On 25th March, I submitted the form that Areej sent out in the WTS Slack channel about Google I/O Connect. John Mueller kindly decided to offer some passes to the WTS members, and fortunately, I also got one.
This event took place in Bengaluru, which is 2,150 km (1335 miles) away from me. Fortunately for me, my client lives in Bangalore, and my friend is also living there.
I then booked my tickets, planned the trip and went to see the awesome city of Bengaluru. I wanted to be here for 10 days so that I can visit a lot of places, but I thought it would be little too much, so I made it a week. The whole trip would take a week, but I am only 5 full days here. This is technically my second time here because the first time I came here was for my admission to one of the universities here. I ended up not studying here. So this is me traveling to the same city 6 years later.
Prep for the trip
I am someone who doesn’t travel very often. I have one suitcase and that too I borrowed from my parents who bought it 7-8 years ago. We don’t use these suitcases often, so they were like new. I like to think that suitcases are a one-time investment. You buy it once, and it lasts you a long time.
And even though I pack very efficiently, I tend to forget things. I also had no idea on what to pack and what not to pack.
Even before packing, I didn’t had a lot of “professional” or decent clothes. So that’s when I did a lot of shopping online. This trip was also the reason why I got my headphones (Sony WH-1000XM5). Well, I wanted to buy them besides the trip, but this was one of the main reasons why. They really helped in the flight, and on the airport to isolate me from all that noise.
I discovered the idea of a packing list from my friend. A list that lists what things should go in the checked luggage, what should go in the hand luggage, and so on. I liked this idea. Mainly because I like to plan things, and I can go through this list again and again to see if I got all my things or not.
I am not really a fan of checked luggage because of all the extra hassle of actually checking in the luggage. But I had to. If I had a small suitcase then it won’t be the case.
Day 1
I booked an Uber from my home to the airport. The guy called and said that he would charge extra for the tolls. I checked with my friend and the Uber support pages and they both said that I should not be giving more than the fixed fare.
I was like sure. The ride was good, with some traffic. After reaching the airport, there was a lot of traffic, and the traffic police were not letting anyone park their cars outside the airport. The rush was real, and I was feeling nervous. This is when I got out of the car, and the driver came to hand me the suitcase. He then asked me to pay 180 rupees extra on top of the fare that Uber told me in the app. I tried telling him that you already got paid all the tolls right in the fare. He then started shouting and showed his phone and told me that the final price doesn’t include the tolls. He also started calling me names and said how I was wasting his time by not paying quickly. Frustrated, confused, and betrayed, I paid him the money.
I then contacted Uber support telling them about what happened and if this was okay or not. This bot connected me to a human, and this was another bad experience.
This guy told me how I was supposed to pay 180 rupees extra just because this was an intercity ride. When I was messaging him about how cheated I felt and how bad this user experience was, this guy closed the chat. I felt cheated because Uber didn’t care enough to tell me the correct price and then the support is not good either. This only signifies that Uber drivers can get away with anything and Uber supports this shit.
Rant aside, I then reached the airport.
It was a lot of walking and security checks. The airport had changed so much since the last time I came here- which was 5 years ago. I believe 5 years is a lot of time in airport years lol.
I had made the mistake of wearing tight footwear. They were such a pain to wear and it was very hard walking. I also have a flat foot and that also added to the pain.
I also made another mistake of not packing any food when I was coming from home. The food in the airport is 4x more expensive than what we get in normal shops. And I was not ready to pay that price. The food on the plane itself was also 4-5x expensive.
So if you’re traveling, please pack some snacks or something from your home. I am planning on doing that when I go back home.
So after a lot of feelings about food and walking, I went to my boarding gate. This is when we got notified that the flight is delayed by 30 minutes. I felt so bad because already the timing of the flight was too late for me.
So we waited and after 30 minutes, they started boarding. I got my seat and the flying was nice. If you forget about a lot of turbulence obviously. I almost felt like dying because I was surviving on 3 pieces of bread lol.
Then we got to Bengaluru airport and the weather was super nice. It was raining a bit and there was a cold breeze. I then sat in a corner and opened all my 4 travel apps. I checked through all of them and the Ola was nice and cheaper compared to other options. So I took that. Although the distance between the airport and my Airbnb was 45 km (~28 miles), it took me more than 2 hours to get there. The traffic in Bengaluru is wild.
I also saw a lot of construction happening. The locals says that this construction work is going on even after 10 years, which is crazy but common in India. The vibe here was different than my hometown and I find people here to be a little nicer even though they were struggling a bit with Hindi. And I don’t like speaking English all the time lol.
I also noticed how the people of Bengaluru take so much pride in speaking their native language and following their culture. This is missing in North India and I wish my people also took pride in speaking their language and following their culture.
After coming to my Airbnb, I was absolutely crashed. I could die any minute and I was hungry af. So I asked my host if he could get me something to eat. He then got me a veggie burger, momos, and a small bottle of Pepsi.
I went to sleep then.
Day 2
I woke up at 7 am. I planned to meet my client and go to the place where the Google I/O is happening to collect the badges and see how the place looks like.
I then got ready, answered a few emails, and checked some other stuff. I then took an auto from my Airbnb to my client’s home. It took me 1.5 hours for the 25 km distance. My client was very welcoming and the place was very cute and aesthetic. they offered me coffee, a fancy salad, and some good homemade food. I felt very grateful to have homemade food in another city. We talked a lot, and then I left for the event’s place.
This is how it was looking.
It was very beautiful and there were not a lot of people there. Everyone was coming in and collecting the badges. I got mine too, and here’s how it looks
I then took the auto cab and got to my place. It was a nice day and I felt so awesome, especially after having good homemade food 🙂
Then I got to work, and I thought of documenting this journey. So right now I am writing this.
Day 3
I woke up at 6 am. The event was supposed to start from 8:30 am, but because of the traffic situation, I thought of getting ready early and leaving early.
I got ready at 7 am, and I took the auto at 7:30 am. I then reached the event’s place at 8 am. This was very early, so very few people were there. They were not allowing entry to anyone before 8:30. I had my badge from the last day, so they allowed me entry. I was one of the first people who got the entry. I felt like such a VIP lol. The event hall was empty and it seemed like such a fancy place.
I roamed around and saw that the breakfast was going on. They had croissants, muffin, coffee, tea and a bunch of stuff. I was not hungry, so I took a coffee and sat there on one of those tables.
Then people started coming and after a while, we all were asked to go to hall 2 where the keynote presentation would happen. This was a huge hall and it had a lot of seats. Here’s how it looks:
They were talking about a lot of Gemini stuff. They talked about how they have added AI to all their development-based software. I must tell you that this event was not for me. I was not their target audience.
So we watched the keynote and I should give it to Google for \their presentation skills because they do it so well lol.
Then we went again to the last hall again, and I had a cold coffee. Then after a while, it was time for lunch. They had biryani, burgers, stuffed kulcha, brownies, and salad.
I took the salad, biryani, sprite, and brownie. The salad was meh, and the biryani was good. The brownie was a little too thick but it was tasty.
I was then roaming around and seeing all the demos. They had a bunch of demos about Gemini, and others were related to Angular, privacy sandbox, careers, large screens, performance, and more.
I talked with one Googler about Core web Vitals and then with the other, I talked about how third-party cookies can affect the web.
I then went to attend the Women Techmakers session that was happening in one of the community lounges. I didn’t like it so I left that midway. I didn’t attend any talks after that.
I did attend the last talk of the day and it was about the third-party cookie deprecation. They talked about what it is, and showcased a few case studies sharing how these websites are no longer relying on third party cookies. They then shared some resources to make sure we can test and learn more.
Then the happy hours started. There was Dhol, DJ music, disco lights and whatnot.
Here’s how it was looking:
They also had a lot of cool snacks. There were Vada pav, pizza, pasta, doughnuts, bruschetta, dahi papdi, chaat, popcorn, mocktails, and more. I tried a bunch of things, but not everything.
Then I got super tired and that’s when I took an auto back to my place and went to sleep as soon as I physically could lol. I was VERY tired. But the event was so awesome.
Day 4
This day was bad at the start. The fridge in my Airbnb started to leak water, and by the time I noticed it, it was everywhere. Apart from this, the fan in my room was not working, so I told the host to fix it. The cleaning person came first, and this lady was complaining about the host and how they’re a bad person.
I felt so bad about myself, this place, the lady, and whatnot. Then the electrician came and fixed the fan after doing some BS. After both these things got done, I was feeling so overwhelmed and terrible. I was thinking to myself what did I do to deserve this? I then cried for a while because it was such a bad experience.
Then I collected myself and booked an auto to meet my friend and his girlfriend. This was the first time I had met him, and the experience was even cooler than I expected.
We had coffee and lunch. Then they taught me how to play uno (because I never played it in my life lol). I got a little confused at first, but it was all good afterwards. We played for a bunch of tries and I even won one time.
The place they were living was so nice. I was standing on the terrace for a while and feeling the breeze. I wish I could just sit there and soak in all the nature and the cold breeze. I really liked that place.
I mean look at this image and tell me that this is not the best thing ever.
(Don’t you dare judge the image quality lol)
Then we had these chili pakoras and I don’t really like eating chili on its own because I find it spicy. I managed to eat a few, but then this one hit me and I was dying from the heat lol. Everyone could see me struggling and I felt like I was on the hot ones show or something.
Then I got back. It got a little late and I was a little scared, but I made it to my Airbnb without dying so I count that as a W.
I really wish I could see my friend more often because I don’t think I have ever met a person who doesn’t bully me, and supports me for who I am. At the same time, he pushes me to do better. I don’t think I have ever felt so safe in someone’s company lol.
Day 5
This was the day when I was supposed to meet one of the people who I had took a consultation from before. I will not say much about it other than the fact that I didn’t really had a great experience.
I was there for a few hours and the vibes were very off.
I got back early from there. So I worked a little that day.
I ordered myself a sandwich and coffee and it wasn’t filling enough 🙁
Day 6
This was the best day ever. I would say this day was like the cherry on the cake. I decided to meet my friend again because I didn’t know if I could meet him again anytime soon.
I went there and we ordered a bunch of things. I tried authentic ramen for the first time. I had the teriyaki tofu ramen bowl. It had udon noodles, miso broth, bok choy, tofu, baby corn, and mushrooms. I had this for the first time, and I also had tofu for the first time. It was quite tasty. It was definitely unique for my taste buds, but I liked it.
My friends had their ramen bowls, and they also ordered chicken Gyoza. They made me try chicken for the first time and as someone who had vegetarian food for their whole life, this was a huge thing. This day is now an important day in history lol.
I liked the chicken in ramen because it had this chewy texture, which was kinda similar to paneer. In Gyoza, it was a bit weird. I didn’t really like the minced chicken.
Apart from this, we ordered dessert. I had cheesecake because I never had it before. I didn’t quite like it. I find it not so tasty. They ordered waffles for themselves.
Then we talked about GA4 and Posthog. We also did a little experiment showcasing why I don’t trust GA4 anymore.
We talked a bit more and then I got back a little earlier than last time because I didn’t want it to get late and dark.
This day was the best ever.
Coming back
The last day was when I woke up at 6 am. My flight was supposed to be at 1 pm. And technically I should be at the airport by 11 am. But I decided to leave at 8:30 am because the traffic is bad in Bengaluru. And the airport is far away from the city.
The ride was nice and there wasn’t a lot of traffic in the morning. I got there at 10 am. I went through the security and then I had filter coffee.
I ordered myself some Subway before going to the airport. I had the half sub as breakfast and the other half on the flight as lunch. Tip: have some snacks in your carry-on luggage because stuff at the airport is very expensive.
The flight was 2.5 hours and my headphones helped me a lot. Otherwise, it would have been a bad experience.
I then came to Delhi airport, collected my check-in luggage, and went outside the airport.
This is when I felt something.
Not feeling good about a bunch of things
Right after I went outside the airport, the hot and humid air welcomed me. I instantly started sweating and I was physically feeling bad. I felt like going back to Bengaluru again.
In those 6-7 days I got used to the weather of Bengaluru. I liked how it was 20-25 degrees every day. The weather was super nice, the people were nice, the vibe was nice. And in Delhi and in my city, everything felt so bad. I felt like crying. I somehow booked a cab and then got in it.
The whole ride I was thinking how cool it would be if I started living in Bengaluru. I seriously started thinking about this idea. I didn’t like the people here, the vibe was bad, and the weather was the worst.
I was so confused. I was thinking to myself why would I want to live in a city where I only went for a few days and I was having a vacation there. The actual real living conditions can be very different from what I have experienced.
If I am being honest, I craved that weather, traveling, meeting people, talking with them, and having a good time. I craved that. It was not about the city anymore.
I got home and the humidity killed me. I was feeling bad already and now this feeling was the worst. I was constantly in a bad mood and was thinking about going back there again.
My depressed ass was looking at accommodation, rent, and living conditions there. As I am writing this, I am feeling so bad and I was crying like 2 seconds ago.
After a lot of introspection, I feel like I missed how busy this week was. I miss how everyday I was waking up and I was planning on meeting new people. I miss the feeling of meeting my friends and talking with them. I miss traveling within the city to go to their place. I miss the good times I had.
And even if I go to Bengaluru to live full time, I would not be satisfied because I won’t be meeting new people every day. Going somewhere for a vacation and living there full-time is very different.
With this, my vacation was over. I am now back in my hot and humid place with the same loneliness that I had before. The sheer thought of being here again makes me want to die. I don’t wanna feel lonely anymore lol.
I do not feel like working anymore. I feel like either going back or curling up in a blanket and crying till this bad phase goes away.
But I guess it is what it is. I will have to work hard in order to have vacations like these again.
I spent a lot of money on it, and I am too scared to look at my bank statement lol.
This trip made me realize a lot of things. I feel like I learned a lot of things and it made me want to raise my standards for the better.
This post was much more vulnerable than I thought it would be. I just hope I recover soon from this sad state.
To end this on a light note, I had the best time of my life in this week. Besides all the inconvenience I faced, this week was the best ever. And I truly believe that this is just the beginning. I hope to have a solo foreign trip someday. I know there are more awesome things in the store.
<3