To Pile On, Or Not To Pile On

This post is about a question that has been bugging me for a while. This is going to be a mother of a post! Here are case facts.

One. I, M, 29, love to travel. So much so that if I had an option, I would become a truck driver, or join a circus or something. I love to stay on the roads and love the impermanence of things when you travel. I love to see new places, meet new people, experience new things and generally not make any commitments. I have been fortunate enough to see few cities and fewer countries and more I see, more I want to explore. Of course I dont have the balls to do it now.

Two. Most of the time when I travel, it is for work. And the sad part about travelling for work is that your itinerary is defined well in advance and it hardly gives you time to explore the place that you goto.

Three. When I do extend my travel and decide to live at a new place for a few days, I cant really afford hotels and guesthouses. And the ones that are in my budget are too dirty and far from the places of interest to consider. No I am not picky at all. I mean, I am but not for things that I know are impermanent. So I end up crashing at my friend's places. I know a lot of people but have very few friends. In fact can count them on my fingertips. So when I am in Mumbai, I invariably stay with Neo. Bangalore, SS02Sep grants me a room. The US trip, iCEcUBe and PD sponsored acco. And thats that. Apart from these cities, there is no other place that I am comfortable at. And because I dont have acco, I decide against traveling to other places. Side note for non-Indian readers (if any), AirBnB is not really a rage in India and very few people offer beds to strangers. And when they do, they at times charge as much as the hotels.

And after the facts, here is the million rupee question. When I travel, should I be taking my friends for granted and pile onto their places? Do I invade their privacy? Do I infringe upon their personal space when I go and stay with them for days? The second part, the one that bugs me more than the first, is, are all my friendships all about convenience? If Neo decides to move to, say Delhi, will I be as good friends?

I know a part of the answer. Because all these people are friends and they are mature enough to say no, I dont think I cause inconvenience. The hard bit is, how much can I stretch this arrangement? And if I cant, what is the way out?

Anyways, end of the long rant, the question remains, to pile on, or not to pile on?

And the pic above, is of a signboard in Mumbai. Clicked while I was on one of those trips to Mumbai.