Entelechy

Lately I have had some bad experiences during my trips, more so on bus trips. In retrospect, I found that I never prepared well for these trips. With some amount of preparation I could have saved all the troubles. So I thought why not prepare a journey-note for ready-reference.

First, and foremost, always plan ahead. Never leave anything for the last minute. Decide beforehand which mode of traveling to use, bus or train or air.

The best, obviously is air travel. But in India, still, it is very costly and has poor connectivity. Even the major cities are not connected properly, a good example would be hyderabad and calcutta. So find out if there is direct flight and if it fits your budget book it.

The next best option is trains. And if the journey is for more than 12 hours then trains are a must. You get all the comfort, a place to sleep, a washroom, and some company, at a reasonable price. If you are traveling in sleeper don't forget to take a pillow and bedsheet for sleeping. In A/C coaches you get all these but in sleeper you are on your own. Before booking tickets make sure that you are not allotted the beginning seats (1-8) or the end seats (65-72) of the compartment. These seats are very uncomfortable because of their proximity to the door and the toilet. So beware!

And for some reason if you don't want trains then you only have buses. I hate them, but then sometimes there is nothing else available. There are two options :- semi-sleeper and sleeper. Make sure semi-sleeper is 2-by-2 and if sleeper you have a single berth. In semi-sleeper you will have to find if the bus provides leg-support. Be there early, check your seats, and if for some reason it is not good request for a change asap. In buses you wont be able to read so carry a walk-man.

Next comes packing. Have a list of things you need while traveling. Before leaving check against this. We tend to forget the trivials and checking against a list helps a lot.

Take some medicines, atleast, for headache or nausea.

This is all I can think of at present. Will add something latter.



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