Ever since our return from US in 2012, there has been plans for a short business trip to US. However, for various reasons it has not happened yet. I must confess that a US travel holds no excitement for me inspite the possibilities of doing some gadget and kid shopping. It's become increasingly difficult to stay away from my kids for any length of time. Also I rather travel locally with family to some exotic eco-resort.
Last year, as I reluctantly started processing my travel visa at JPMC, the travel budget was frozen at RPS. As things eased up during the latter half of the year, I had already made plans of moving to GS. Hence didn't make business sense to pursue. I missed an opportunity to be part of ABC (Accelerated Business Case) session for PSP.
This year, my initial visa interview was scheduled on Oct 4th and 5th at Chennai. The new US visa policy means that you need to visit the US consulate on two consective days for your visa - the first for finger printing and the second for the actual interview. A very bad hour on the morning of Oct 4th meant I did not travel to Chennai and ended up cancelling the entire plan resulting in loss of visa fees and airfare cancellation charges. However, I finally got through the process on Oct 15th and 16th.
My passport did not get delivered untill Nov 2nd. I wanted to celebrate Diwali at home, hence delayed my travel to Nov 18th. Suhani's sickness meant I had to postpone it furthur to Nov 25th. This time around given that I am sick myself, the trip remains postponed. There is an offsite on Dec 10th to 14th. Most likely if all works out well, I might travel the weekend before. But I'll not make any more plans as of now till everything is alright at home and with me. US can wait !
