Try Another Day

This was somewhere around October or November 2014. I had already left American Express, and started working for a company named Songdew. I had about 10–12 days of free time before I joined my new job and this was THE perfect time for a vacation.

My brother had travel plans related to work, so I gave up any hope to visit Singapore.

Next, I tried to convince my parents to take a short vacation with me but the closest to travel we ended up doing was a sightseeing of Delhi. Dilli Darshan as we call it in India. WTH!

Fast forward six months. Having spent a few months with the new organisation I was aching to take a proper break. I had not taken a holiday since 2007. But guess what?

My Travel-Jinx was finally going to get over!

My brother was getting married and I was making plans to join him and his friends for his bachelor's trip in Phuket. Woohoo!

Once they arrived, we went for a well deserved smoke before our crazy holiday. They had bought some alcohol along, so we got arranging our luggage to get them checked in.

All set! We are ready to check in to one of the most memorable trips of my life.

As we walked towards the check-in counter, what followed was the most expensive conversation I have ever had without spending a single rupee.

At this point I got really nervous and was hoping that by some miracle, my passport would have enough validity to allow me to check in. While in my heart I was praying like crazy, my mind was running various scenarios.

I was a little too naive to have thought that. The airline staff pricked my bubble of ignorance very quickly. We were talking about international travel — which meant international laws. Even the highest authorities could not allow him to bend the rule.

At that moment, reality hit me hard and I felt a drop of cold sweat run down my spine. My head was reeling and I was panting for breath. In addition, I was feeling very hot, my palms started to sweat and my feet started to shake.

While I tried to register the facts, my friends got their boarding passes. I stood numb not knowing what to say or do. The airline staff summoned a security officer to escort me out of the airport, but I took a step back.

Fuck!!! Me and my stupid travel mistakes. Am I jinxed?

After that I stayed disconnected from the world for the entire duration of my leave. I had been through a lot of embarrassing situations in life which were funny. This one was a league apart. It was not only embarrassing — it was insulting. A life lesson on stupidity and learning from mistakes.

Two days later I invited my childhood friend Miton to come over for a drink. I needed a friend at that time, and who better than the ones you grew up with. I felt much better the next day. I told my friends how stupid I was and made fun of myself — which helped me get over the situation and move on.

The next logical step was to get the passport renewed. That story in itself is a freaking nightmare — will leave it for another day.

My new passport had a validity of 10 more years. To avoid going for another renewal anytime soon, I had to make sure to have the most number of pages in mine. Then, I made a promise to myself:

I had suffered extreme amounts of setbacks and embarrassments. I made stupid travel mistakes before I could take my first successful international flight. Now there is no looking back.