My First Solo Travelogue: Part One

"Some roads are worth walking alone, and then you make new friends on the journey"

When the very first trigger of traveling solo strike my mind, little did I know that this would be one of my best decisions in life. Prathmesh Khedekar had been an all time Veena World Traveler, whether it be India or International tours. So the initial week of April 2018 went into getting his feedback and experience on Veena World. He said, “You have to pay the package amount and relax; everything will be taken care of by them; from flights to sightseeing etc etc.” I searched the Veena World website and decided to go for Women Special Tour. I had two destinations in mind: Kashmir and North East. Women Special Tour for NE was already done in March, so this option was strike out. Then I found a tour to Leh Ladakh in May. I called in Veena World Vasai Office, where Akshata Bagwe did elaborate on this tour. She insisted if I am going for the first time then July to September period will be best. Then I searched the tour for  August to give myself a birthday gift. The tour was on 12th August, I went through the itinerary and as I scrolled the page to the end, there were three more thumbnails. The caption CELEBRATE KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS did catch my attention and I opened it in new tab. Neither the Rancho School nor the Pangong Lake, the sole reason for choosing this tour was Kargil. I got my yearly bonus on 1st June and on 2nd June, I invested it for my life: I booked the Women Special Leh Ladakh Kargil Pangong Tour from 19th July to 28th July.

The easier part was done, the most difficult part for a girl is to convince her parents for a solo trip. I started easy with Veena World and Women Special and they were like, “Veena World, then it's safe to travel solo”. When it came to the destination and out of excitement I exclaimed, “Kargil!”; both gave me a look as if I had gone crazy. “You decided to go solo for the first time and in whole India, you selected Kargil. You remember that there had been a war.” To this I interrupted that the war was won by our soldiers and I am going there to meet them on 26th July. There was a straight no on their faces, but I wasn't cancelling the tour at any cost. “How does a soldier's parents send them for war, even when they know that their child may never return? Here I am going on tour and obviously returning!” To this Papa replied that you want to make us feel like a soldier's parents. There was a dead silence for 10 minutes and I finally got a yes to go.

Next was office wherein I just mailed that I will be on PL for two weeks, didn't mention the place. I believe in, "Travel first, come back safe and then tell everyone". I got a reply to complete all my Q1 projects and go. Since then I got into work like anything, staying late in office till 9pm and to add to this, there were three days holiday due credit to July rains and water logged on tracks and the collapsed bridge of Andheri; so even weekends were ruined. Nidhi Patel (my gifted angel in office) did raise an alarm on 17th July at 10pm to start with my packing and forget office work. It was then I realized that I should have started already. A duffel trolley and handbag could suffice my belongings. Since I called it a solo trip, I didn't want anyone to see-off on the airport. I carried the 8.5 kg check in bag and 3.5 kg cabin bag from Virar to Santacruz on my own. I stayed at Pavithra's home on 18th evening, had dosa and delicious chutney for dinner and left for the domestic airport at 10.30pm.

Day One:19.07.2018

The meeting point was at 2am, outside the departure gate for GoAir. I already had a word with the Airport Representative Mandar Joshi that I will be inside the airport. When you are alone, you need to take care of your luggage which means I couldn't sleep and even had to carry it to the washroom. The dress code for the day was yellow. It was 2am now and I saw ladies coming in with trolleys of luggage and wearing yellow, saying goodbye to their family members at the security entry point. I did feel emotional, but got back to the solo trip mode. At last our Tour Manager Pravin More entered, I could recognize this from the yellow Veena World T-shirt. I got the snacks hamper from him. It contained flight tickets and itinerary, a packet of dry snacks, a sling bag, a cap and two name tags. 

There was an Assistant Tour Manager Sarvesh Joshi. He was our "Waking Alarm" throughout the tour. We checked in the baggage and proceeded for security check on first floor. On the way I made my first friend on the tour, Param Kukreja. She is a medical student, completed her first year and had come for the tour all the way from Nagpur. Then I met Supriya Agashe, who stays in Hyderabad. She loves to travel solo and this was her first Women Special Tour. Then I talked to Vandana Jadhav, who works in Accenture. She had done family tours with Veena World and this was her first solo trip. She assured us that our choice of Veena World is absolutely correct. We boarded the flight at 3.15am; my seat was between Arti Angane and Vidya Wagle. Photographer Meghana Upadhyaya did start clicking photos on the flight itself. Arti Angane did start showing her Shimla Manali tour photos and described the fashion show wherein she met Veena Patil. The flight took off at 4am and I said goodbye to Mumbai, my home, office, Virar Fast train, competitive life, etc.

I woke up around 6am to see the scattered light of morning sun on the pearl white clouds. As we descended, there were just mountains and mountains, each mountain distinct from other with its gradient. We landed around quarter to seven in 16 degree Celsius at the Leh Airport and took our luggage from the moving baggage counter. We met Vatsal, our tour guide, outside the airport. Groups of five were made and we headed to Hotel Kanishka. It was full of vareity of fresh flowers. 

We got in and had breakfast. Precautionary instructions were given by Pravin. We had to take rest for the whole day. We got our room keys, my roommate was Mayuri Cherku. She is an ethical hacker, would be joining Accenture post this trip. It felt so heavy taking each step of the stairs. We went to the room and slept. 

When I got up for lunch, I had heavy headache but this was normal for day one. Lunch table discussion topic was the same; acclimatization.  Post lunch, there was an introduction session wherein everyone got to know each other. Then the whole program was walk-through by Pravin. I assumed that by evening I would be fine but I felt more exhausted. I had dinner for namesake, others were asking me what exactly was wrong and I had no answer to this. I got a feeling that I had unnecessary put myself in troublesome situation. I was lying on my bed and thinking that this solo trip is to go on toss if I don't get acclimatized. Mayuri entered the room and calmed me down. I felt low as to what she must be thinking, her roommate is dead on the bed. Then I remembered the PAP (Patience-Adjustment-Punctuality) principle. I took a Saridon and patiently went to sleep, popping out the clutter of worries and pushing in the exciting dreams of next nine days.

I got up at 5am and found myself absolutely fine. I felt like jumping on the bed, but realized that we weren't supposed to do so. Co-travelers do put in your experience of the day in the comments below.

Read next: My First Solo Travelogue: Part Two