Going back tomorrow

dear professor, it is i know a relief to be going back home again after being away for more than 2 months. i do make purchases of different kinds as gifts for relatives back home, mostly light and small gifts, something i could place inside my luggage. i would probably buy something big but that would be for myself like the appliances that you bought. but simply, i will try not to because that would make my luggage very heavy and i know i cant rely on someone to fetch me at the station. there are thieves sometimes. usually they take your baggage when you are not looking and you discover it late because they have run away with it. cheers, ann

My friend had a bad experience with a train. The bag was missing. This could happen to anyone. Therefore, during the journey, we must always be careful.

congrats on your stay. Yes, south india is an amazing place. It sweeps you with its innocent charm. do not worry about your luggage. Because you are quite a large group, what with your son, his wife, kids around, not many would dare to touch your luggage. You should, however, more careful in stations rather than the journey itself. Yes, women like shopping. Let them, after all, you want to see happiness on their faces, isn't it???

When I travel to other parts of the Philippines I usually bring somethings back with me for my friends and families. I usually buy food or delicacies found in that province which are not found in my place. I also tend to buy small things which won't be a problem for me to carry. We usually travel by boat or airplane and theft is not a big problem in these type of transportation.

I am happy to know that you will be going back home after staying for two months with your son and his family. I can see you had quite a memorable experience. Such trips sometimes are very rewarding. You get rich experiences, and you are able to make new friends. I do bring gifts for family members whenever go abroad or anywhere in India. However, I always prefer to travel light in trains. Two tier a/c compartments do not have much space for luggage. Going by air has limitations. Even in trains, they will penalize you if they find you with excess luggage. Best thing is to book part of the luggage. You must take care pack it nicely or else they will damage your things in handling. Thefts in trains are very common. One of my friends was robbed while traveling from Chennai to Kolkata. She was robber of her purse containing money, mobile phone and credit cards. Despite complaints made to the police, she never recovered it. I did not have such experience in ac compartments, but I was robbed twice in old first class compartments. It is terrible to lose your belongings. Public buses are not any better. There too robberies are very common. However, I wish you a safe journey.

Iam going back to homeland in India after two years. As its by flight and not by train we dont have any fear of theft. But we will have big luggages because we have started the shopping already......

I have to travel by plane so I dont buy anything as they charge for pounds if the luggage is over weight!

hi p roffessor I guess people are sometimes the same all over the world. I remember,andI am 83, my dad complaining about all the stuff we bought whileon v acation in Canada. but since we were travieling via our own car we did not have too much dangerous of losing our purchases. they just sort of filled up any space not occupied by me, my sister and my parents. some was stowed on top the c ar, and taken in each place we stopped at night just so nothing would be stolen. I am in the US and we were then also. When my husband and myself went b y bus from California to Washington state to visit his folks, someone stole a box belonging to my husband from inside the bus. I will bet they did not know what was in it as it sure made trouble for my husband as they were bags for his colostomy which he had to have all the time. I doubt if whoever stole it knew what the hell they were getting or they would not have stolen it. He and his sister had to go to the Walla Walla hospital and really do some talking to get them to sell my husband a couple of boxes of those stoma bags so we could stay for the two weeks we had planned. he could not use his insurance card as it did not work for that particular hospital.So I guess there are thievery problems everywhere.

i do my own purchases if i travel alone. if we are traveling together, my wife controls or manages the purchases. in returning home from the travel, i seldom buy goods as presents cause most of the time, i run out of budget. luckily, i never experienced robbed or something while traveling in a bus. i missed the train trips as we don't have railways over in this province.

When I do travel, I will typically buy gifts for all of those people that are close to me, but I don't buy a lot of bigger items that are a little bit harder to transport. I will buy things like pieces of jewelry or picture frames, that sort of thing to give as gifts and those typically will fit in the bag that I keep right there with me so that I know that it won't get lost. I do hope that you have a safe journey home.