The Road Trip That Never Was

I had always wanted to do a big road trip in Europe. This time, I thought I was finally going to do it.

I had obtained my International Driving Permit, got the visa from Dubai, and had even researched apps that I thought would help me find a rental car. The plan was to fly to Lisbon, rent a car there and return it in Madrid. From there, we would continue through Spain and, if things worked out, perhaps even make it to France.

As usual, the return was deliberately kept open-ended.

Pragati and I flew from Dubai to Lisbon on 29 November 2018. Once we landed, we took an Uber to the hotel. It was the beginning of winter and the weather was beautiful — cool, comfortable and with Lisbon wrapped in mist and fog.

We were staying at the TURIM Av. Liberdade Hotel. One of the lessons we had learnt from earlier travels was to stay close to the centre, and this hotel worked very well for us. It was close to a metro station, which made getting around easy, and there was a restaurant right downstairs from our room.

Lisbon in the mist

We took the metro to Praça do Comércio. Lisbon in the mist had a character of its own. We walked around the square for a while and then took a cab to Belém.

Belém Tower was beautiful. While we were there, a sudden shower passed through, leaving everything lush and wet. For a photographer, it was almost perfect. The wet paved paths reflected the surroundings, and I remember using the water left by the shower to create a reflection photograph of Belém Tower.

There were plenty of people around, walking, exploring and enjoying the place. The atmosphere was relaxed and lively at the same time.

For a moment, the road trip still felt completely real. We had arrived in Lisbon, the car was supposed to come next, and there was an entire route ahead of us. The city was simply the beginning.

But while Lisbon was treating us well, the trip was beginning to change.

When the plan changed

Pragati had already been uncomfortable, and her condition gradually became worse. We tried to push through it, but eventually there came a point when we had to accept that continuing with a long road trip in that condition wasn’t sensible.

The original plan had not included a flight from Lisbon to Madrid. Why would it? We were supposed to drive there.

So I booked an EasyJet flight instead.

It was disappointing. I had imagined driving through Portugal and Spain, perhaps crossing into France, stopping wherever we felt like stopping and discovering Europe from the road. Instead, we were suddenly on a flight to Madrid because circumstances had left us with little choice.

Health had to take priority.

That was probably the hardest part of the trip — not that anything dramatic had happened, but that a journey I had spent time preparing for simply stopped being possible.

Madrid without the road trip

After reaching Madrid, Pragati still wasn’t feeling well, so I spent much of the remaining time exploring on my own. I walked around Madrid and photographed whatever caught my attention.

El Retiro Park was beautiful, and the Palacio de Cristal in particular was amazing. There were plenty of people around and street artists adding to the atmosphere. I spent time walking, looking and photographing.

I also photographed the Madrid-Puerta de Atocha-Almudena Grandes railway station.

The flight from Lisbon to Madrid gave me one last reminder of the journey we had originally imagined. Looking down from the aircraft, the landscape between the two cities looked wonderful. I remember thinking how much better it would have been to experience that landscape from a car, slowly making our way through the countryside.

That road trip never happened.

Making the best of what remained

Food, as always, was one of the minor challenges of travelling outside India. By then we had become quite used to it. We would find something vegetarian somewhere, and quite often Google would lead us to an Indian restaurant. It was no longer something that could derail a trip.

The trip itself, though, had already changed course.

What was supposed to be a long European road adventure became a short visit to Lisbon followed by Madrid. We had to give up the rental-car plan, the drive through Spain and the possibility of reaching France. We even brought the return journey forward.

Yet the trip was not completely lost. Lisbon gave me mist, rain and a chance to photograph Belém Tower in conditions I would never have planned. Madrid gave me time to walk, photograph and explore at my own pace while Pragati recovered. The journey was different, but it was still ours.

Looking back

This could have been a trip of our lifetime if everything had gone according to plan. The preparations were there, the idea was there and the excitement was certainly there.

But things don’t always go according to plan.

Life is unpredictable, and we all have to accept it.

Perhaps that is why I still remember this journey so clearly. The thing I remember most is not what we saw, but what we had to give up — and how quickly we learnt to accept it.

Somewhere between the mist of Lisbon, the rain on the paths of Belém, the landscape below an EasyJet flight and my walks through Madrid, there was still a journey worth remembering.

The road trip never happened. The memory did.