures of every caffè or brioche I stumbled upon.

But since coming here, I realized it would be fun to at least try foods from local restaurants that I could group into a “category” for a later blog posts.

I thought that it could perhaps provide some fun during these dreary times, and especially help restaurants survive via the delivery services I started to use on the daily 😅

So with this in mind, I scoured the land for whatever vegan restaurants I could find. One I had the chance to dine-in at, twice, in the summer before everything went COVID-crazy again.

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So if you are vegan in Milan and are struggling with options, or you’re somewhere else in the world and find it unbelievable that the land of formaggio and proscuitto even has vegan options, scroll on down to see what I ended up finding 👇🏽!

1 ) Flower Burger (dine-in, Porta Venezia location)

I knew of Flower Burger even before coming to Italy, when I still participated in the food blogging-charade and stumbled across someone’s IG post featuring a plate of colorful vegan burgers. I remember saving the post under a file where I archived any intriguing restaurants outside of the US—in case I ever happened to travel to a particular country, I was ready with my “where-to-chow-down” list.

It’s amusing that I ended up eventually visiting Flower Burger, twice!

My second visit was in early September, on a weekday evening after work. I came prepared to order in Italian and not use my Bank of America credit card (not that using that particular card was a bad thing, but it was a dead-giveaway to the cashier that I was not an Italian native and a give-away that I was not a native Italian speaker…)

In this visit, I was successful in ordering an Ocean Burger—their special edition burger outfitted in a bright teal bun, sandwiching some good fixin’s including lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, a thick quinoa patty, and a mayo-type sauce called “beach sauce”.

The burger came paired with patate savory (potato wedges), but I didn’t think to ask for an extra order of sauce.

This is something I’ve realized about Italians—they skimp when it comes to saucing their carbs!

Besides the “dry” potato situation, Flower Burger’s burgers were, in my mind, the go-to for vegan burgers in all of Milano.

That is, until lockdowns happened again in late October, and I discovered a new guy in town…

2) Black Out Burgers by Avo Brothers

I was scrolling through Deliveroo, an app that has gotten me through Italy’s oscillating restrictions, in early November when I first spotted BOB.

Unlike Flower Burger, they didn’t seem to have a brick-and-mortar store nor was their entire menu vegan-friendly. What made some of their selections vegan-friendly was using Beyond Burger in their “normal” dishes, but it was something else that made my eyes pop:

Britney’s No Chicken Burger

I was able to save a *bit* of money by making it a meal, getting some sweet potato fries on the side, TWO sauce cups, and a can of ice cold acqua frizzante.

The bag it came in helped me figure out why my burger was Britney’s (like, Britney Spears?)

Wowwww, oh wow—this meal was demanding to compete with what Flower Burger had to offer. The fries were incredibly sweet and earthy, and I made a wise choice by getting BBQ sauce and paprika mayo on the side for dipping. I was also able to request plant-based cheddar for the burger, the patty of which was incredibly crispy.

Anyone who says they can’t stand veggie/vegan burgers because they taste awful, and that they prefer the “real thing”, needs to try this. And be proved wrong.

From that point on, I ordered least one meal from BOB each week, usually on Monday nights since it served as a good pick-me-up for having to start a new work week.

I even raved about BOB on a vegan and vegetarian’s group chat I’m a part of with other expat women in the city 😂:

I gave BOB excellent reviews for quite a while after my first order, but when they made an egregious error regarding the last order I placed with them, that tampered with my trust.

Due to an order mix-up, I opened my bag to find a lovely beefy burger, and I decided to call it quits. Thankfully I caught it, but I was put-off from their lack of integrity and awareness for the customer.

I guess it was good while it lasted.

3) Avo Brothers

During my BOB obsession, I did take a break and order from the OG Avo Brothers.

Their menu had refreshing options like salads, bowls, and (vegan) desserts!

I opted for the Lolita Bowl, which wasn’t exactly vegan due to the halloumi cheese (which could always be taken out), but I went for it as is, keeping it vegetarian with the cheese.

I can see why it’s one of their most popular bowls (it says so on Deliveroo). It’s packed with spinach, avocado, purple cabbage, tomatoes, squash, beet hummus, and sunflower seeds 🤩

As far as the guilt-free brownie though….if I had known it would be so soft, chewy, and flavorful, I would have ordered at least….three? 🤣

4) Soulgreen

Soulgreen seems to be well-known by vegan expats here (at least based on the one chat group I’m in…), but from all of the times I’ve ordered from here, I haven’t been able to get away from the Falafel Wrap.

It’s an unassuming dish, with no fancy fillings, but it’s one of my favorites. Since it comes with potato wedges and ketchup (finally, a place in Milan that understands that some sort of condiment is essential when it comes to potato wedges and the sort 🙌🏽).

I’m used to falafel wraps with thick tahini-based sauces, but I was surprised by how the consistency was much like plain yogurt (very runny, and too runny for my liking).

I also wasn’t able to confirm if the sauce was dairy-free, so this ingredient might make this particular dish vegetarian rather than vegan.

5) MACHAPOKE

I was surprised to learn that sushi is incredibly popular in Milan, and in line with that, poke.

In LA, I always ended up doing a create-your-own type bowl if I ended up at a poke shop, so I could avoid the fish and get more of the other, better stuff 😉.

I was pleased to see that many of the poke shops on food delivery apps like Deliveroo offer vegetarian or even vegan bowls, and MACHAPOKE’s version is one of my favorites.

Their specific Vegan Poke bowl is so eye-catching—with a quinoa base, vegan burger balls (that actually look like falafel), avocado, broccoli, carrot, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, squash, and flaxseeds.

They threw in some chopsticks, soy sauce, and ginger, even though the bowl didn’t need it 😂. It was a struggle trying to get the last bits of quinoa with chopsticks, let me tell ya…

They also offer a vegan cheesecake, but since 75% of it is bland, it’s not worth a re-order. I didn’t expect the matcha layer to be too sweet, but I was hoping the middle layer would have been better in the sweet department (far from it). The bottom graham crust layer was the only part that was decent. Wish there had been more of that and not just like, 25%…

6) Cibo Vegan Food

Ah, Cibo Vegan Food—probably the most bland vegan outlet in all of Milan, and one of the priciest.

Due to a technical error on one weeknight, Deliveroo offered those who tried to place an order that evening a 5 euros off promo code to “make things right again”.

With that in hand, I could “splurge” a little and see if Cibo was worthy any hype.

Their menu was headache-inducing due to the Italian I had to comprehend after a long work day, but I ended up getting their vegan paella, a “cake” slice with pears and ginger, and “arancino di cereali misti”.

When my food arrived, I could tell not much work went into the packaging. I think the assumption that vegan places tend to be environmentally-friendly is an assumption gone awry…

Everything was double-wrapped in plastic

The vegan paella was nothing special—just flavored rice with bite-size pieces of tofu and tempeh mixed in.

The “arancino” reminded me of a bland falafel—not even the “soy” sauce (basically hummus) could help it out of the flavorless black hole!

Oh, and the excuse-for-a-dessert that was the pere e zenzero cake slice. It could have been sweeter is an understatement…it needed to be dipped into a pool of sugar 😂

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Just like it’s possible to live in Los Angeles without a car, it’s possible to eat vegan in Milan, if that’s what you truly want! LA has far more options, but for a city in a traditional country with (ridiculous) food rules, the options that are available in Milan are decent.

Perhaps when these lockdowns ease down 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽 I’ll be more motivated to see what else I can find…

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Running has been a serious part of my life for about nine years—it has evolved from checking off races and writing recaps, to focusing on my training and trying to adopt the stance of an athlete. It’s hard to believe that the last race I ran took place almost two years ago, but that was a break I absolutely needed.

As I write up this reflection, I’m seeing how much of an impact running has had on my physical and mental health in the last decade. There’s so much more I want to accomplish in this sport, and I can only hope that my “break” from training has refreshed my motivation reserves to pursue race goals this year and in the near future…

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I hated running as a kid, but I surprisingly did cross-country for one year in middle school, in an effort to list it as an extra-curricular activity for college apps. Turns out colleges don’t care what you did before high school…so they never knew about how much I despised being the only brown girl on the “team” and the second-slowest one at that!

I was relieved to kick running aside once I got to high school, choosing to focus on tennis instead. My Dad was also thrilled about this, and we spent many off-season afternoons practicing at community park courts.

I was good for a high school kid, but not good enough to make it to the collegiate level, so I was “sport-less” once again in college. Running as a sport came across my mind again after stumbling upon blog posts by bloggers who detailed their racing adventures in “race recaps”. I was so inspired by one particular blogger’s running journey, that I signed up for my first race in 2012, at a local Turkey Trot.

My average pace was around 10:00/mi at the time—nothing special, but timing wasn’t my goal. I was excited to run all the local races I could, and post my own race recaps!

I was still struggling with an eating disorder when I picked up running during this time. The fact that I was running and exerting energy through a physical sport was somewhat convincing for my brain, “allowing” me to consume more on days I ran, but counting calories was still an obsession…

When I moved to Los Angeles for graduate school, I stumbled upon a marathon training team. Prior to that, I never thought I would train for a marathon, but something about combining running with camaraderie and setting new distance goals seemed highly appealing at the time.

Before I knew it, I crossed the finish of my first marathon in March 2015.

But given the state my body was in, I had to make a critical decision: choose recovery so that running would be a sustainable activity for life, or continue on a path of restriction and running until my body crumbed from overexertion and inadequate fuel.

This was a few months after my first marathon, running at a local half in hot SoCal summer heat. I was still underweight and suffering from things like bladder incontinence on long runs. Not good…

I chose the former, and while I battled negative body image thoughts for another year after getting myself to a healthy weight, at least I was now at a point where I could get in shape to compete healthily.

So in the training cycle for my third marathon in LA, I was finally seeing progress. I was running workouts with my teammates at paces ranging from 7:30-8:24/mi on “fast” days, and my endurance was the best it had ever been.

It got me a PR of 3:57:53, in March 2017.

I was thrilled with the time, but not with having to peel off my socks over angry-red blisters and black toenails!

After this marathon, things continued to feel right with running. I had a marathon in San Diego booked for two months later, and I had fun piggy-backing off of my LA marathon training, and finding and working with a coach. The race time I got in San Diego was comparable to LA, and it only pushed me to want more out of my training—to really push the envelope on my pacing and time goals.

But things started to sour in late 2017. I had agreed with my coach to switch to forefoot running (to get away from heel striking) in an effort to make my running more energy-efficient. This took me about six months to get used to, and shook me up during my fall marathon training cycle.

My times were getting “slow” again. What was this coach doing?

I ran my third marathon for the year—fifth one total—in November 2017: the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa. The race itself was an awful experience due to the piercing cold weather and my own issues with bowel movements and breathing. After the race, I suffered with a bout of shin splints, and I figured it was time for a clear break from training.

Unfortunately, these issues didn’t disappear in 2018. I was plagued with breathing issues, bowel problems, fatigue coinciding with PMS, and chest tightness. This was also paired with mental fatigue, since I had pent up frustration from not being able to meet my next-level goals.

At one point in the year, I ran a race in Orange County and completely lacked the enthusiasm I normally had for races. I didn’t take out my phone to take pictures, and I felt irritable throughout my time on the course. I eventually walked some of the race—something I never did for distances less than 26.2 miles—and called it quits early.

So I thought 2019 would be a fresh start, but running LA that year proved to be nothing special. I then made the more serious decision not to participate in anymore races until I was ready to compete with a pace (and mind) I was happy with.

Then, 2020 happened, and it was as if taking a break from races was pre-planned for me by the universe!

It wasn’t until later in the year—after settling in Italy—that I started to think about having a new approach to training. My ultimate goal was—and still is—to get faster. To eventually be able to compete at the elite level. The past few years have been a challenge in regards to staying in line with this goal, but I didn’t want to lose hope.

Back in September 2020, I wanted to start training again, smartly.

These were humbling realizations, but having them when I did was probably pre-mature, looking back. I was struggling with handling work demands—and adapting to a new life in general—with my energy levels, so many of the weeks in late 2020 were much like before. I ran when I could, but just to keep with a routine. I still lacked the energy required to hit the time goals I desired.

An early morning run in Milano when I just felt out of breath and paralyzed with anxiety and stress from work…

At least when I did venture out to run, I tried to appreciate my surroundings and take in the nice, peaceful moments of nature when they happened…

I’ve also been incredibly lucky to spend so much time in Como… it’s the perfect backdrop for weekend runs near the fresh mountain air…

And at least now, I can say I’ve run in the snow 😅? Not the best setting for marathon training, but a fun way to ring in the new year…

…so was running 40 miles for the last week of 2020, my highest weekly mileage of 2020 since the summer.

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It’s hard to predict how racing will look after the mess that was 2020, but I hope I can finally get back to a “training 2.0” of sorts.

I have my eyes on some marathons that are tentatively scheduled in late April/May here in Italy, but since anything can happen, I’m also ready to figuratively run in place… my goal is to be ready for whatever comes.

Reading Time: 10 minutes

I’ve always been an independent soul, so it’s no surprise solo travel is something I latched onto without hesitancy.

But, I have to be honest here as well: my impatience and my attempt to mediate boredom with others played a huge role in how I stumbled upon the path solo-traveled.

When I was younger, I’d often stray from my group of friends when we went on day trips to the mall. They’d be interested in stores that I didn’t care for in the least, and I thought it’d be the most time-efficient for everyone if we parted ways for a few hours to explore what we wanted.

This usually ended up with me being alone in the end, since my sister and our best friends had similar tastes in clothes, recreation, and even food. They’d be happy with hours spent in Barnes and Noble, grabbing fries and a burger from the food court, and maybe popping into Forever 21 or H&M for their cheap, fast fashion needs.

I usually found myself at the “higher end” side of the mall, taking my time trying on designer jeans, and treating myself to a more “sophisticated” mall treat like pineapple froyo with mochi and popping boba.

My friends came out with bags of books, seasonal sweaters, and bellies full of fast, filling food. I on the other hand, brought out a bag small enough to place on my lap, containing my long-awaited, pricey prize.

As I approached my late teens and early twenties, I realized I thrived as an early riser. This new-found trait of mine was probably exacerbated by my eating disorder, since I was often awake as early as 3AM trying to pass the time until I allowed myself to eat breakfast. But even as I recovered, my inclination towards rising with the sun and starting my day with a morning run hours before the rest of the world was slamming their alarms was something that persisted—and further isolated me from my peers.

It seemed like everyone around me was a freaking night owl, and I was a lone, morning lark…

So when it was time for me to finally move out and start a “new life” in Los Angeles for graduate school, I was more than ready to live on my own terms. Wake up when I want, eat when I want, and explore all of LA as much as I wanted to on the weekends…I didn’t have to worry about asking my Dad to drive me from one place or another, I didn’t have to worry about appeasing the tastes of my friends. I could do whatever I wanted!

In my first apartment! Los Angeles, August 2014

And I did do my fair share of exploration in LA. Monday through Friday was devoted to classes as a first-year PhD student. There were also some weekend mornings devoted to studying, but I made it a priority to get out every single weekend.

I’d take the metro and the bus, and frequent neighborhoods like WeHo, DTLA, Koreatown, NoHo, Santa Monica, Culver City, Sawtelle, Pasadena, etc. I had a list of all the cafes, restaurants, and dessert shops I was eager to visit and sample treats from. I would even travel to go grocery shopping—there was that one time I bought a handful of items from a Erewhon near The Grove (yes, on a PhD student’s budget 😅). I’d make sure to bring a number of reusable bags, taking pride in my grocery hauls as I’d saunter onto public transit like a real bag lady.

At the time, I deemed these days as successful. I achieved what I set out to do—I was living life on my own terms, solo and free.

But as much as I was an expert on doing things on my own with confidence, a part of me always wished that the friends who comprised my social circle would share my interests and passions. I never did meet the right group of people to go out and “party” with. My friends ended up being introverts like me, and perhaps were even more farther down on the introverted spectrum…

Meet-ups did happen here and there over the following years. Despite our supposed mixed schedules, my sister and one of our best friends were able to plan a girls’ trip to Seattle. Then there was the Iceland/London/Cardiff/Paris trip my sis, Dad, and I took the following year, and some weekend trips not too far from LA. Company is great, but juggling fatigue, hanger, anxiety, and the preferences of others isn’t what I’d include in defining my dream travel adventure.

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My first opportunity for international solo travel however, was something that came up out of the blue, thanks to work. In the third year of my PhD, I was one of six students part of a group fellowship for one year, and one of the stipulations was using some allocated funds to attend a conference.

Without going into too much detail about the situation, I ended up having to pick a conference urgently due to some misunderstandings. I ended up submitting an abstract to two conferences—one of which took place on the (US) East Coast, and the other in Barcelona.

Guess which one I “ended up” going to because the other one declined my submission…

It took me a full day to warm-up to the idea that I was in a whole ‘nother country on my own. I had left the lab in mid-September, after an exhaustive series of weeks of intensive experiments. Technically, this was also my first “business” trip, but I still felt out of sorts for being away from work on a trip that was planned last minute.

But I eased up to the idea after a day of rest and a full day exploring the city—from Park Guell to Sagrada Familia to sampling vegan paella, I felt a new-found independence I was slowly allowing myself to enjoy.

In the following days, I left the city for a beach town where my conference was held. I fell in love with the architecture, the views of the Mediterranean Sea, and the kind people (well, kind person—the BNB host I was staying with was a sweet woman who was warm, engaging, and generous enough to give me money for a return train ticket when they wouldn’t take my credit card!).

When I came back from Spain and went back to work (seriously, I went to lab the next day after landing in LA the night before…), I had intense Spain withdrawals and wished I could have extended my stay to do more exploring post-conference.

That trip was what got me pondering about going abroad after my PhD. I was toying with the idea of learning Spanish and applying for a fellowship in Spain for many months after that trip…

Since I was still knee-deep in my PhD however, I made it my mission to do at least one international solo trip a year. Even though I initially invited my friends to join me, they were quick with their excuses. So, it was me and my lonesome yet again, planning my adventures from scratch.

Since Spain, I’ve traveled to Germany, Sweden, and Vancouver, Canada for my international solo trips. Technically, Germany was to meet my lab bestie, who returned home after 3 years in the US (where I met her), but Sweden and Vancouver were purely solo, and very different experiences.

In Sweden, I spent 10 days exploring Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, and even a day trip “across the pond” in Copenhagen. I went in thinking it would be a trip full of friendships made in hostels, nights out on the town with these supposed friends, and happy memories to return home with.

Unfortunately, Sweden was the trip that reminded me that solo is only a few letters off from lonely. I stayed in hostels, but came across independent and introverted travelers like myself, who were not too keen to extend an invitation for company. I spent many of my days walking aimlessly around these cities, because my heart wasn’t into stopping inside museums or paying for tourist attractions. Even the food was sub-par…

My trip to Vancouver was shorter in comparison, and while still very much an isolated experience, it was one I remember fondly. I stayed in an Airbnb room the size of a walk-in closet, but I remember walking around the city in a warm, puffy jacket since it was November and the weather was crisp and cool. Memories of warm vegan poutine, hot cider from Granville Island, getting nauseous on Capistrano Bridge, and even resting inside a movie theater to watch It’s a Good Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers were all delightful moments of the trip.

Enjoying that cold weather gear in Vancouver, November 2019

Despite the varied experiences of my trips to-date, I have a new-found appreciation for ALL of the moments I experienced, given that we now live in a COVID-affected world…

After Vancouver, I squeezed in a trip to India with the family, right before COVID struck. Obviously no trips were in my plans for 2020, except figuring out how to get to Italy to start my new post-doc position.

And coming to Italy has been my biggest “solo adventure” yet, and it’s hard to believe that it has only just begun! Right now, work demands and my energy levels have limited me to staying within Milan and the northern areas of Lombardia, but I have hope that I will soon find the time to safely travel the rest of the country—which I hear is much more beautiful the farther out from Milan you go 😉.

I don’t consider myself an intense traveler, but I am proud of my abilities to plan solo trips and feel confident about them. I’ve had friends and acquaintances ask me with wide-eyed wonder, “So you went to ____, by yourself?!”, as if to say, something must be wrong if you can’t find anyone to travel with.

But I relish in it, and you shouldn’t be afraid to do so either!

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If I’m going to give my two-cents on solo travel, here’s what I think you should consider for planning your next solo trip—especially if you are an introvert like me 😉:

💗 Make a day out of walking

I’ve had days where I felt bored out of my mind while walking around cities I visited while on vacation (like in Sweden), but this was also influenced by my mood at the time. My time spent afoot in Barcelona and Vancouver were the exact opposite!

By making a day out of walking, meaning not relying on public transit or cars to get you places, it allows you to feel like a local in a short amount of time. And as an introvert, it feels nice to not have to call attention to yourself when dealing with the stresses that come with transit (although, public transit is great for covering more places in a day).

I feel as if I am able to understand the vibe of a city/place more after spending hours afoot because all of my senses are at work. I keep Google Maps handy (and also make sure my phone is juiced) so I don’t get completely lost.

I also like to keep some kind of prime destination in mind, be it a café of interest or a photo-worthy spot, which brings me to my next point…

💗 Make what you enjoy a priority, and focus around that

When I was “forced” to go on family road trips and vacations (😂) as a child, I often felt upset by the fact that everything felt rushed and my parents were riddled with anxiety (mostly Dad, haha) with trying to fit seeing as many things as possible in a short duration of time. This often meant trips to boring museums, going to the one Indian restaurant in backwoods Montana because Mom would not eat anything else, and appeasing Mom’s additional shop-a-holic needs at every single gift shop we passed through.

Since then, I’ve vowed to make my solo trips pleasant for me, because who else am I doing it for?

This meant no museums or tourist attractions that I would not find interesting otherwise, and paying attention to my energy levels. In Sweden, I was in a consistently low mood, but I was happiest when I was able to check off vegan restaurants from my to-do list and collect a plethora of pics I could use for Instagram posts 😉.

If you are on vacation, YOU deserve to enjoy it! If it means planning your day around local cuisine and making a foodie tour, eat your heart out! If it means collecting trinkets for friends and family by paying visits to the shops of local artisans, by all means, spend, spend, spend! And there is certainly no shame in spending a day taking photos meant for the ‘gram. If it’s fun for you, why should anyone tell you that’s not how to travel?

And guess what? You do need energy for all of this, so please…

💗 Make time for ample rest / don’t shy away from hostels

Invest in a cozy guest suite for one. Or even a luxurious hotel room. Having enough energy to enjoy where you are and what you are experiencing is absolutely necessary.

But there is nothing wrong with a cheap, social hostel either! You’d think that’s a scene to avoid as an introvert, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. My only hostel experience to-date was in Sweden so I can only comment on that, but the places I stayed in were safe, comfortable, clean, and easy on the wallet. It’s the perfect place to hang your backpack for the night after a long day of walking, eating, photo-taking, and shopping—pretty much if you follow all of the above tips 😉.

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Whether you are an extrovert or introvert, a gal with a ton of friends to pick from to accompany you on all of your trips, or a self-identifying “loner” who prefers the sound of silence over the yapping of crowds, I recommend that everyone have a solo travel experience at least once in their life.

There is fear in being lonely, but don’t be afraid of being alone. Experiencing solitude during travel allows us to learn new things about our surroundings, while also allowing the bravery, strength, and tenacity that normally is at rest within us to rise to the occasion.

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Written April 9, 2020

This post was not sponsored by Wag! All opinions are my own.

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My move to Italy has been significantly delayed—first due to ironing out contract details and more recently, the coronavirus outbreak. Back in February, I was growing restless. I was dying to get started on preparing for my move and for the next chapter of my LIFE…what could I do in the meantime that would calm my mind down while also being fun?

Then it hit me—I was spending all my weekend mornings at the animal shelter, and honestly, the rest of those days would be spent at home napping/binge-watching Netflix…I could use that time to hang out with more dogs since A) I didn’t/couldn’t have one at my own at the time 😑, B) it’s hard NOT to be happy around a dog 😊, and C) I just love ’em so, so much 😚.

I previously knew about Wag! a dog walking/sitting/boarding app that connected pet owners with pet caregivers for services such as dog walks. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to sign up earlier, but why not give it a go now?

The process to sign up was pretty straightforward: fill out an online application, provide references that could attest to your animal handling abilities, and a background check ($25 fee required, urgh). Once all of those were checked off however, I was free to download the pet caregiver version of the app.

I was able to see walks up to 20 miles away from “Home”, my “Current” location, and “Custom” locations:

Front page of the pet caregiver version of Wag! app

Depending on what services pop up at the time you check, you can click to see what the service entails before requesting. Details that include the dog breed, pay-out, walk time, duration, and distance the dog is away from your marked location are all included:

As you rack up walks, pet owners can leave you reviews and vice versa, much like other service apps. You can also view your pay-outs (and tips). Payments are calculated on a weekly basis:

But for me, it wasn’t about the money.

Over the course of 3 weeks, I found my stride and I was able to fit in walks on weekdays as well as the weekends. I found myself in the company of all sorts of dogs in a variety of shapes, sizes, personalities, and needs:

Some of the cutie pies I walked in March!

(Top Left) – This guy was my first pup! He was a shy pit bull mix I believe, and the owner had requested a long walk within a 60 min timeframe. I would have definitely ran the whole time with this babe if he was up for it, but he was a homebody and kept dragging me to the front of his house! Needless to say, I was pretty glad when the walk was over 😅. I promptly went to the animal shelter I volunteered at at the time right after!

(Top Center) – She was a gorgeous gal, and she was waiting outside for me in the front of her hoomans’ expansive, bougie Yorba Linda house-in-the-hills 🤩. I am a lover of huskies and man, 20 minutes with her wasn’t enough!! I wish the owner had requested a 60 min walk…needless to say, I never saw her again after this walk 😪…

(Top Right) – This little guy had a bowtie (!!) and was part of a dog pair of an owner who requested a 20 min drop-in visit. So no walk, just cuddle and play time! This little guy and his buddy were interested in me for maybe…5 min 😅? Soon after, they left me for the other room and never looked back!

(Middle Left) – My first time walking a mop—ehrm, a Brussels Griffon! It was hard getting into this apartment since it was located in DTLA—I had to pick up a key from a leasing office a block away, ask the doorman to key me up to the 12th floor, and it took me a while to find the actual apartment once I got up. But when I did find it, I was greeted by the most petite and hairy cutie! We had a relaxed stroll on DTLA streets in the rain, and it was one of my most “soothing” dog walks!

(Middle Center) – I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for bullys! For some reason, I told everyone when I was in the second grade that my favorite dog breed was the bulldog 🤷🏽‍♀️. Don’t ask me why now, but it was! This little guy was a shy boy, and even though our walk was supposed to be 30 min, we had to walk back to his apartment half-way through the walk (more like, pull him back) so I could grab some treats and coax him with that! But boy, was he soft and cuddly! 😍

(Middle Right) – This Australian Shepard was the sweetest senior! He was a big boy, and the owner was like, make him get a workout! Gladly.

He lived near Seal Beach in a nice neighborhood, so the 30 min walk/jog was accompanied with some gorgeous views:

This was the backyard of this particular dog, practically!

If I have to walk a dog and they live in a gorgeous neighborhood or near a gigantic park, that makes me even more excited! It guarantees a good time to be had by all 😁.

(Bottom Left) – Okay, hands down this handsome boy is the most well-behaved husky I’ve ever met. I’ll even go a step further and say he is the most obedient dog I’ve ever met! He lived in a high-rise in the heart of DTLA. I literally ran, took him for a walk, and ran back to work since the timing of the walk fit my lunch break! The streets were crowded when I took him out so we weren’t able to really get his legs moving with a fast run, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was loving the fresh air (yes, surprisingly it was not so smoggy in LA that day!) and I was loving the furry company 🥰.

(Bottom Middle) – This feisty boy is of my favorite dog breed (Australian Cattle Dog) but he was transfixed on biting my arm so I had to be stern with him so that he didn’t break skin 😳. Nevertheless, he had a fun time rolling in the grass, even though our walk was restricted to around the apartment complex.

(Bottom Right) – This baby girl had an odd name, but she was one of the sweetest, shyest pups yet. We went for a nighttime walk after I spent 10 minutes coaxing her with treats. She was also a barker, and scared a runner during our walk 🤣. Despite the walk being scheduled later in the night than I usually go out, I ran into the owners as I was leaving and got the feeling that they were some pretty nice people. The generous tip and comment they left proved it 😉.

Some of my favorite adventures included stumbling upon Newport Upper Bay with a gorgeous bully pal. Her owner lived in Costa Mesa, and since I had 60 min with her, we had a grand time “getting lost” and accidentally finding a hiking trail!

Evidence to suggest that I need a dog in my life to go on amazing outdoor adventures with!

Not all of my favorites were as eager as this bully beauty. I was excited to walk a pug in Anaheim when I booked a walk for a chubby loaf, but when I came to his apartment, he was far from excited:

He was clearly tired of life, and his mood reflected the times (1st week of coronavirus stay-at-home order in Cali!).

Still, we made it out for a short walk, if you want to call it that. His eyes looked glossy and since he was a senior pup (11 years!), I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had succumbed to cataracts…😞. I made sure to shower him with lots of love and cuddles 🥰!

Then there was the time I walked the most stubborn (but adorable) CORGI PUPPY PRINCESS 😘!

I think my juvenile outburst is justified with this precious face!

I was hoping we could go to an arboretum that was nearby, but no, she was perfectly fine searching through the bushes that surrounded her apartment 😛.

So much for a 30 min walk!

The end of March was pretty somber. I was surprised that I was able to rack up so many dog walks within a span of a few weeks (thanks to having free weekends during which I had time to run, eat, and hang out with fur babies!), but due to the coronavirus outbreak, things got shaky—for all of us no doubt!

Since I was living in a rented space in someone’s house at the time—and they turned out to be a source of anxiety and verbal abuse—it was best for me to stay with family for the time being since I also had the ability to work remotely.

I also noticed a major drop in available walks as the end of the month neared, probably because most people that used the app were working remotely, and had time to take their dogs out now. Or perhaps they were worried about the contagious properties of the virus. Who knows, but there was a significant drop in available walks, regardless of the location.

As disappointing as it was, I was also a bit relieved. I love being around dogs, but I was also getting burnt out. I was more than ready to spend some quality time resting and working remotely with family, and not putting unnecessary “pressure” on myself to check on walks that would pop up throughout the weekend.

My last walk in the OC however, was a splendid one.

I had an amazing morning with this smart sheepdog

This dog was actually visiting from NorCal and staying in Anaheim Canyon for a few days. His owner handed me a backpack with his favorite tennis ball 🎾 and frisbee, as well as some treats, and suggested we have a fun time at a nearby park!

I was pleasantly surprised this baby boy could walk off leash, and it was a blast being able to play fetch with him. We played and ran, and despite my low mood that morning, he really helped perk me up.

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Since that walk, I’ve only had one walk in Oklahoma, where I have been staying with family while working remotely since the beginning of stay-at-home orders due to the virus.

Like I mentioned earlier, there has been a significant drop in available walks since the virus outbreak. For me, signing up for Wag! was never for the money, but for the chance to hang out with dogs since I don’t have any of my own (currently). It’s definitely not a lucrative “job”, so I advise that it’s something you consider doing only if you love being around dogs in your free time.

Have you heard about Wag! ?

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I was born into a family that appreciated animals. My family is of the Brahmin caste, who in ancient times, were an educated class of Hindus that were renowned for their religious scholarship and respect for animals (hence, most Brahmins tend to practice vegetarianism).

Growing up, we didn’t have pets right away. Although, cats always found us…regardless of if we wanted them 😂!

UK circa ’97. A British kitty found an admirer in my sister with the bowl-cut.

As my sister and I got older, I never expressed my deep desire to have a pet because I really didn’t have such a desire…yet. My sister became the “animal lover” of the family, and by 5 years old, she was set on becoming a veterinarian.

To “prove” her love for animals, she would always request animal figurines as gifts for birthdays, holidays, good grades (lol), etc. Clifford the Big Red Dog was her favorite book series/show in kindergarten. She begged my parents for us to get a dog.

It seemed like she fit the animal lover role perfectly, so why did I need to do anything?

On one fateful October day, a furry child came to our driveway, and won my sister over like the picture taken in the UK above. She was a neighbor’s cat, but she chose us each and every day after her initial meeting with us. Tiger kept visiting us each evening, and my sister and I were in awe of such a beautiful tabby choosing to hang out with us over her owners, haha!

Those neighbors coincidentally were planning to move, and knew about Tiger’s whereabouts and visits to our house. Tiger, who we renamed Baby (because she was our baby!), chose us as her new family. Our hearts couldn’t be any more full.

Baby and I when I was in middle school. Excuse my unibrow—but what do you expect from a second gen desi pre-teen girl 😂 #HairyGenes

Baby was our fiesty, sweet companion for many years. She saw me from third grade all the way through my first years in graduate school. She could snap a bite, rip off mouse heads and gift us with the body 😮, or sit elegantly in her “puff” (or loaf as most cat aficionados call it) on all sorts of things—blankets, math homework, ironing tables, etc.

She was our angel.

In 2015, my parents left California for Oklahoma, and Baby, who was an outdoor cat and well-adapted to northern Californian flora and fauna, had a crisis for the entire road trip. My sister remembers with horror the visceral growls Baby made—the vomiting, the fear radiating from her glass eyes—and how it was a mortifying experience she hopes to never have to repeat with a cat ever again.

We took Baby from the only home she’d ever known because we thought we were doing the right thing not to abandon her, but maybe we should have left her to roam free in the land she knew like the back of her paw. She did alright in Oklahoma for the first year and a half, but then developed a lung infection that only got worse with time…

Baby passed away in July 2017, and it was the first time I heard my Dad cry since his mother passed away 15 years earlier. My heart hurt over the phone when he made the phone call. Baby wasn’t “his” in the beginning, but as she grew older and as my sister and I moved on to college, she found a companion in my Dad, and he in her ❤.

I don’t care what anyone says, animals have an alluring power over us, and touch our souls in places that are hard to reach.

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Despite touting daily facts about animals, binge-watching Meerkat Manor, and consuming countless books about cat and dog care, I began to see changes in my sister when she reached the end of middle school. One day, she looked at her giant bucket of animal figurines and said, “I think I’m going to donate these.”

I was in shock…my baby sister? Self-proclaimed animal lover…was giving up on, animals? She assured us all nothing was changing, but as she finished high school and entered college, her heart wasn’t set on veterinary medicine anymore. Her reasons were non-animal related from what she expressed to us, but it saddened me to see this change in her.

And surprisingly, as she drifted away from her overflowing fascination with animals, mine started to grow…

I think my desire to be near animals grew in the later years of my PhD training. The long days and nights feeling alone must have gotten to me after the adrenaline of work began to fade away as I got closer to graduation. I used to share with my Dad that only animals could make me smile at that point. Scrolling through Instagram, I would end up sharing the cutest videos of cats playing patty-cake or dogs cuddling with their owners. He suggested that I should seek out an animal shelter to volunteer at in my free time. Perhaps that would help me de-stress and relax, as well have a good excuse to hang out with fur babies since I didn’t have any of my own!

I started volunteering at a shelter in Huntington Beach in the fall of 2019. I came in thinking I was a cat/small dog person, and while I felt comfortable around large dogs, I didn’t think I was qualified enough to work with them compared to other volunteers.

Plus, many of the volunteers that came on weekends were set on walking the larger dogs, leaving the smaller guys neglected. I didn’t mind spending time with them…I enjoyed the company of stout chihuahuas, stubborn terriers, and mop look-alike poodle mixes. My favorites were the ones that yearned to run, and were ready to get into step with me once I picked up the pace.

I was all smiles with Happy, a fluffy Samoyed with quite a BORK!

And whenever a dog was relaxed enough to roll around on the grass and expose it’s belly, my heart rejoiced. I always obliged to give a darling doggeh a belly rub!

Wilbur is literally a tiger dog! I only walked him once but he got comfortable quick, hence the exposed belly <3 !

I realized that I actually am a big dog person after seeing that, while some of the small dogs I worked with liked to run, the bigger dogs needed it and appreciated it a ton! In the following months, I developed a penchant for shiba inus, cattle dogs, and of course huskies!

Quincy was the smallest husky I’ve ever seen. And he had the biggest paws!

But the dog I bonded with the most was a husky named Jax.

All he needed was someone to run with him, understand that he needed to release his pent-up anxiety, and that he would not be a prisoner forever. I’m glad that I was able to run with him during my shifts at the shelter…he needed it for his sanity.

I’m frustrated that the Game of Thrones hype around wolf-like dogs (huskies) spurred on the adoption of so many dogs of this active lifestyle breed, and that people who naively took on the responsibilities of handling this type of dog gave up so easily. Huskies are loving, loyal, beautiful dogs, but they need mental stimulation, daily exercise, and humans that understand that. Jax was known as “uncontrollable” and “too hyper” at the shelter by the workers and volunteers, and I’m honored that I was able to excavate Jax’s true personality…even if it cost me arm scratches, sore glutes from sprints around the park, and mud-soaked sweatpants!

Anything for the one you love, I guess?

When I’m in a comfortable position with my career and truly have a place of my own, I’d love to have pets to cherish and adore! It would be a dream to have a sanctuary of some sort, where I can let cats, dogs, pigs, cows, racoons, capybaras, possums, pangolins, ducks, chickens, and so many more creatures that have captured my heart run free.

This guy was at the shelter too! Such a cutie pie.

My friends laugh when I share this daydream of mine with them, but only animals have the power to make me smile my brightest. It’s impossible not to love creatures so loving and innocent…

And to think that the actions of humanity can impact the lives of other species in a positive or negative way? It’s scary that we have so much influence over the lives of creatures that don’t have a voice.

To me, I think we need to take this responsibility seriously, whether one “likes” animals or not.

Are you an animal lover?

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Since we are on the topic of animal love, I thought it’d be a good time to mention the recent work of a fellow SGD, Adi from Edison, NJ! I came across CheeseDosa, his short story collection after reading about his own experience with a heartwarming doggo in his post, My Shelter. I loved this story of a courageous dog melting hearts, so I reached out. We got to talking, and he mentioned his project CheeseDosa: a book of short stories he is making by hand and selling on Kickstarter. He’s also making it possible for 33% of the sale revenue (not just profits) to go towards the Orange County Humane Society (where I met Jax and all my beautiful dog friends) if you back the project using the link above.

I’m all for supporting voices of color, especially those that share my background and experiences, and getting those voices out into the world. I highly recommend checking out his project and blog via the links above!

Vegano a Milano

Running Reflections

Why I Solo

A Month with Wag!

For the Love of Animals