Notes From My Travel Diaries

The hangover of a trip lasts much, Much longer than the trip itself. It takes a while to settle back into the grind of daily routine, to cook, clean and worse; get back to work. Ughhh. At such times, it’s very tempting to just sit back and relive memories of the trip and plan more for the future.

Here are some observations from my most recent and other trips:

1. The number of women travelling in groups has gone up considerably. And they’re not the confident, savvy and smart young millennials or members of the Gen Z or X or whatever. (They’re all probably at work in plush, corporate offices). No, these are groups of older women/housewives, who are venturing out to see the world, after having done their stints in the trenches of kitchens and workplaces. They’re having a wonderful time too-unencumbered by spouses and offspring. This is the group to which I belong and all I can say is- May Our Tribe Increase! Not only is it a boost for women empowerment, it’s also an advantage when it comes to taking pictures. No awkward selfies needed- ask a fellow-female-traveller to snap a shot!

2. Another group of travellers we encountered was that of seniors or retired people. It is heartening to see that retirement and old age no longer means a life of pottering around the house or attending to grandchildren. Or saving up money for the next generation.

We met one such group during our recent trip- they were from different cities and had become friends on Facebook. There were around 20 of them, all couples and all having the time of their lives. At the resort, they had even organised a loud, noisy session of ‘tambola’ for themselves; which was annoying, to say the least. But they were friendly and enjoying themselves thoroughly, whether it was dancing to the songs played by the local musicians at the resort, or bargaining with and then buying out the vendor who had set out his wares in the hope of making a sale there.

3. The eternal train v/s plane debate is unresolved and will continue to remain so.

– Planes save you hours and hours of travel- you can hop from one end of the country to the other in a matter of hours. (If you don’t count the hours spent in reaching the airport, getting to the airport 3 hours before departure time, the nuisance of security checks etc)

– Trains allow you to carry more luggage without having to worry about the weight, quantity and type of objects you are packing away. No hassle about solid/liquid, check-in luggage, cabin baggage, one per passenger and so on. (The problem with trains is that there are passengers who decide to travel with half their household goods crammed into suitcases and bags of varying dimensions. The other problem is that these passengers are the ones sharing your compartment.)

– The food we get on trains is far, far better than the sterile, tasteless and overpriced meals provided in-flight and at airports. There’s more variety (a lot of it is unhealthy, being deep-fried and/or sugary), but nothing beats munching peanuts or crunching pakoras while watching the countryside flash past the window. There is zero pleasure in partaking of meals during a flight. (The downside is the tendency to overdo the snacks, the results of which are felt when we waddle off the train on reaching our destination)

Me? I’m all for Team Train even though I grumble about having to wait at crowded stations, about smelly train toilets, intrusive passengers and so on.

Also, this post has gone on long enough (like a long-distance train) so I’m hopping off at this station. Will board another time with more notes and more observations- so, Au Revoir and Bon Voyage!