By Vandana Miglani, Batch of 2019
With the festive season around the corner, and an uncanny amount of free time on our hands (read as: the brief illusion between the Mid and End semester exams), taking a trip with the amigos is certainly an option.
But while it presents itself as a great idea, that’s just the beginning. What follows between the idea and the trip, is utter chaos.
We, at the Alliance, feel you. Therefore, garnering our years of experience with this, we give you five main pointers on how to handle what ensues after the ‘Chalo chalte hai!’
1. For starters, do not ‘plan’ plan a trip. I mean, you can try doing that, what will follow will be spiraling conversations about hotels, days, food, washroom choices, et al. One thing’s for sure, you will be just as confused at the start of the conversation as at the end of it.
Our advice: Why bother! Just reach and go with the flow. Added advantage – going spontaneously has a charm and a thrill of its own (read as: every travel movie plot, ever)
2. The Number Gamble
Decide on the number of people your group should have. Should it only be the inner circle or should it include the casual acquaintances as well?
It can actually go both ways. The more the merrier, right? (or not).
Increased numbers mean increased entropy. Good luck getting everyone out of the hotels for the trek at 0900 hours in the morning. But the nights by the bonfire? Yeah, they make up for the former.
3. Destination Decision
In our experience, there are two factions to this point. One faction which screams Goa, and the one who almost-lovingly mentions Kasol/Manali/Dharamshala. Finding a balance between the two is every group’s own war.
Our advice: The beaches and the hills are like sugar and salt. Both fundamental, but completely different experiences.
4. The ‘tu-aa-raha-haina?’
Before the planning of the trip comes the pre-planning (read as: save the dates, people! ) It is imperative that the organizers know about the days when each member is available or has some prior commitments. Otherwise, the last-minute drama, ‘I can’t come because of such and such reason’ and back outs, which invariably occur in the domino fashion (‘I will only go, if he/she is coming too!’) are inevitable. So, be prepared and plan before-hand to avoid clashes.
5. Permission!
This is probably the nerve-wrecking thing out of all.
Have you asked your parents yet? Have they asked their routine 231541 questions yet? Have you cleared out the sex ratio? What about their phobia of you falling into huge water bodies while taking selfies?
Nothing in your life will function without the assent of these supreme beings. So, make sure to be ‘good kids’ from a week prior; convince them, win them over or (mostly likely) beg them over.
These five points superficially cover all, that anyone of us who’s ever gone on a trip goes through. That being said, this struggle is worth the experience. The little idiosyncrasies of every member of the trip is what you will remember 10 years hence when you plan to meet again. It’s these trips that bind us all a little tighter, between all the embarrassing and the life-changing stories.
Happy Tripping!