Day 1 – 10 January 2013

Left St. Louis with 3 bags packed for 18 days in India – probably over packed, but would rather have too many clothes than not enough (see Day 3……). Connected in Dallas, a wonderful surprise to get upgraded to first class for the flight from Dallas to London Heathrow. It was amazingly comfortable, with lots of distractions available (videos, music, etc.), but I opted to avoid electronics for the start of the trip to be able to remember it better. Instead, I read a book on Mother Teresa (http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Mother_Teresa.html?id=kpa3Sgt5c_4C&redir_esc=y) – thought it would be in the right spirit, due to all her life work in India. Good choice!

Day 2 – 11 January 2013

After deplaning in London and walking to Terminal 5 for the next flight, I met Mark & Mark – both in IT from Dallas. It turns out they’re on my next flight too – very helpful, since they directed me to the right terminal bus and to the British Airways lounge area. I appreciated finding the lounge, since we had about 5 1/2 hours to spend at the airport. It allowed me to do some work and also shower and change clothes – never realized how nice a benefit that could be on a long journey until today!

When boarding the flight to take us to Bangalore, I met a woman who has lived the past 30 years in Miami, but she is a native of Bangalore. She encouraged me to travel outside Bangalore city to see more of what Bangalore used to be (the ‘garden city’). It isn’t much of a garden any more, she said, but the state of Karnataka still has many beautiful areas. Once on the plane, I couldn’t abstain from electronic diversions any longer. I opted to watch the movie ‘Rock of Ages’ again. Watching movies multiple times, I recently learned, is based on the psychology of reconsumerism (http://hub.aa.com/en/aw/creature-of-habit). I am definitely someone who reconsumes experiences, like watching favorite movies or traveling to the same location often (Key West).