"We would like to offer you the job" said my current boss to me, post grilling me for more than an hour in the conference room of the office! Moving no further into the details, I was all happy to accept that job offer and make a move finally after 7 years from my earlier firm. Once the thrill and excitement settled down, it hit me as to why not take a break in between these two jobs and enjoy a life far away from this regular routine. It had been a long time of service, I deserved a break! Not that I was going to get a long holiday in between the jobs, and also giving a long break would mean a considerable break in the career making it look wild on the CV as well as loss of pay! Eh?
At first it seemed like I was going to be left with no holidays in between the two jobs but with the support of my now ex-bosses, I managed to get an early exit and planned for a complete 2 week holiday. I always wanted to do the Spiti Valley having heard about it from a long time ago, since I had done Ladakh a few years ago. Going to the same place didn't make sense and this was always going to be equally beautiful as the one I thought about when I said 'a break'. Though this time it was going to be different, I was going to do a solo trip with maybe a group of strangers! A google search led me to several travel groups organizing trips in Spiti and the dates that I was looking at were bang in the middle of the season for travel. Crossed fingers, I was worried if I would get a chance of doing this trip altogether.
All said and done, I finalized Incredible Spiti to go ahead with, through their curated group plans and the last one of the 3 group trips that they arrange annually. Though just 5 days to go for the trip, Vishesh, the organizer was nimble enough to accommodate me in the group at the last minute. I quickly managed to huddle up some air tickets and bus tickets to reach Manali, the base location for the trip. Though they were last minute, I was lucky to get space on both these modes.
I got to know that one of my co-travellers of the trip will be on the same plane as mine, but had never spoken to them or ever interacted or for that matter knew how they looked. With all the excitement of reaching a place so serene, I was early on my flight that day taking the aisle seat comfortably. Both the adjoining seats were empty for a while till a boy in his 20s came aboard with his trekking bag. At first it felt that he is on to an expedition with a huge trekking bag, almost on the brink of the cabin baggage size limits, but I wasn't sure. Coincidently, he took a seat right besides me and then what happened was history:
Me: Hey, you seem to be going on a trek?
Him: Oh yeah, to north in the Himalayas
Me: Himalayas? Like where in the Himalayas?
Him: There is some place called Spiti, I dunno, my friend suggested and he is taking me along in this trip with 7 other strangers!
Small world - two travelers from the same group landed together on adjoining seats and we ended up knowing each other very well even before we started the trip! Today, I am happy that I took that decision of going with this tour with strangers - they are no more strangers to me!
At first it seemed like I was going to be left with no holidays in between the two jobs but with the support of my now ex-bosses, I managed to get an early exit and planned for a complete 2 week holiday. I always wanted to do the Spiti Valley having heard about it from a long time ago, since I had done Ladakh a few years ago. Going to the same place didn't make sense and this was always going to be equally beautiful as the one I thought about when I said 'a break'. Though this time it was going to be different, I was going to do a solo trip with maybe a group of strangers! A google search led me to several travel groups organizing trips in Spiti and the dates that I was looking at were bang in the middle of the season for travel. Crossed fingers, I was worried if I would get a chance of doing this trip altogether.
All said and done, I finalized Incredible Spiti to go ahead with, through their curated group plans and the last one of the 3 group trips that they arrange annually. Though just 5 days to go for the trip, Vishesh, the organizer was nimble enough to accommodate me in the group at the last minute. I quickly managed to huddle up some air tickets and bus tickets to reach Manali, the base location for the trip. Though they were last minute, I was lucky to get space on both these modes.
I got to know that one of my co-travellers of the trip will be on the same plane as mine, but had never spoken to them or ever interacted or for that matter knew how they looked. With all the excitement of reaching a place so serene, I was early on my flight that day taking the aisle seat comfortably. Both the adjoining seats were empty for a while till a boy in his 20s came aboard with his trekking bag. At first it felt that he is on to an expedition with a huge trekking bag, almost on the brink of the cabin baggage size limits, but I wasn't sure. Coincidently, he took a seat right besides me and then what happened was history:
Me: Hey, you seem to be going on a trek?
Him: Oh yeah, to north in the Himalayas
Me: Himalayas? Like where in the Himalayas?
Him: There is some place called Spiti, I dunno, my friend suggested and he is taking me along in this trip with 7 other strangers!
Small world - two travelers from the same group landed together on adjoining seats and we ended up knowing each other very well even before we started the trip! Today, I am happy that I took that decision of going with this tour with strangers - they are no more strangers to me!
Indeed a small world with seamless situation fitting with individuals. Sometimes we are left aghast and at times thrilled with joy of not being alone. Like a secondary entity presence is required. Well done Chirag!
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