Sethi family history in Delhi

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Hi Candidate,

For the last few weeks, my wife Cass and I have been traveling through India. Recently, we went behind the scenes of our luxury hotel in Jaipur, reunited with a street photographer we met last time we were in the city, and spent time learning my family's history with my uncle and aunt in Delhi.

I've been sharing my highlights over on Instagram, and I wanted to share some of them with you here.

We stayed at The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur, a 5-star luxury hotel. After having breakfast and exploring the city, we decided to explore the grounds. It is a massive property. What do you notice?

There's so much space! Even though we were told that about 100 guests were staying at the hotel — they were at 85-90% capacity — we probably only saw 15 people. We were the only ones eating breakfast, aside from two couples.

Last year on our honeymoon, some of the nicest places we stayed at were also the places where we didn't meet anyone.

They intentionally leave massive amounts of space and engineer your stay so you're almost alone on the property. A very intimate experience.

On the other hand, the place where we met friends our age was the most modest. There are different reasons and times to stay at a luxury property.

Later that afternoon, we spent some time by the pool. As soon as I sat down, they laid out a towel and brought chilled water and hand towels.

And take a look at what we saw when we checked in!

They welcomed us with a photo of me and my business. They had done their research!

They even left scented sachets in my shoes. From now on I only wear scented shoes.

These are tiny reasons why I love nice hotels and beautiful customer experiences. You're taken care of at every moment — someone is looking out for you and taking joy in creating an incredible experience for you.

The next day, we visited a local street photographer we met last year. We decided to start a tradition: every time we're in Jaipur, we'll have our photo taken there.

His camera is decades old and completely manual. Here he is developing our negatives right on the street.

Notice that in this photo, Cass is not smiling.

It's very common for Indian women to not be smiling in their wedding photos. In fact, my mom is not smiling in her wedding photos. It's actually a bittersweet occasion, because women are leaving their family's home and going to a new family's home.

This is one of my favorite parts of traveling. Noticing the differences in cultures and reflecting on my own.

After our time in Jaipur, we headed back to Delhi to spend time with my family. We shared a meal cooked by my aunt, a master chef. What do you notice about this spread?

We also got to hear family stories I had never heard before, like how my dad came to the U.S.

My dad was making 250 rupees per MONTH as an electrical engineer — 250 rupees is $3.50 in today's dollars. One day, he came home really late, around 2 am. My uncle told him not to go back. They sent a telegram to their brother (my uncle) in the U.S., telling him my dad was having trouble finding a good job.

My uncle sent this in reply: "Pack and fly."

This is absolutely amazing. To know that my uncle changed my dad's life with 3 words.

This is very common for immigrants, who often help their families relocate to the U.S. My dad went on to study in graduate programs, flew back to India to meet my mom, and got married seven days later.

7 days! And they raised four successful children together.

Interesting fact: In India, if you don't have an arranged marriage, you have a "love marriage."

America has no similar word, because there's no similar concept. Every marriage is considered a "love marriage."

In my experience, to most Americans, arranged marriages sound crazy at first. But once they hear it, they nod and see the positive sides of it. It's mostly parents introducing kids.

I asked my aunt, "For young people who are unmarried and looking for a husband or a wife, what should they look for?"

She said, "A good family."

This is very important to Indians. You're not just marrying one person. Two families are marrying. So they really value positive reputations and making sure values are aligned.

My aunt then told us a story about her father reading a gutka (holy book) on the train. When the train pulled into a station, a monkey came and stole the gutka. As the train started going, her father looked outside and saw the monkey doing this:

I love posting about luxury hotels and our adventures exploring new places, but there's something truly beautiful about the simple joy of eating a great meal together with family and hearing their stories.

Capture your family history! Ask your relatives to share their stories with you next time you're together. This has been one of my favorite parts of our trip.

What have you noticed about what I've shared about my trip so far? DM me on Instagram. I read every message.

Ramit Sethi
CEO, I Will Teach You To Be Rich

P.S. I'll be answering all the top travel questions I've received in a future email, but this is by far the number one question I get about this trip: "How much does it cost?"

Guys, you don't have to travel like me! The point is not simply how much we're spending. It's about being creative and living your Rich Life.

One of the greatest joys I get is planning the trip out, researching it, deciding what magical experiences we're going to have.

Of course, money helps in many ways. It's a small but important part of it. But you can have amazing experiences at a fraction of what I'm paying.

Do not use money as an excuse. Get creative.

Or if you really want to travel at a luxury level, make more! I teach this in our program, Zero to Launch. Check it out — I've opened Zero to Launch for you until tomorrow at 11:59pm PST.