Travel tips - No, Thank you

It’s the time of the month when my Travel tale is due again. For the last travel tale of Thursday, Sakshi Nanda of Between Right and Wrong graced my blog with her post and that received a wonderful response. Read her post here.

I don’t have a travel story this week. What I have is a summary of how most popular travel tips have gone wrong in my case. Why does that happen, I don’t know. But from packing to booking, every time I have tried to follow the rule, I have ended up in a mess.

Now my dearies sit back and relax, while I present to you my classiest travel disasters.

1. Pack light – Isn’t this a mantra that we all are supposed to follow? Well! Every time I pile up clothes and open the suitcase to start packing, the mantra rings in my ears. So I go ahead and remove that extra dress/extra shoes/heels/accessories/file etc. and I end up needing it during the trip. For instance if I have taken out a party dress thinking that it’s just one day trip and I have no one to meet in evening, I get a call and a invite for party from a friend/colleague/ family member as soon as I land in the city. If I decide to leave shorts behind for my trip home, I end up asking my bhabhi for those.

2. Book in advance – That goes for all train and flight travel. Isn’t it nice to be able to get cheap tickets on flight or confirm ticket on train? Or better still, being able to redeem your miles? Yes, it sounds nice and exciting. But for me, jinxed by some unknown factor, I have to cancel every trip that I have planned much ahead of time. I now sit with a confirm ticket to my hometown for Holi and a cancelled plan.

3. Carry a book – By now you must be wondering that what can go wrong with packing a book. I’ll tell you my major issues with books. Every time I have carried them, they are either a drag (thus, I end up carrying that extra 500gm in my backpack of something I don’t read), or end too quickly (i.e. if to be on safer side, I carry a book that I am half way through), or don’t get time to read, or worst end up losing it. I know you would say that carry more than one book, but haven’t we spoken about packing light?

4. Eat local – Have you read this post? Well, read it and you will know how ordering local food and not relying on subway/McDonalds hasn’t worked great for me.

5. Plan – Nothing should be wrong with planning. I agree, except that every time I plan, Mr. Murphy plans to step in. For example – I planned a trip to Kutch to see the white desert in full moon, only to find out that there are elections in nearby areas, resulting in cancellations. If I plan to visit a particular monument or a museum, flight gets modified/delayed, car breaks down, etc. which makes me cancel my plan.

6. Expect the unexpected – Lastly, most travel advisers tell us to be prepared for contingencies. Yes, I am. Probably more than I should be. Result – Paranoia. I end up eyeing every moment, stare at every person who walks behind me for as much as 50 mtrs, keep my back so straight and attentive that it hurts by the end of the day, double check-triple check about each way, each place, each person, in short – stay edgy all day long. End result – I end my trip more worrying than enjoying.

However, with so much going wrong every now and then, all tips failing each time I implement it, Murphy’s law out there to lower my enthusiasm, I still love to travel. I travel for work, leisure and life. I remember defining what travel is for me, when I read a post by Richa. 

Here is what it is - I travel because it is close to attaining a new life. I travel to feel alive, to breathe in a new air, to learn and to de-learn. I travel to gain and to lose some things. I travel to walk in boots in hills, and stand barefoot on a beach. I travel to light candles in a church and offer flowers in a temple. I travel to bite in the authentic Italian and drink like a real French. I travel to escape and to come back to home nostalgic.

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Part of Travel tale on Thursday on my blog. Would you like to contribute to Travel tales? Please write to me.

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