As the semester came to an end I decided it was time to head home for the break. This only meant one thing. I had to brace myself for a 23-hour flight. As much as I looked forward to going home, I was dreading the travel.

Everyone loves traveling by air. So do I. when I was little I used to look forward to these flights. Everything from going to the airport to boarding the flight used to excite me. I could not wait to travel by air again and again. As I grew older, the one thing that I have realized is that the older you are the more you dread flight travels. (At least that is my case.) and it is true!

As I set out to travel back home, I realized that every step of the way, in all the different cities that we were, all I did was find more and more reasons to crib and whine! (Shout out to my friend who was also traveling with me and bore all my cribbing and whining, and thanks for being a great travel partner! I truly love you!!)

So, today I recount (or rather rant out) the various inconveniences according to me that we faced in our travel back to Mumbai from Raleigh!

Be it at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where I was annoyed by the self-check-in kiosks that refused to print my boarding cards because my luggage was one 1lb. heavier than the normal baggage allowance, which forced me to open my bags and remove clothes and put them into the other bag in front of everyone!

There was also the fact that, after standing in a long line at the security checkpoint, I was the lucky person selected to be frisked manually as well. This was then complemented with a delayed flight, which caused havoc in our flight since most of the other passengers were scared of missing their connections.

Cut to New York (JFK), where it took us 20 minutes to get to the train that would take us to our terminal, or the fact that we were still unable to print out our boarding cards! (We had some serious boarding card issues this time!) Then there was the extra-long security check line, which basically took up all our time that we would have spent getting food.

I expected the flight to be comfortable and smooth, and it was except for my hunger. (The airline ran out of the dish that I would have eaten.) Finally, I reached London hungry and sleep deprived.

This was followed by an unnecessary wait after the security check at London where my friend's, rather empty bag, was retained by the security officials. This was followed by a visit to the Harry Potter store at Heathrow, which seemed to do wonders and made me forget everything that had gone wrong so far!

After a little last minute shopping at the airport, we boarded the final flight! The last leg! and we could not have been happier. After this rather long travel journey, I was greeted by a super long line at the immigration desk here in Mumbai.

After this rant, all I can say is that after all the whining and cribbing and all the annoyed eye rolls as I made my way home I could not but wonder if this is what I always do and later regret. There are certain things I can never stop doing, and this is one. Be it a flight that is an hour long or a flight 23 hours long, I always have the same attitude, which is not what it is supposed to be since these rules and requirements are for everyone's safety, and this only worsens my mood while I travel.

At the end, all I can say is that, however long and tiring and annoying the journey was, it was worth the end when I came home to my family and friends and their happy faces.