Trip number eight, is it? It took my mom and I some time to work out how many times I’ve done this. When I made my first trip in 2008 I had no idea how important it would be, no idea what a turn my life would take because of it. And now, 12 years and 8 trips later…. it is like coming home.
It is a long trip now. My first 3 trips started in Germany, where I was living. It was a 7-8 hours trip. No big deal. When I moved back to the States, the trip became exponentially longer. When I was living in Kona it was a 5 hour flight to LA, an 11 hour flight to Germany, then a 8 hour trip to India… 24 hours on a plane. Now that I live in Southern California, it is only 19 hours.
My 2020 excursion began on Tuesday with an uneventful 11-hour flight to Frankfurt, a 45 minute pause (enough time to walk to the gate and board the plane) at the Frankfurt airport, and then a 8 hour flight to Mumbai. The last leg was an especially pleasant flight for this introverted traveler as I had a whole row to myself, so I stretched out and got some good sleep. The last leg was interesting as well as our flight was rerouted away from Iranian airspace due to current political tensions and flew instead over Saudi Arabia. With all the time changes, I arrived in Mumbai on Thursday morning at 1:00AM and by 3:00AM I was checked in to the Hotel Godwin in Mumbai.
I got the deluxe suite this time and they take such good care of me here! This morning as I was enjoying my breakfast and my first cups of masala chai, the waiter recognized me and said, “Welcome home.”
Today I have one job. Rest, adjust to the time zone and drink some more tea. I leave tomorrow for Nagpur and then on to Padhar.
Until next time,
Krista