This happens to most of us.

We want to go somewhere; we shortlist a place based on time, budget and convenience. Then we do research, we read up about the place; we watch reels about the place; we talk to our friends who have visited that place and make a list of all the things we want to do and all the places we want to see.

We finalise a hotel after browsing through many reviews and photographs. We check the food available there, keep a list of things we would definitely want to try. We check the logistics of transportation and plan our route. We study the weather for each day almost to the extent that we can be a weather person the next day.

We dream of the day when we are actually in that place and how we would be able to experience all that we have bookmarked. The excitement is palpable.

We wake up in the morning thinking of the soon-to-visit destination. We go to work with a big smile on our face, knowing that soon we will be on a delicious break.

As the days near, we plan our wardrobe for the trip. Based on the season, we pick out our coolest clothes, hoping that it will look good in all the umpteen photos we will be clicking. We plan enough back ups and mix and match too; you know just in case we feel festive or celebratory.

Soon the day to leave arrives. We pack with utmost discipline by ticking off things on the checklist. We want to make sure we have everything, in case of emergency. We weigh the bag to make sure we are still in the prescribed limits. We remove some things so that we are not crossing that limit.

Then we lie in bed, wide awake, dreaming wide awake, fully aware that we have to wake up in a few hours and finally leave for this trip that we have been planning and living and breathing and dreaming to no end. But sleep is nowhere close. We panic, what if we don’t wake up on time? We set up a few more alarm clocks. Close our eyes and tell the mind to stop the chatter and sleep. Then sometime unknowingly we actually drift in to sleep and wake up when the first alarm clock rings with a big wide smile on the face.

This is what I call – the trip that happens before the actual trip. 🙂