The Excitement is Growing

I am writing this after a gap of about 6 weeks. A lot has happened since my last post.

From the time we have given the deposit, our trip has already started in our heads.

It's the longest time that we will be away from home. And we are looking at the various things. Stuff to carry be it food, clothes, footwear etc., reading about places that we will be visiting, learning some aspects about the car, the list goes on.

I have already bought more than 15k worth of car accessories. Every Sunday we take the Fortuner for a spin and I have tried at least 4 different options for a dashcam. As the days go by, the excitement is growing.

Our children, family and friends are as much if not more excited than us. They have done a lot of publicity for us. And I feel they have put us on a pedestal like we have done something big. Even when some of us meet, Priti and I are invariably asked about RTL.

We are getting a lot of help and advice about the trip and are very receptive and keen to know more.

A lot of plans are being made and remade.

For the record, the timeline so far is:

2/4/22 - Deposit paid to AO

29/4/22 - 1st installment paid

17/5/22 - Applied for UK visa in Priority category

21/5/22 - Got the UK visa

30/5/22 - Final payment given to AO

1/6/22 - Couriered passports to AO for application for Iran visa