Alright! Time for the beginning of the trip! The visa was approved, permission from the PI was cleared, and all that was left was the shopping to look the part in Europe. Now I am no fashion guru and I knew I was going to need help, a lot of help, and there were only two people capable of providing the help: Manasa and Afrin. Two amazing women who I am grateful to have in my life as amazing friends, they helped me choose a good selection of clothes that would fit in my backpack. Oh yeah, the only piece of luggage I carried with me was my backpack and a small sack to hold my most important documents (Read I-20 and Passport) through the trip. That’s it! Nothing else, no trolley bags to pull through the labyrinth of cities. I wanted to travel light so that I could just carry my luggage with me no matter the weather or the distance. The backpack was completely waterproof, heck it was Wisconsin snowstorm proof and I had complete confidence in that thing.
Now fitting everything in the backpack was a game of Tetris to ensure efficiency and avoiding a bulky backpack. The clothes all managed to fit in the backpack, leather jacket to be worn all the time, scarf around my neck or tied to the backpack, and a plethora of stuff in the arm sack. I was carrying my charger, power bank, sunglasses, all my travel documents, and most importantly a small diary along with a few pens to get the authentic writing experience. For some reason, I also carried my Kindle even though I never used it through the trip. As the D-Day got closer, I was listening to Illahi on repeat and watching the video on repeat, but I knew I was not going to be sad and lonely in Europe like Ranbir Kapoor. This was my trip! Nothing was going to bring it down!
The night before I left, Aparna, Sarang, Anisha, and the whole lot came home to bid me farewell. I was going to be gone for a while with one week in Europe and three weeks in Mumbai. It was such an amazing experience to have everyone home. Bhuvan seemed a bit sad, probably because there was a possibility of him moving to a different location on account of a new job. I was sad too; it had been a ride with him over the course of our degree. Through thick and thin we had supported each other and were there during difficult times. Aparna was due for her own European trip soon and Sarang was on a different note all together. For some reason, all his ideas were of the sort that if I start writing them down here, this will get an R rating right out of the box.
The first flight from Chicago to New Jersey was scheduled for 9:30 AM and I was getting more and more restless as the clock inched forward. Before I knew it, it was 3 AM and I was all dressed up and ready to leave the house for my Coach USA to O’Hare International Airport. I woke up Bhuvan and Farshad to bid them farewell and the picture we took, well if I post it anywhere, Bhuvan will kill me. The Uber ride to the Milwaukee Intermodal station was a bit odd with the driver talking a lot about aliens and conspiracy theories. It was only after reaching the Intermodal I realized I had forgotten my hairbrush, something I had promised myself I would not forget. But then it was too late to go back.
I saw the bus pull into the station, and immediately felt a tingling sensation run through my spine. I got into the bus, found a good spot, and prepared myself for a journey I promised to take about 8 months before. It was feeling like no other. The bus was soon on its was and all I could think about were the experiences waiting for me in the new future. How will I go around the cities? Who am I going to meet? What lies ahead of me? So many unanswered questions but I let them be. Time will take its course; it has until now and I am a mere mortal. Who am I to fight against time? I had already dived down the edge of the waterfall, all I could do was let myself flow through the current. Next stop? Chicago O’Hare International Airport!
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