In the beginning... 27 hours of travel

Well, here it is, the beginning of another trip. You might be thinking, she's never mentioned going to India, and you would be right. In an odd turn of events I am not going for an ordinary vacation, but instead to help someone fly home with their young child. One of the perks is six days in a country I've never before visited, and of course having my airfare paid for by another person. As one of my friends said "What even is your life?" and I can't quite argue with that.

After a week of trying to find flights (within reason regarding price), applying for a visa (getting denied), reapplying for the visa with a service, all while dealing with a 13 and a half hour time difference, it all managed to work out. The odds seemed pretty low too. So I got a converter for my electronics, packed up my backpack, and probably quadruple checked that I had everything. You may be curious what one brings on a short trip to India, and the very clear answer is, very little, that way there's room for souvenirs. After stopping at IKEA of all places, for a delicious dinner (because I'm cranky when I'm hungry, and that's no way to start a trip), I made my way to the airport with my mom; thankfully getting there with loads of time to spare. Having already said my goodbyes to my dad, I repeated the process again with my mom, and made my way inside.

Now, what do you imagine the security lines to look like at LAX? That wasn't it. What I saw was roughly three people in front of me, and I got through to my gate in maybe five minutes. That gate by the way, was directly to the left of security. So there I was, almost three hours early, and very grateful that I'd already downloaded Netflix shows, podcasts, and had a fully charged kindle; which makes traveling light much easier when you're not lugging around 14 books. Did I fill my time using any of those, of course not, instead I got to talk to a friend and next thing I knew I was boarding the plane. Suddenly this surreal thing is happening, and my first leg of the journey is under way and taking me to San Francisco.

The universe, just doing its thing, sat a very nice man next to me. As we sat chatting about our trips, and where we were headed, I found out that he was from India. Funny how that happens sometimes. So we spent most of the flight talking about different trips, and he was giving me excellent insights along the way. One of the things I now know that I should expect to be stared at by people, and I am glad to be aware before I get there. He also confirmed, not that I doubted it, that under no circumstances should I drink the water; bottled water only. Now all I have to do is figure out where my next gate is, and then of course, be on a plane for 17+ hours to Singapore. Wish me luck.

P.S. There was a cute dog in the airport. I thought it was a greyhound puppy, but what do you think?

P.P.S. How have I already gotten to San Francisco? Needless to say, flying is faster than driving.Read more