My First Foreign Trip

This is about my first foreign trip. I went to the US of A on a business visa. It all happened by chance & abruptly. One fine day my manager called me & inquired if i would like to go to the land of opportunities - the US of A. I thought for about 2 seconds & said "why not !" . I would categorize it as abrupt as initially i was not supposed to go. One of my team mates' visa got delayed & hence i came into the picture. But i will never ever regret my decision to say Yes as it was an excellent journey both in terms of work as well as leisure. Though at times i would debate with myself if it was the correct thing to do when you have your CAT in about a month's time & for which you had studied quite hard. But at that very moment, it was like 'Nothing else matters'.

I was both very thrilled as well as anxious towards my trip. The beginning itself taught me that its not that easy. My flight was scheduled to leave from Bangalore around 6 30 AM in the morning. I didnt sleep the whole night. Well how could I ? i was excited for the trip as well as afraid of missing my flight. It all began with rigorous checks & customs interview which went pretty smooth. At the airport itself, i was told that i would miss my connecting flight which was about 90 minutes after i landed at the Heahthrow airport. The Flight was delayed by half an hour at Bangalore itself & there was no point in catching a connecting flight at Heathrow & it would be insane if it was just after an hour you land at the Heathrow airport. Thats what a British Airways official told me. So they booked me into an American Airlines flight from London to Los Angeles & then another American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco (SFO). At first, i didnt realize it but later it came to my mind that i would be late by around 4 hours ultimately.

So it all started with a nice welcome by the British Airways crew in the morning at around 7. The flight was good & it was the first time i was inside a giant 747. Believe me it was gargantuan.
Unfortunately i got an aisle seat which i did not want. But you cannot cry & throw tantrums like a kid when you are on an official visit. Right ? I sat down & was absolutely amazed at the amount of entertainment offered inside the flight. It was enough for me though it is nothing for everyday travelers who want more. I was busy most of the time switching channels & watching different movies at different times. After around 3 hours, a feeling of numbness started to grip my body. At that point i realized that whatever is written inside the in flight magazine about the various exercises people do to keep numbness away is true. I also slept for some time & it felt as though i was being transported to an altogether different world as if it was a space travel with all the fatigue of an air travel gripping my body slowly & steadily.

It took around 10 hours to reach the Heathrow airport in London. London from the top looked like the old architectural city trying to keep pace with the modern world & doing it well in fact. The airport in itself is enormous & it takes easily more than an hour to go either outside or catch a connecting flight to another destination. But an airport like that i have never seen in my life. It is the busiest airport in the world with around 4 runways.

After reaching London, i kind of felt rejuvenated. I was excited that 50% of my journey is completed both in terms of time as well as distance. But i was wrong as later, i found out that it was only in terms of distance not the time. I was pretty apprehensive about the later part of my journey. The reason being that i couldnt see any Indian passenger in my flight to LA. Believe me it is a lot easier if you have some Indians to look around because you know they are always there to help you. But i was a solitary traveller. My other team mates had already reached USA one day before & i was the only one left.

I boarded the American Airlines flight & really there was too any things American regarding that flight. After British Airways, the whole culture changes when i boarded the AA flight. The air hostesses, the food, the decor, the people altogether changed. Although i had made it a point to eat non veg only occasionally but i didnt know what was in store for me on the flight. A Air hostess came to me & asked "Chicken or Beef" . I said chicken as i knew there would be nothing to eat except bread in Veg. That gave me the feeling of being a loner, again.

I landed in LA & my next connecting flight was again in one hour time. By the time, i figured out LA airport, i had only 35 mins. By the time i found out my departure terminal, i came to know one more thing. I reached the terminal 25 mins before flight time & i was told to miss my flight as it was against the rules to catch nay domestic flight after 30 mins are left.

I was again rebooked on a Frontier Airlines after some 2 hours. So once again i got a beating & was eventually late by 9 hours as compared to my earlier time. The night flight from LA to SFO was fantastic in view as it flew along the western coastline of USA. It was really amazing.
Finally, i reached SFO, took a cab & reached my hotel. Little did i know that it would turn out to be the most stressful & the most amazing journeys of my life. I learn many things which i will keep to myself. For now, its good bye