This wasn’t any vacation, this was THE vacation for which we had put in so many months of effort in planning every single aspect of the trip, right from food, logistics, accommodation, clothing, budgeting and, not to forget, the main itinerary in itself. But when a personal anxiety took over at the last minute, the trip suddenly no longer looked enticing. I hadn’t started packing at all even on the morning of the day of the trip. Even as I started packing on auto pilot mode during the last few hours before leaving for the airport, I realized how much of a pro I had become in packing and how much all the pre-preparation was helping me. 

If travelling in India is a breeze given that we can hire a taxi for the entire duration of the trip and there will also be no dearth of good vegetarian food, travelling in South-east Asia is also quite comfortable, since we can still have a taxi at our disposal, even though getting good vegetarian food everywhere is not a possibility. Except for some places during some of the months in the northern part of India, the weather is also otherwise what we are generally used to, both in India & SE Asia. That’s why I had to spend quite a good chunk of time planning for the weather as well for this trip.  

Living in Singapore, there are three things which we are used to, which we might otherwise not have gotten adjusted to in India:

• Since it frequently rains in short bursts in Singapore, rain is no longer a deterrent for us in stepping out.  
• We are still stuck in the days of pre-Instamart/BlinkIt/etc. So, we step out to buy everything from bulk monthly groceries to a single packet of bread. 
• Given that we extensively use only public transport for which long walks to and from the MRT station / bus stop is a given, commuting while hauling our bags is also not a big hassle for us. 

So, rain or shine and with or without the convenience of taxis, we planned to cover as many places as possible within Italy & Paris.   

With all these in mind, I started making several checklists. I scouted around the ongoing offers in different shops and websites to find the best deals for everything from disposable plates and cutlery to body butter and winter jackets. After drawing up a rough itinerary, we frequently kept checking the availability of tickets for all the attractions until we found the best deals, which, by the way, was only through the respective official websites. Then there were all the inter-city trains for which we had to keep monitoring the prices. 

As and when we shopped for something, I made sure that I kept those in the suitcase and not in some cupboard. That way, half the things were already packed. A few weeks before the trip, we stocked up on all the biscuits, candies, Haldiram’s snacks and puLiyodharai, vatthakuzhambu mixes from Grand Sweets that we needed for the trip and those too went right into the suitcase. Despite all these, still there were lots to be packed till the last minute – rice, rice cooker, dresses, general medicines, toiletries, dishwashing liquid, etc. The winterwear had to be segregated into hand and check-in luggages. Everything had to also be repacked to fit it all compactly into 2 small and 2 medium luggages – that was the max that I felt we could haul and walk 700-800m from the railway stations to our accommodations. 

A month later, here I am, sitting and typing this, even as I am processing through all the wonderful memories made and also all the anxious moments dealt with. In retrospection, I realize that the trip itself was therapeutic, though the anxiety still persists. Life is but a mixed bag of feelings, emotions and experiences.