Why must getting an Indian visa be so complicated?

Today I got my passport back from the Indian consulate, complete with a six-month tourist visa. And now that it’s in my hands, I want to warn something to anybody applying for an Indian visa: don’t ever say you’re a writer.

The whole process took a week longer than it should have because Travisa, the company that processes the visa, put a hold on my application. I had made the mistake of listing “writer” as my occupation.

Stupid. It turns out India is freaked out about people potentially doing journalism without proper permission. They made me sign something saying that I couldn’t do any journalism, delaying the whole process by several days.

The 12 hottest men at the LA Times Travel and Adventure Show

When I travel I tend to keep an eye out for hot men, so why not at the LA Times Travel Show? Because there were plenty to choose from. This is by no means an exhaustive list (if you're a hot man but weren't occupied when I passed your booth, I probably didn't have the courage to take your picture. Too obvious.).

Enjoy the eye candy!

This fellow from the Klana Tours (Turkey) booth was the one who inspired to start documenting my journey.

The Shape-Ups guy.

Because nothing says hot like, 'I'm so famous I am literally standing in front of a giant picture of my head.'

Seen and heard at the LA Times Travel and Adventure Show

, mostly just "seen." I mainly just wandered around and took in the sights, while listening in on very few panels and watching very few shows. 

So here's a sampling of what I saw:

Indonesian dancers.

Those manning the booth make origami.

Relaxing at the Thailand booth.

She's just beautiful.

Ziplining, courtesy of the Ecuador Love Life campaign. When I got there the wait was 90 minutes, so I passed.