Our travel to India took many twists and turns in the planning stage; once it was all said and done, we left together from Washington, DC for Frankfurt, Germany on May 8, and had a fairly uneventful journey. After a 5-hour layover, M, S, and our cat got on a flight to Mumbai while I flew to New Delhi. I had the option of stopping in New Delhi for meetings and I took it, mostly because I wanted to and M was super supportive of me doing so. Apparently there are no hotels in New Delhi which accept pets (I still find that hard to believe, but I didn't have the time or inclination to confirm or dispute it). So, M offered to take S and the cat and go straight to Mumbai. This all sounded good until I had to leave my little family at the boarding gate and walk away alone to a different flight. Fighting tears, I decided to have a little faith and to trust that they would be okay. I was so incredibly tired and jet lagged that I mostly slept through that flight and watched a movie. Thankfully, M and S and the cat had a fairly uneventful flight too. Surprisingly, S stayed awake for most of the journey except for 2-3 hours on each leg. Since we decided to adopt the "whatever goes" policy during travel, he basically watched videos, and played with new, small toys that I purchased for the journey (thank you, Target Dollar Spot bins!). I'm happy to report that with a bit of luck and a lot of preparation, it is possible to fly on a long journey with a small child and not make everyone else on the plane miserable!
I have known about this assignment since January 2011. Is it any surprise then that when I landed here in May 2013 and saw the "Welcome to India" sign, I got goosebumps and couldn't stop smiling to myself? After that, I got paranoid. I was a woman traveling alone between airport and hotel in New Delhi around 1 a.m. with a random hotel shuttle driver. Have you been watching the news? If so, you'll know that I had some reason to be concerned and let's just say hyper-aware of what was going on at all times. I had addressed my concerns with the appropriate parties before traveling, but still. Once I got to the hotel safely and my worry about that subsided, I started wondering if my family made it to Mumbai in one piece and found our wonderful social sponsor who was meeting them at the airport. I called the sponsor's cell phone at 2 a.m. and they were all together... yes! Now I could try to get a few hours rest in the hotel room that was mostly wasted on me (I was only there for a sum total of 5.5 hours). I really liked what I saw, so I am determined to stay with that hotel chain sometime in the near future! The meetings were fine, and I'm glad I went. That same evening, I got on a plane and headed to Mumbai. Aforementioned wonderful sponsor came to pick me up at 10 p.m. (yes, after the late night a few hours before). After all that travel, and meetings, and jet lag, it was music to my ears when I walked in and little S said, "Mommy, come, let me show you our new home."
I have known about this assignment since January 2011. Is it any surprise then that when I landed here in May 2013 and saw the "Welcome to India" sign, I got goosebumps and couldn't stop smiling to myself? After that, I got paranoid. I was a woman traveling alone between airport and hotel in New Delhi around 1 a.m. with a random hotel shuttle driver. Have you been watching the news? If so, you'll know that I had some reason to be concerned and let's just say hyper-aware of what was going on at all times. I had addressed my concerns with the appropriate parties before traveling, but still. Once I got to the hotel safely and my worry about that subsided, I started wondering if my family made it to Mumbai in one piece and found our wonderful social sponsor who was meeting them at the airport. I called the sponsor's cell phone at 2 a.m. and they were all together... yes! Now I could try to get a few hours rest in the hotel room that was mostly wasted on me (I was only there for a sum total of 5.5 hours). I really liked what I saw, so I am determined to stay with that hotel chain sometime in the near future! The meetings were fine, and I'm glad I went. That same evening, I got on a plane and headed to Mumbai. Aforementioned wonderful sponsor came to pick me up at 10 p.m. (yes, after the late night a few hours before). After all that travel, and meetings, and jet lag, it was music to my ears when I walked in and little S said, "Mommy, come, let me show you our new home."
No comments:
Post a Comment