Phoenix to Mumbai

Hi friends,

Today I am going to share my journey experience from phoenix to Mumbai. Guys, that journey was amazing. I had a tough time and I had some of the awesome memories. There is so much to say about this.

Date: 19 Aug 2011: I was supposed to fly on that day but I got extension till 31^st Aug 2011.

Date: 23 Aug 2011: I got flight ticket confirmation from my manager.

Date 31 Aug 2011: woke up early by 5AM. Took bath and did puja and then left Siddharth’s home (sweet home) and Shashi came to drop me in his Nissan maxima. I was altogether in different mood. Few days back I was thinking that I don’t want to go back to India but on the last day my excitement to go back to India increased exponentially. I was just thinking that when will I sit in the flight and when will I get down at Mumbai airport to see my mom and dad. Meanwhile, I was little bit worried about my luggage but then I found that my luggage was under limit so it was sign of relief for me. After security check I got completely free. Then I started my photography. Look at few pictures below. It was really good time.

Flight: from Phoenix to San Francisco: had a good time. It took us 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach SFO. I was flying in American Airlines. The flight service was really good. They have nice magazines and good crew members. Since this was just a domestic flight, we didn’t have breakfast or lunch for free. But anyways, my belly was full from Phoenix so I didn’t want to eat anything. By the way look at below pictures that I took.

Got down at SFO and then started moving to international flight. I really had to walk a lot for SFO international terminal. It was as if I was just running here and there with no sign and clue of where to go. LOL, it was really funny. It was as if I was in wonderland and asking for help at each place. Every time I used to call up security and I used to ask them only one question “Where is this terminal?”. And with their guidance I was little bit relaxed and reached security check and then to terminal number 3 and Gate 215. It was a good experience. I enjoyed it.

Before I start my talk about what happened at waiting lounge, let me tell u something what did I do when I was at SFO transit. I had light breakfast and then a coke and skype chat with Taran and Anna. We had nice talk.

At Waiting lounge of gate 215: I was again hungry, I came to my waiting lounge and there I found a beautiful lady. She was looking like in between 35 to 40. She was so cool. So I kept my baggage and asked her to keep a watch on it because I wanted to buy a sandwich for me. Check out this video that I took after meeting that lady.

Her name is Nimira. She is so cool and very friendly. I didn’t even take much time to be friend with her. i found that we both share the same thinking and understanding. So it was really amazing. After chatting with her I came to know that she and her mom,dad are traveling in india for almost 30 days. And my first expression was “WOW” and guess what they had the same feeling. I was really excited to know about their travel planning and their excitement. Then Nimira told me that she hasn’t visited India before and she is just coming for the first time. Her parents visited India in 1989 long ago. Since then many things have changed in India. So we became good friends at the airport and then I suggested couple of good places to visit in Mumbai and in Delhi. I was really impressed with their planning. They had all the printed notes of each and everyday. Where they are going, what will they do, what food they will be eating and everything. I liked it. They were prepared for each and everything starting from first aid kit to toilet napkins. Very well managed. I learned a lot from their planning. Hats off to them.

They we boarded flight to Dubai. Emirates is one of the best airline of the world. They have all range of services. Impressive entertainment system, very beautiful & polite crew members and lots of food. I personally prefer emirates because they offer Jain food. Their foods is really tasty, fresh and lots of variety. I just loved it.

I spend most of my time talking to flight crew members. They are so cool. We share talks about life, family, different countries and lots of. And just like that. It took 14 hours to reach dubai from SFO.

On Dubai airport, I met Nimira again and took lots of pictures and gave some tips of photography. Then I went to gate 216 to catch my flight for Mumbai. I waited almost 4 hours on Dubai Airport to catch next emirates flight to Mumbai. Nimira and her family took flight to Delhi.

I reached Mumbai by 2:30AM IST. I was so much excited to see my mom, dad and brother. I did my security check, and waited almost 1 hour to get my  luggage. Then finally I moved out of airport to see my mom and dad. I just stepped out and I first saw my dad waiting for me. I met everyone and touched their feet. It was really awesome moment for me. I felt amazing. They were happy to see my new look. And then we headed to home.

My journey is always amazing and full of talk, excitement and adventure. I meet so many people, I talk to them, I just try to understand them, I try to know about their culture and lots of things. This is how I travel and this is what I enjoy doing. I make sure that I enjoy every bits of my traveling with a smile. Take a look at me... hope u guys will enjoy it

Guys, drop your feeling via comments. I would love to hear more from you all.

Kind Regards,
Shyam Gohil