Almost nobody who comes on this journey has. Most people arrive alone and leave with people they'll know for the rest of their lives. We gather in Delhi, you're met, and from that moment you travel as a group — with me, and with Vikas, who is Indian and speaks both fluent English Hindi. You will not be navigating India on your own at any point. The only solitude on this journey is the kind you choose.

It is. And it's the beginning of the pilgrimage, not the obstacle before it. Something loosens in those hours in the air — the ordinary self starts letting go well before you land. I'll help you with routing so your arrival lines up with ours.

We stay in good hotels (4-star, except Bodh Gaya), we move by private vehicle, train and internal flights, and you are accompanied throughout. In seven journeys I have never had a woman in my care come to harm. India is overwhelming to the senses; that's different from being dangerous. What's asked of you is modesty in dress at holy sites and a willingness to be looked at — Western visitors draw curiosity, and curiosity is not a threat.

No. This is an interfaith journey — Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim holy places. You need no tradition of your own. I do ask that you be at least a novice meditator, because we sit together in places where sitting is the point.

If you can walk unaided for a couple of hours and manage stairs and uneven ground, you can do this journey. There is climbing — Vultures Peak at Rajgir, the Kora path at Dharamsala, the caves — and there are always people who sit those out and meet us after. Nobody is left behind, and nobody is pushed. Tell me honestly about your body before you come and I'll build your days accordingly.

India is possibly the easiest country on earth to be vegetarian in. It's the norm, not the accommodation — every menu, every monastery meal, every roadside stall. You'll eat better than the meat-eaters and be quietly pleased about it the whole fortnight. Vegan, gluten-free, and other needs are manageable too; tell me in advance.

Most people have a day or two of adjustment; a few sail through. We drink bottled water, eat where I've eaten for thirty years, and I build rest into the itinerary rather than pretending nobody needs it. See a travel doctor a few months before we go for vaccinations and anything you'll want in your bag — and bring any regular medication in its original packaging, with enough for the full trip plus a few days. We actually allocate certain medical supplies to each participant, so we’re not all bringing the exact same medicines.

No. There's a single supplement of A$1,350 if you want your own room, and some people genuinely need that — I take a single room myself, since I'm holding the group.

Yes, and deliberately. Ample time to journal, rest, wander, and integrate. Some days you'll want a quiet afternoon behind a closed door — that isn't a failure of the itinerary, it's built into it. Your outer pilgrimage and your inner one need different amounts of room.

Delhi and the plains are pleasant and dry, warm by day. Dharamsala sits in the Himalayan foothills and is genuinely cold in the mornings and evenings. Pack layers, something warm for the mountains, and modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees for temples.

Delhi and the plains are pleasant and dry, warm by day. Dharamsala sits in the Himalayan foothills and is genuinely cold in the mornings and evenings. Pack layers, something warm for the mountains, and modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees for temples.

Your international airfare, your Indian visa, and compulsory travel insurance. Also lunches on some days, bottled water and drinks outside included meals, tipping, personal donations, and anything optional not in the itinerary.

All accommodation (four-star, twin share, except at Bodhgaya), all internal transfers and transport — air, train, private vehicle — breakfasts plus either lunch or dinner each day, guides, and all teachings. A portion of every journey goes to Sera Jhe Monastery.

In the hotels, generally yes. In the caves, on the mountain, on the river at dawn — no, and you won't want it. Tell the people at home you'll be in touch every few days rather than daily, and let that be part of the gift.

We visit his temple at Dharamsala, and where possible I request a private blessing. His Holiness is now in his nineties and his schedule is his own — I cannot promise it, and I won't. What I can promise is Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's private teaching, which is confirmed, and access to lamas, monks and nuns that comes from thirty years of relationship rather than from a booking form.

Some people do, a little. India has a way of loosening what's been held. That's precisely why you're travelling with someone whose actual work is the emotional journey — I've spent decades with people at exactly those thresholds. Nothing that surfaces in you will be met with alarm.

Once ground arrangements are confirmed at the end of September, deposits and payments become non-refundable, because they've gone to hotels, flights and guides in India. This is why travel insurance is compulsory — take it out when you pay your deposit, not later.