1. Packed Suitcase

2. Passport

3. Snacks for the ride

4. A sense of Adventure

It is T-minus 3 days until I take a 7 hour flight to Paris, France; where I stay for 3 days before I travel to New Delhi, India. This is not my first time at either of these places. I went to Paris nearly 14 years ago, and India 2 years ago. What can I say? I love familiarity. 

So naturally, when I was getting my stuff ready for my trip on Monday (Yes I’m quite the last minute packer) I realized that my passport expires within 6 months. Especially with my previous experience in European countries, if I went with my current passport, they would take one look at it, and send me on the next plane back home, and I was not going to let anything stop me from going to the City of Love.

What a lovely morning today was, as I got up at 6 and went to the Washington Passport Agency. Waiting in line for security took forever, but once I entered, the process was pretty quick. I was wearing a Messi Argentina jersey and that was quite the conversation starter. So alas, I signed some papers, made some remarks about the Women’s World Cup, and was done by 9:30 for my plane ride on Monday.

Along with my passport, I got a wonderful brochure, which stated that with my passport, the world is my oyster! I guess I hadn’t really thought about it, but this 52 page book allows me to go anywhere in the world, including trying new foods, picking up different languages, and learning about worldly ideas and beliefs!

I’ve usually gone about vacations being a Tourist. I would go to all of the typical places to sight see, and take the famous pictures that everyone else takes. This time, I hope to see Paris as a traveler. Maybe the French Handbook I got as a gift 2 years ago will finally come in handy!

Until next time,

Au Revoir!

Sandhya