Lost Baggage, Indian Weddings & Compression Socks
Our trip to India started with a little problem. Well, actually, a pretty big one.
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Our trip to India started with a little chaos. We had barely made it onto our connecting flight in Istanbul, and by the time we landed in Mumbai, we discovered that our checked luggage had decided to take a different route.
But let’s rewind.
We flew from LA to Mumbai, with a connection in Istanbul. Our flight got delayed, and we had to rush to catch our connecting flight. I mean, we were literally climbing through people on the plane to get off and make it to our next flight.
There I was, running through Istanbul Airport in flip-flops and compression socks. LOL.
I had put on the compression socks for the long flight because I didn’t want my feet to swell. I guess I wasn’t expecting to be running through an airport wearing them with flip-flops.
At some point, I did think, Are our bags going to make it, too?
But we still had another thousand hours of flying ahead of us, so I ignored that thought and hoped for the best.
Fast-forward a few hours, and we finally landed in Mumbai. We went through immigration and headed to baggage claim, waiting for our suitcases to show up.
Except they didn’t.
Our bags were still in Istanbul.
And of course, we were in India for my friend’s wedding. It was my first time attending an Indian wedding, and we had packed outfits for the different days and events. The first event was the very next day.
So, naturally, we had to figure out what was going on with our luggage. Getting someone to help us at the airport was a whole thing.
We were trying to explain what had happened, figure out where our bags were, and understand when we would get them back. And even though we all technically spoke English, understanding each other wasn’t always that easy.
I noticed that the way people phrased things was different from what I was used to. Sometimes, I understood the words, but putting everything together was another story. It was a little frustrating trying to get a straight answer.
Eventually, we managed to get someone to look into our case, and I even sent an email explaining what had happened and asking if our bags could be sent on the next flight to Mumbai.
The answer was that we might get our bags the next day, or maybe the day after.
Great.
Meanwhile, my friend’s dad was waiting for us at the airport. He had very kindly offered to pick us up, and I felt bad that we were making him wait while we dealt with the whole situation.
But he was super chill about it. He kept telling us not to stress and that if we needed other outfits, we could find something else to wear. It would all work out.
And honestly, he was right. There wasn’t much we could do at that point other than wait and figure things out as we went.
Eventually, we got out of the airport and met up with him.
We ended up waiting two days for our bags. By the third day in India, we were already getting ready for the second wedding event, and guess what? We got our bags back about an hour before we had to leave. LOL.
We had bought three outfits for the wedding. There were four events in total, but we were only attending three of them, so we had planned our outfits accordingly.
The first event we attended was the Mehndi Ceremony, which is the celebration where henna is applied to the hands. Since we still didn’t have our bags, my friend had to lend us dresses so we could go.
And let me tell you, that henna stayed on our hands for practically our entire time in India. It lasted about two weeks!
Luckily, we got our bags just in time for the next event, which was more like a carnival party, and we were able to wear the outfits we’d actually bought for the wedding. We also got to wear our own outfits for the ceremony.
So, in the end, we made it work. We borrowed dresses for one event, got our bags back just in time for the next, and the wedding went on as planned.
But there’s another person who deserves a mention in this story.
We had also arranged a road trip through Rajasthan for after the wedding, and someone from the tour agency was supposed to meet us at the airport to collect the money we owed for the trip.
Instead, this guy ended up helping us deal with the airline and following up on our missing luggage. He kept pushing them to find our bags and get them to Mumbai.
We were so grateful because he really didn’t have to help us with any of that.
And the funniest part? I’ve been receiving motivational messages from this guy on WhatsApp for the past TWO YEARS.
Yes, two years.
I guess that my phone number is on his Broadcast list 😂 here some of them:
Looking back, it was a pretty chaotic way to start our trip to India. We had barely arrived, and we were already dealing with missing luggage, trying to communicate with the airline, borrowing dresses, and figuring things out as we went.
But everything worked out in the end. We got our bags, made it to the wedding, and eventually started our road trip through Rajasthan.
And that’s one of the things about traveling. Things don’t always go as planned, but somehow, you figure them out. Sometimes people you barely know end up helping you out, and sometimes those same people are still sending you motivational messages on WhatsApp two years later.
Also, maybe next time I’ll pack a change of clothes in my carry-on. And maybe retire the compression socks and flip-flops combo. Maybe.
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