GOA - Trip finally made out of the group chat

Trip to Goa

Hi everyone, today is December 24, 2024. My flight from Goa landed today at 4:30 PM. While riding back home, the glimpses of Goa—the laughter, the sunsets, every moment—overwhelmed me. Somewhere, I wanted to store this exact feeling to cherish in the future. So here I am at 11:53 PM, writing this blog post to preserve this feeling under the X, so that someday I can relive this adventure.

My trip started on the 16th of December. I traveled to Mumbai by bus. It was an evening bus; first, a traveler picked me up at the stop and took me to the bus parked a few kilometers ahead. Interesting story—I never meant to travel to Mumbai by bus. About 2-3 months ago, when I was booking the tickets, I was in a hurry and accidentally booked the wrong date. I was supposed to book the ticket for December 16 but instead booked it for January 16. An honest mistake, right?

So, one fine December morning, I was casually checking my calendar when I noticed that travel had been scheduled for January 16 instead of December 16. That was the moment I realized I’d messed up. With less than a week to leave for Goa, I panicked and searched for alternate options. Luckily, I found a spot on a bus and booked it instantly. I thought, “Okay, this was one of those mandatory mistakes I had to make to ensure a good trip ahead.” But I underestimated myself.

Then I noticed that the clothes I had ordered from Myntra were a size larger. With only a few days left, I requested a size change and arranged for the delivery to align with the day I was supposed to leave. Just in case, I went to the mall the next day and bought two pairs of shorts, fearing the four I had ordered (for the price of the two I purchased) wouldn’t arrive in time. Fortunately, one of the four arrived, and I was somewhat relieved.

My trip officially started when I reached Mumbai. I first went to meet my friend Manas and my sister. I visited IITB to meet Manas; we had a fun afternoon together. He was busy managing Techfest, and I enjoyed helping him out with a few things. From there, I left for Santacruz to meet my sister. She asked me to wait at Doolally, a taproom-cum-cafe with a nice working space. I had a beer while waiting for her, as she was held up at work and made me wait for an hour.

When she finally arrived, we had a good time together. After a long time, we shared a casual yet grown-up conversation, which I hope we’ll have more of in the future. From there, she dropped me off at the airport. I boarded the flight and landed in Goa at 11:30 PM on the 17th. I had to wait a few hours for Rajat, Vipul, and Arnesh’s flights to land so we could head to the hostel together. Vishal and Yash had already arrived. The main trip began the next day.

Day 1

We started our day by scouting for a good breakfast spot near our stay. We found this place called Sagar Ratna. Given that the group was divided into three vegetarians and three non-vegetarians, we had to find a place that catered to both. After breakfast, we went to rent scooters. Since we were six people but had only two driving licenses, getting three scooters was a challenge. By law, it’s not allowed for someone without a license to ride a scooter.

We managed to convince a rental guy to give us three scooters with two driving licenses and one learner’s license. With that sorted, we were good to go. Our first stop was Calangute and Baga Beach. We were surprised by the sheer number of people there—it was unpleasantly crowded. I also felt strangely young there because, by my estimation, the average age on the beach was around 30.

We spent some time at the beach and then ordered food at a nearby shack. That was the first time I tried crab. Prices at shacks or any cafe near the beach were ridiculously high. By the end of the day, we realized that eating near the beach would not be kind to our wallets.