A starting point of a blog is an inaugural post; a starting point of a travel is trepidation with ominous looking embassies, long visa queues with worried faces secretly sending prayers for a successful approval, grouchy, caffeine-deprived visa officers interrogating the bejesus out of you, armed security men guarding the premises like a fortress, motioning you to stand in the queue, growling like a snarly dog.

And all you are thinking of are the sunny beaches that lie on the other side, the bags of shopping you will return with, tans and pictures to show off and stories from the wide blue yonder.