Travel Diaries #1 - The Long Road Home: Red Memories (2 of 5)

IT's ALL PART OF THE PLAN

I made a checklist of all the things that would be required for the trip. But first I want to review why I chose UK for the first ever international trip.

Besides the obvious love for Manchester United, I felt that going solo the easiest start would be through a common language zone. And what better than the English? Accent was never going to be an issue given how I have surrounded myself with British television and gameplay commentary.

Back to the checklist.

Three questions – Where? How? When?

For Where I chose three places of Manchester, London and Edinburgh with Liverpool as an optional destination if possible. Obviously given I would be watching the match and going on a stadium tour on two different days, Manchester would be my base and that was how I booked the flight tickets.

Now came the dates. I would be there on 10^th and leave on 15^th so I had a window of 6 days with one day as rest (the first one). The match was on 11^th so I decided to keep Edinburgh for 12^th and London for 13^th. 14^th was the stadium tour – Liverpool will possibly be that day.

With that I started looking into trains. Virgin Trains was the first one I looked into, and for London I got well priced tickets for First Class. Edinburgh was a bit more problematic (and did end up as an issue) with change overs but got some reasonable Standard Class tickets. I decided Liverpool, being just an hour away, would be an on spot decision.

Next up were the attraction tickets. I got a two for one with London Eye and Madame Tussauds in London, and an Edinburgh Castle pass for two hours (3 pm to 5 pm). Along with my Old Trafford Museum Tour and Match Tickets, these were the only purchases I did before the trip.

Coming to places to stay, keeping Trafford as a central location suited me, and thus I found a place of Air BNB for around 11k across the 6 days. Deciding not to risk anything, I chose a Super Host in Laurence, who lived with her two dogs and was highly recommended by guests and fellow hosts.

So now I was done with those three questions.

This is what my trip looked like:

10^th Aug – Flight from Chennai to Manchester through Abu Dhabi

 11^th Aug – Manchester United vs Leicester City

12^th Aug – Edinburgh Trip

13^th Aug – London Trip

14^th Aug – OT Stadium Trip (and Liverpool?)

15^th Aug – Flight from Manchester to Chennai through Dubai

One tip about flights through. My departure was with Ethihad and return with Emirates – and booked through MakeMyTrip which gave me huge discounts on my HDFC card. Unless you are a frequent flier, it doesn’t make sense to book through the flight sites which will give miles and all. Overall everything had cost me nearly a lakh (flight 50k, Air BNB 11k, Visa 11k, travel insurance 1.2k and attractions 13k).

Regarding Visa, given how nervous I was – I wanted to get it done quickly and thus on top of the 8.5k for the visa itself, I got a 2.5k for the premium lounge facility which proved to be very helpful when I actually went.

About the money itself, I got in touch with ICICI and got a Forex card cash combo with 200 pounds and 250 pounds respectively. That was done post VISA and only took a few days.

Coming to the VISA interview, I would advise you to have everything ready so it helps them clear you quicker. My VISA interview was on 2^nd July and I got my passport back by July 24^th. Everything I had booked I submitted in copy, including a letter from my company stating their approval of the trip and obviously my rough itinerary.

With everything done, now the main thing began.

INTO THE SKIES

With the airport almost an hour from my place, I have always used the rule of thumb of 3 hours for departing via cab. For this one, I decided on 5 hours and sped off at midnight of the 9^th. The International Departure is just a little ahead of the Domestic One in Chennai, so there were no issues in reaching. Especially at one in the night.

I do want to make a point that annoyed me a bit in between. They changed the match timings from early Saturday to late Friday, and thus I would have only hours upon landing to ensure I reached the match. Thankfully it would be just a walk from the Air BNB, but I was fearful of any delays in flights – not to mention being near 24 hour sleep deprivation when I landed (I do not deal well with sleeping in sitting positions).

Let me now take you with me through the immigration line. It’s a simple thing really – they will ask purpose of trip, length of stay, place of stay and then stamp your passport, letting you run free. Obviously, I was always afraid that saying ‘I am going to see a match’ would be taken in a sense of bewilderment, but thankfully there was just a passing eye raise to that.

The flight went off without much excitement, though it was interesting to see the difference between domestic flights and international ones – especially with their double level buffering. Someday maybe business class will be my domain, but today I was happy with the humble economy. Watching a sitcom with Seth McFarlane (surprisingly bearable in human form for once), we landed soon in Abu Dhabi.

I had packed very light with only two backpacks containing clothes, essential documents and the stray power bank but getting them through security check was a hassle with the emptying out in Abu Dhabi. There was some interesting technology at play where they matched my fingerprints with my smartphone and power bank to prove ownership I guess, but I was generally at much greater ease than the nervous energy I had been fighting in Chennai.

Back in the air, this time with copious amounts of wine and beef, I sailed across Europe and into the British Isles. Manchester, here I come!