From childhood to adulthood, I never went out of my city-cum-state, New Delhi, on my own. I had visited a few cities in other states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, but never alone. That’s kind of wild, considering we’re talking about almost 30 years. Then one day, I made a girlfriend from outside India, which is wild again!
My younger cousin once asked me, “You like everything Indian, our food, festivals, traditions, so why did you choose a girlfriend from abroad?” I had no answer to his question. I just smiled, and my other cousins laughed.
So, my girlfriend was supposed to come to India. Her plan to come to India, meet me, and meet my family was made two or three years ago at my sister’s wedding. Sadly, due to a mistake on my part, it never became a reality. Since we weren’t able to meet in person, tension started creeping into our relationship. During that time, I told her to try again to come to India, but she wanted me to visit her instead.
I didn’t want to go, mainly because I had already spent money on her previous trip, and I was nervous because, as I mentioned, I had never travelled outside Delhi on my own. But I also initially said no because I didn’t have enough savings to travel by myself.
Then I watched a Korean movie called Past Lives. It’s a beautiful story about two childhood friends and lovers whose love story never gets fulfilled because of the decisions they took and the decisions they didn’t take. Unfulfilled love stories have their own charm. They are pure and nice in their own way.
In the movie, the girl’s mother decides to move to America, and before she leaves, the two childhood friends meet one final time. They are sad, and their friendship ends there. Years later, the guy finds the girl online, and they start talking again. They fall in love all over again, and anyone can tell just by watching them talk to each other over video calls.
Past Lives — Somehow, movies affect me more than people ever do.
The girl wants him to come to the USA, while the guy wants the girl to come back to Korea so they can meet. Because of this, and because the girl wanted something else in her life, she decides to stop talking to him, which leads to a sort of breakup in their unofficial relationship. The boy eventually goes to China, while the girl doesn’t visit Korea either. Both of them become busy with their lives. She has her classes and is focused on building a writing career, while he focuses on his career.
The movie’s ending, along with the amazing acting by the male lead, reminded me of my own situation. That’s when I decided to meet my girlfriend in her country. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me that happened to the guy in the movie.
So, within a few days, I bought the tickets with all the savings I had, booked the hotel, and after that, the first thing I did was tell her, “I’m coming to meet you next year.”
I was so excited that I booked the tickets a year in advance. She was so happy to hear that I was coming. I also told her mother, and she was really happy too.
As the months passed, my excitement grew, but so did my anxiety. For the show-money requirement for the Philippines visa, I didn’t have enough funds in my bank account. I had to wait and save every single penny so that my account would reflect a sufficient balance for the visa application. I eventually managed to save some money and asked my girlfriend for a new invitation letter for visa purposes.
I needed an invitation letter from her side, but then things got messy. My girlfriend was going through some personal problems, as her uncle passed away during that time, so she delayed sending the notarized invitation letter. I didn’t like the delay at all, and she felt I was overcomplicating things by not talking to the travel agency for help. This led to a serious fight between us.
But after cooling down and using our senses, we sorted things out, and she finally sent the notarized letter.
I attached all the documents and paid the visa fee, but then, due to a technical glitch, I wasn’t able to log in to my account. So, I had to take a day off and visit the embassy. After sitting there for four to five hours, they finally resolved the issue.
Then it took a few weeks for the visa to be approved. Before I got my Philippines visa, I received the Singapore visa, which was quite easy since it was for transit only.
I have to tell you, getting the visa approval notification felt a lot like getting my 10th-class results. You always have that fear of wondering whether you’ll pass, or whether you’ll get the marks you were hoping for. So, when I finally got the approval notification for my Philippines visa, it felt kind of nice and amazing.
Finally, My First International Journey
Then came the day I entered IGI T3 airport. It was a brand-new experience. My mother and sister came there to send me off.
After entering, I went to the counter and completed the baggage tagging. Then I clicked a selfie and shared it with my girlfriend to tell her that I was at the airport.
When I stood in the immigration queue, I only later realized that it was for domestic flights, not international flights! After correcting that mistake, I moved to the immigration counter, where they checked my documents and visa.
When I successfully crossed immigration, I was overwhelmed with happiness. It was a kind of happiness that’s hard to describe, a sense of accomplishment. I think people from rich or well-off families might never feel this kind of happiness because they never have to see the struggle for things like this. I did everything on my own and took no help. I also saved ₹10–15k when one travel agent asked for the invitation letter and visa clearance. There were some difficult things, and even some simple things became complicated, but I managed to get through them. Everything combined made it even more special.
I boarded the plane and had booked a window seat because I wanted to see the world, the clouds, and everything from above. It truly was an amazing experience. The air hostess served food, but honestly, it wasn’t good. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t.
Finally, we reached Singapore’s Changi Airport. It was stunning, really well-maintained, and beautiful. Some say it is one of the most beautiful airports in the world, and it really is.
I waited for my luggage but panicked when it didn’t show up. I asked a cabin crew member who was standing there, and after checking my boarding pass, he told me that the luggage would arrive at my final destination, Manila. I felt so relieved.
I connected to the airport Wi-Fi, which was free, and called my mother. She told me I was panicking over silly things, and then I ended the call. Everyone at home was happy, and I also informed my girlfriend by sharing a video with her.
I was feeling hungry, but everything at the Singapore airport was expensive and mostly non-vegetarian. I tried to save money and avoid eating, but everyone, including my mother and girlfriend, told me to eat something.
I finally found a vegetarian burger option, but it was sold out. The shopkeeper said they had French fries and Coke, so I ordered that and had it for dinner. Funny and weird, but memorable.
I took the airport metro to reach the terminal for my connecting flight. I also went out of the airport, kind of, to explore Singapore. While I was walking, I saw some random Singaporean dude who looked angry or something, and he was shouting at someone.
I boarded the Skytrain to explore the airport, but then I decided to go back to my terminal because I didn’t want to do something stupid and miss my flight.
While I was waiting, I saw a chocolate store. Chocolate is my weakness, but in that store everything was four or five times more expensive, so I just window-shopped and left.
I tried to sleep in the waiting area, but again, I couldn’t. I charged my phone, and after that, I explored Changi Airport a little more. It really is beautiful, as they say. So, after walking around with no sleep and drinking enough water, I got so tired and really wanted to sleep. I found a corner where they had sleeping pods, but due to my bad luck, every pod was already occupied.
Then I left and saw an Omega clock, and I was so excited to see it because Omega is my favorite watch brand, to be honest. I just like it because of the Omega symbol. I find it cool. Superman, who is my favorite superhero, has an arch-nemesis, Darkseid, who has a big Omega symbol on his chest.
So, I decided to walk around and explore more of the airport and see this amazing place. It was empty and so calm, and I think it was 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. I just love that time. Then I decided to go downstairs, where I put my phone on charge again because I was using it to click photos and videos every few minutes.
While it was charging, I did some push-ups, and I felt so great and nice. I sat there, closed my eyes, and tried to sleep, but sleep did not come. After spending some time in this quiet, empty waiting area, I went upstairs to check my flight details.
There were so many fancy shops in the duty-free zone, and I just wanted to go inside and buy something nice for myself or my girlfriend.
I took out my phone and checked the screen for my flight details and found the gate number. Then I moved towards the boarding gate from where I needed to catch the flight. I was feeling hungry, so I bought chocolate from a store and ate it. When I was walking, I saw a water fountain, where I filled the empty water bottle that I was carrying.
Then, finally, I reached the boarding gate. Initially, there weren’t many people, but they started coming as time passed. While waiting there, I noticed people walking and passing by. I saw couples, families, children shouting, and old grandparents holding the hands of their grandchildren. It was nice to see. Then I noticed a Filipino father-daughter duo. The little girl was so cute. She was playing a game on her father’s mobile phone.
Then, suddenly, airport security with machine guns showed up and asked to see my passport and boarding pass. I showed them, they checked and nodded, and left. I think they were doing it because there are some people who try to live inside airports, and they don’t want any such person in their country, which is good.
I saw so many people at the airport, rich, good-looking, well-dressed, and it felt like they travelled by airplane as casually as I travel by metro. Maybe it’s true for some people.
But I think the way I see the world is different, and this is because when you do very limited things in life, you are not exposed to many different experiences or people. Most of the time, I see the same faces at home, during my commute, and at the office. So, when you suddenly see different people who have nothing to do with your work or your usual routine, it gives you a strange feeling of being more connected to the world around you. You feel alive, and that is a good feeling because I experience it very rarely. This is also because, during weekends, I spend most of my time either watching random videos on YouTube or shows on Netflix, and I don’t even leave my house.
After hours of waiting and zero sleep in the past 24 hours, boarding for my connecting flight finally started.
I boarded the plane. A Japanese guy was sitting next to me, and the food they served on that flight was actually really good. It was a Jetstar flight, and honestly, I feel like giving a shout-out to them for the nice food and hospitality.
After a few hours, our plane finally reached Manila, Philippines. I looked out of the window and saw the city from above. I felt so happy seeing the vast ocean alongside the city. It was my first glimpse of the Philippines.
The flight landed earlier than scheduled. I headed towards immigration, feeling nervous again. I didn’t know what questions they would ask me. When I finally reached the immigration counter, I handed over my passport and answered the officer’s questions. I fumbled while answering a few of them, but after I connected to the internet and showed him my hotel booking, he let me through.
Then, a woman officer asked me what I had inside my bag and opened it for inspection. I showed her what I was carrying, and because I didn’t want any trouble, I ended up declaring almost everything I had with me. I was worried that they might stop me or confiscate something if I failed to declare it. I probably overdid it because the officer actually told me, “Next time, you don’t need to declare everything.
Then I finally left the immigration area and felt happy again as I was finally going to meet my girlfriend.
After waiting for about 10–15 minutes, my luggage finally arrived, and I collected it. I also noticed an Indian guy there who seemed a little arrogant for some reason. I had heard people say that Indians sometimes notice or react differently to other Indians when they meet abroad, and I wondered if there was some truth to it.
I reached the exit area where people were waiting for their loved ones. I tried to find my girlfriend but didn’t see her.
Then suddenly, a hand touched my arm from behind. I quickly pulled my hand away, not expecting that touch. But then I realized it was my girlfriend.
I was in shock and a little bit shy after seeing my girlfriend for the first time. I think this is because when you meet or see someone online through video calls, seeing them in person for the first time can be confusing. At least, it was for me. She bought me a Subway sandwich, which was so nice of her because she knew that I hadn’t eaten much and hadn’t slept yet.
The very next day, we went to the airport again. My girlfriend came to my hotel with her uncle to pick me up, and her cousin brother also joined us. We all went to the airport together. While her uncle was parking the car, my girlfriend and I went to the food court, where she treated me to breakfast. At first, we decided to have a vegetarian Subway sandwich, but after I noticed that the same gloves were being used for both meat and vegetarian fillings, I decided not to eat there.
Instead, we went to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, where she ordered a cheese bread and a chocolate pastry. We enjoyed them together while waiting. After that, we went downstairs to welcome her mother. When she finally saw me, she was happy to meet me, and we took a photo together before heading back.
Over the next week, we explored different parts of Manila and had a lot of fun together. Since I am vegetarian, we ate only at vegetarian-friendly places, and during the trip, I had the best pizza of my life. She also helped me learn how to eat with a fork and knife, and of course, I decided to practise it on pizza. Yeah, that was pretty funny.
We also went shopping for my family and her cousins. A few days before I had to return to India, we spent a day at the beach with her family, which was another memorable part of the trip. We also visited a fort, explored the Mall of Asia (MOA), which is one of the biggest malls in Asia, and visited several other places around Manila.
It was a fun trip, but more than anything, it was special because I finally got to experience the Philippines with her and meet some of the people who were important to her.
Random Clicks from the Trip
So yeah, this was my first trip where I went somewhere alone, straight from my city to a completely new country. And I’ll never forget it.
I felt homesick during the first few days, but then I adjusted and slept like a baby because I had left my tension in India and my work in India.
It was more than just a trip for me. It was the first time I stepped out of my comfort zone and travelled to another country on my own. There were moments when I was nervous, confused, hungry, tired, and even panicked over silly things, but I managed to figure things out along the way.
And maybe that is what made the trip so special. Thanks for reading. If you have something nice to tell me, you can say it in the comment section. I’d really love to know any story related to your first trip abroad or your own travel experiences.
