This post has been chosen as Blogadda's Tangy Tuesday pick! :-)
‘One week!? What are you going to do alone for 1 week?’
‘One week!? What are you going to do alone for 1 week?’
‘Why
didn’t you ask any of your friends to accompany you?’
These and
many such questions were thrown at me as soon as everyone got to know about my
first solo trip. Honestly, I was more amused than irritated with this volley of
questions.
Those who
know me know that I am usually very happy within myself. I mostly keep myself
entertained with incessant blabbering and louder-than-humming singing. Almost
all the weekends I take off in Delhi to be with myself. I eat, listen to music,
look around, hear people talk, read a book, savour coffee and come back home at
night. So, I am pretty used to spending time with myself. However, seven days
in a new place with no one to talk to, now that was new. I knew I would sail
through yet there was this unknown barrage of emotions going inside me. And what’s
amazing is the progression these emotions went through over a period of seven
days on an imaginery EQ scale!
The trip
started with anxiety. I was not scared but anxious. Of what? Frankly not so
much for the stay and everything in between. But traveling alone in Volvo from
Delhi. There were questions swimming in my head about the co-passengers, on
what if I am the only one in the bus (silly but hey it was my first trip!), on
what if I can’t control my even otherwise uncontrollable bladder for the long
journey. But when I entered the bus I remember I smiled really ear to ear. Because
it was full of families, kids, group of friends, couples and all of them beaming
with noise. I liked that. And I contently took my window seat. J
Next was
this feeling of panic. How will I control my motion sickness, what if I feel
the need to puke, who will take care of me and all that. I forgot to take the
motion sickness tablet in time. Took it long after the bus had started on the
altitude mainly because it was dead in the night and I realized it only when I woke
up feeling quite eeky. Once I took it I felt better. I kept closing my eyes,
tried to catch sleep so as to not focus on the movements of the bus. This way I
missed great views outside many a times but it was the only way I knew to
handle it. But yes, at eight o’clock next morning, I reached Manali without a
hitch! J
Once there,
first it all started sinking in that I was no longer in Delhi, that there were no
office calls to be taken, that I could do whatever I wished to, that I am not
answerable to anyone at least for this one week, that feeling of not knowing
what to do next day. This feeling of nothingness was a first for me for I
am quite used to loading myself with unnecessary emotional baggage. But this?
This was a breath of fresh air. Waking up at my time, reading till late, going
for long walks, setting the day’s agenda as I desired was so cool beyond words.
It was like I was free of all the garbage of feeling I had been holding on to.
On my home
stay lady’s suggestion, I set out for Rohtang. Little knowing the altitude or
anything of the place. The trip started good and all through it was like picture
postcard slideshow. Every frame was so gorgeous that you needed to have your
eyes and cameras open. Me? I just kept swallowing orange candies to not feel
the motion sickness because the altitude was the highest I have ever been to.
But once I reached Rohtang, it was like a world I had never seen before. Snow and
so much of it. I was on my own, roamed about, took a mountain bike ride,
chatted with the bike driver, ate hot maggi, feasted my eyes on the all white
snowy envelope and there, I had this amazing feeling that I did it. I braved
the motion sickness and traveled alone to witness this gorgeous sight. This feeling of freedom was my first taste
of real freedom and now I know what travel does to you. It sets you free.
On the return
journey, again I was just being too cautious of the motion sickness and kept
having the candies to keep myself busy. Somewhere
past midnight, the bus reached the plains. I was kind of up, listening to an A.
R. Rehman number on repeat. And right then, the moment I opened my eyes widely
and looked out and saw the plains, I felt my eyes moist. A couple of tears
might also have fallen down. I choked too. It was like I felt I had finally
accomplished this small little feat of traveling solo first time, overcame the
altitude sickness, explored a new place, met amazing people, had great food, marveled at breathtaking views and kept myself
good company. This feeling of accomplishment was something I have
had after a long long time. A feeling that no academic, professional or
personal success had ever brought me.
So this was me. Tell me,
have you too gone through these? Or was I the only one? What was your baggage
like? J
