Eurotrip series : Where do i begin to tell you the story of how ssssswwwwweeeeeet a trip can be

Eurotrip :  The plan

Okay it DOES remind me of DDLJ too. As Chandler would say, "Could it BE more cliched".
If corny just popped up in your head, im not surprised. And if you think you already know im going to mention Raj and romance next, sorry to disappoint you... or did i just say that :/ shucksie

Setting it up
When i watched this movie for the first time, i was still at school. And more than the idea of Raj, i fell in love with Europe. I decided that its one place i just HAD to visit. The good thing i did is, informed my parents. It gave them 10 odd years to come to terms with it.

As i was growing up, i read more and more about Europe and it only kept inflaming my desire to visit. How i wanted to do this was : budget, basic, impromptu, and single. Unlike alot of people around me who wanted it to be their honeymoon destination. Nothing wrong with that, but it just wasn't my thing. Also, i think why alot of them settled for honeymoon bit (atleast the women) was because Indian parents would not be thrilled at the idea of letting their kids fly away to Europe for a holiday, single. Not the middle class working parents with decent but not luxurious lifestyles.

So how did i get around it? One of the best things you could do to yourself for Euro or any other trip is go study there. Or better still, get a job. I had neither of these. All i had was enough ( not much, just enough) money to make it to Europe. It took a couple of business trips abroad and a couple of years of repeated planning and plotting and reciting the Euro Chalisa 108 times a month... for my parents to atleast consider the plan. Also, i think they knew it was one thing i would not settle on.

Do Not Give in
I planned 1 week exntension on my first business trip to London to visit scotland. Unfortunately, my business trip got extended. I planned a 1 week extension on my second business trip to London... work extended AGAIN. Then i planned a holiday with 3 female friends, (which my parents were okay with) and one of them decided the get pregnant... shelved again. (Im happy for you T :) )

"Mere paas bhai hai"
While in London i met a childhood friend, after 12 years, thanks to orkut... who happened to be living.. guess where? Switzerland ofcourse. Finally, i planned a trip to visit him so we could go on a road trip.... but two was not good enough for us. We roped in his brother.... but my very Indian parents would never have agreed.
So thats when your younger brother comes in handy. After ALOT of planning, cancelling, begging, cajoling, bribing, threatening, counselling, emotional blackmailing, tantrums, sulking, yelling, emailing, calling, video conferencing................ I got a thumbs up from the authorities.

Take aways for those not interested in my long story :
1. If your parents are not happy about it, you can always walk off, there is nothing much they can do about it if you are working. But thats not something i wanted to do. Give time for the idea to settle in.
2. Find someone they know or are comfy with: friends, siblings (if your sibling is as cool as mine), cousins, package tour?
3. Be sure to make your passion visible.