Well at the beginning of 2023, I had manifested that this year was different and would be really good for me. Like many others, I too had a few new year’s resolutions in my mind and one of them was to do an international trip. Still, I wasn’t sure how this would happen but things unfolded quite well 🤩
It was 8 am Sunday, I was asleep my phone rang and it alerted me. The call was from the Company’s CEO. I don’t usually receive phone calls from him and the time of the call had me guessing what went wrong or if I was being fired 🚨 After the initial hi & hello, he directly came to the point and asked if I’d be able to join him to WordCamp Asia 2023 happening in Bangkok?
Well, I was half asleep and his offer made me fully awake. I told him I needed some time to respond and that I’ll inform him within an hour or so. I was processing what just happened and was happy AF! Within a few minutes, I called him back and told him I’d be there. And this was the start of something amazing!
Day of Travel: Mumbai’s Iconic Terminal T2
The flight was at 8:45 am on 16th Feb ’23, woke up at 3:30 am and reached the airport at 5:30 am. I had visited the T2 many times but never went inside. The airport was impressive early-morning queues had me scratching my head.
Did the check-in, and got a window seat as I wanted my first flight experience to be a memorable one. Navigated to the security check and then to the Immigration things were going smoothly. I had an hour and a half before the boarding was to start. I had my favorite Mumbai snack with tea and progressed for the boarding.
Take Off, Landing, In-flight Experience
Boarding started & I entered the cabin, located my seat, and rested. After the boarding was completed & baggage door closed the flight started to move toward the runway. Captain apologized for the delay and informed us of a further delay of a few minutes due to increased air traffic.
Soon, the flight aligned itself with the runway, and the engine thrust had me glued to my seat for a while. Well, the take-off was amazing and a memorable one. The plane gained height and the seatbelt light turned off. I had my laptop with me, opened my laptop, started listening to music, and watched a few shows that I had downloaded for just this.
After a few hours, it was getting boring thanks to our shorter attention span and mainly no internet 🤯 4 hours passed by and the crew prepared for the landing. As we descended Bangkok City was clearly visible, the bridges, rivers, buildings, farms, and even cars were visible which was super exciting.
As the plane descended the sound of rattling flaps became louder. The plane landed at around 2:30 PM Thailand Time. Soon the plane taxied towards the ramp. At first, I saw the ground crew from the window, it was straight out of a movie scene, the feeling of landing on a different planet altogether 😳
Walked out of the plane, cleared immigration, and got my luggage. Purchased a Sim card and took a taxi to my hotel.
Thai Roads, Reached Hotel
Thai Sign boards, different language, clean roads, cars with closed windows, the cab driver talking over the phone with his buddies, and many more things were worth noticing. After an hour I reached the hotel, checked in my room, and met the Company’s CEO who had flown directly from Bangalore and had landed early.
In my next blog, I’ll share my experience with things that unfolded thereafter.
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