Travel

Travel, simply put is the act of going from one place to another .. but its not that simple when you want all the creature comforts that you are used to in your day to day life.

For me, travel is always a 4 stage process : Planning, Preparation, Execution and winding down.

Planning: At this stage its all about identifying the location , booking airplane tickets (if it requires air travel) , lodging and transportation, mapping out places and people of interest at our destination (using mapping software such as MS Streets & trips or Google/Yahoo maps), making advanced bookings
for activities that might interest us at our destination and of course planning on what and where we will chow when we are traveling away from home. The last point is especially important if you have food restrictions (eg. Vegetarianism) as we do.


Preparation: This usually involves putting "everything" together into a bag and leaving. Of course the word "Everything" is a loosely used term and usually includes the following for overnight trips.. dresses which constitute of an additional set just in case !! Essentials include toiletries such as soaps ,lip balm, creams (general & UV) and toothpaste ,hair & tooth brushes, a small first aid box complete with Vitamins , medicines (which include general and prescription medications if any) ,Pocket size torch light(especially if you plan on driving or camping). Cameras, batteries, additional chips for digital photo storage, chargers for all the electronic devices that are accompanying us are usually other things in the list. And since being a vegetarian limits our options we usually carry stuff thats ready to eat or easy to prepare besides snacks like breakfast bars, biscuits etc. to munch on.. The advantage of this is that u can eat on the go.

Execution: Its all about sticking to the plan and do exactly what you had planned to do in the planning stage and if time permits and it does not hamper your original plan.. by all means get adventurous and add something more to the itinerary to get the most fun out of your vacation.

Winding down: This stage is when you get home. Most people let the memories of their trip sit right there in rolls and memory chips without saving them for enjoyment at a later date. Amongst the first few things we do, apart from putting things back where they belong before getting back to the grind is, saving the memories of our trip (esp. those in the form of photos and videos) for our viewing pleasure at a later date and also sharing our experiences with family and friends..

In our experience, attention to the first two phases have always ensured that, We have a wonderful vacation- full of memories lasting a lifetime. On many occasions our travel experiences have transformed non travelers in our gatherings to undertake similar trips to make memories of their own.

In the following posts I will elaborate and share with you the joys of travel ..