PRE-SCENARIO: International travel is supposed to be all fun. Leisurely travel, trying two or three types of wines, amazing gourmet recipes prepared with lavish thought process and all the galore associated with all travel. For me this was The SoP. Portion that I forgot was there was a life changing event .... since my last international travel three years ago.
POST-SCENARIO: Our cabin luggage + Swara's cabin luggage + Swara's toys all have to carried by both of us. This makes walking around, standing in queue extremely adventurous. Not to forget we have two laptops, tremendous cash and my favorite camera as our permanent companion. Topping on the cake is Swara's pack contains milk which we had to prove to every security counter in the world to be milk. Best part, u reach immigration counter and you see 'No Trolleys Beyond This Point'. Now we are just recovering from the shock and comes the final blow ... 'Baba Uchun Ge Na'. Evadhishi mazi pillu, tila kasa nahi uchalun ghenar ... can't say no.
IMPACT: No wine tasting, skipped 2 out of 4 meals offered on board. All the while wondering, if people are wondering ... 'He is passenger or porter' !!
LESSONS-LEARNT: Check-in as much as possible. Only keep one back pack with kids essentials with you. All air-lines offer complimentary porter service in some or other form, look out for them they are a tremendous help. Keep Ones and Fives handy as tips for such service, gr8 boost. Porters were very good help at Mumbai and Detroit, thank you Delta.
Take what you like and skip what you dislike. But one smile from Swara when she danced in the first snow fall cured it all. Seema and myself are ready to do same thing all over again for another smile, another new experience for her.