Setting out one more time for an international trip around
the world, with major differences from my last trip:
1) This trip will last 3.5 weeks, as opposed to 7.5 months
2) A majority of this trip is for business.
3) I have a bigger budget this time, and a per-diem stipend!
4) All flights and locations of travel have been
predetermined and pre-booked.
5) I will have to lug around a large roller suitcase,
instead of my beloved backpacker sack.
6) This is more of a vacation than an adventure.
I was lucky enough to find a job quickly after I settled
back in Southern California, and even luckier to find a position with a global
company with offices in Brazil, India, and China. After eight months of
working, I was given the opportunity to travel to our India and China offices
for a couple weeks to meet the team and provide operational solutions to some
of the inefficiencies we face as a small company.
Since I would already
be in the area, I decided to take an extra week off to visit SE Asia once more,
and also see the Taj Mahal in India, one thing I missed last year. I should
knock on wood... Trains have been booked to and from Agra, and it's on the
itinerary, but travel in India can be sporadically inefficient and unreliable,
so who knows? I booked a flight on Kingfisher Airlines, but the bankrupt
company kept revising my departure time that I finally had to rebook a flight
at the last minute. Employee unrest has prevented the company from operating
effectively...
The first leg of my trip was a quick stop in New York to
visit my friends in Brooklyn. I hadn't been back since New Years, and I still
have dreams of living in this city one day. Plus, a flight from Los Angeles to
India would be too much for me to handle, from one side of the world to the
other. The flight from NY to Delhi alone is already 13 hours! LA to Delhi would
be 18+ (including a guaranteed layover somewhere).
I packed last minute, reusing some of the travel supplies
that I brought along with me last time. Just looking at some of these items
that were tucked away in my backpack behind all my other crap in my closet
brought back wonderful memories of my last trip. There were still a couple things I had to
purchase though, including another travel adapter, new backpack (my durable
North Face backpack finally ripped at the zipper), and some toiletries.
Took a Thursday Red-eye straight from work to the Airport
and arrived in NYC at 5:30am next morning. It took about 45 minutes to go
through security at old, reliable, LAX, and everyone had to go through those
full-body scans, something new to me. I thought it was a "random"
lottery, but I guess TSA is getting a little more voyeuristic these days.
I met up with my good friends Eric and David and just
reconnected for the next 24 hours. Surprisingly, I stayed out and about until
the AM, something I didn't think my 26 year old body could do these days. We
dined, walked around Williamsburg, shopped in Soho, dined, shopped some more,
dined, and had a couple cocktails by the end of the night. As long as I'm
staying active throughout this trip, I'll be happy!
JFK Airport - New York
Union Station - Los Angeles
My good buddies - David and Eric
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