I Nearly Missed India Twice But One Friend Kept It Alive

I thought I was heading to India for a straightforward visit and a deeper work catch-up. Instead, I walked into a travel nightmare that started with one brutal question at the check-in desk: “Where’s your e-visa?” What follows is a real-time lesson in airport rules, name mismatches, and the kind of stress that makes you question your own competence. At one point my bag gets pulled off the plane, I’m turned away, then I’m cleared, then I’m blocked again at 4:45am on no sleep.

The story runs through Singapore limbo, rebooking madness, and the tiny detail that nearly ends the whole trip: my middle name missing on the e-visa. If you’ve ever dealt with visa approval delays, passport details that don’t match, or the chaos of international transit, you’ll feel every beat of this. You’ll also hear the mindset that keeps me moving: there’s always a workaround, even when it looks impossible.

But the reason I’ll never forget this journey isn’t the paperwork or the panic. It’s what happens once I finally arrive in India and meet H, the legend behind my marketing support. The face-to-face time, the hospitality, the family welcome, and the honest conversations drive home the bigger point: authentic human connection can change your mood, your perspective, and your mental health faster than any distraction on a screen.

If this hits home, subscribe, share it with a mate, and leave a review. What’s one connection you’ve been avoiding that might actually change everything?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome to another edition of GW Unspoken where we discuss stuff we don't typically talk about, but probably should. This is not a season or specific episode about socio-emotional mental health and well-being.

The E-Visa Shock At Brisbane

Singapore Standstill And Doubt

Middle Name Mix-Up And Last Call

Chennai Arrival And Lost Bag Panic

Delhi Drive And Meeting H

Why Authentic Connection Beats Everything

SPEAKER_01 0:30

But this is one that I've been asked to do, and I'm hoping there's a follow-up to this edition because I want to talk about my recent trip to India, which was very, very what's the word they use? It's not necessarily negative, it's fascinating. Well, the start of the trip was fascinating, but the rest was like amazing. So look, it's a bit of a story, a bit of a journey. This podcast could be all over shop and trying to remember what actually happened. This is like about one and a half months ago, and oh maybe seven or eight weeks. Yeah, and um I'll start the story now. So what happened was I wrote in my goals list, like I wrote down 100 goals on New Year's Eve. Usually I have four columns, 25 goals in each column, and then I put them on a big whiteboard or like big A3 sticky sheet and put on the wall and look at it every single day when I walk in and do some work. And it's not necessarily about you know starting and going overboard, it's just looking at it so incidentally it goes into my brain. So, you know, those four four sections might be family, health, finance, growth, or whatever it might be. And one of them was travel, and this year I put on there um where was it? I think it was hang on, let's go up here, hang on. Oh yeah, India, America, and then back to the UK. So, and for some reason something was drawing me to India. Now, I have a marketing guy, he's a legend, hunamundra over there. Shout out to you, mate. And he's doing all my marketing on Facebook and social media and things like that because as people know, I'm hate that kind of stuff. I hate getting on social media, and it's definitely not my skill set, but he's been a great help over there and supporting me and he and his team, very professional. Anyway, I just said to Rachel, I've got to go, I've got to go over there for some reason. Something's drawing me over to India, and I spoke to Honamunra, we call him H, and he said, Um, yeah, mate, come over and we'll organise a motel for you, not too far from me, and you know, we'll spend a few days together, and you can really tell me, you know. The idea was for me to give H a massive emotional buy-in to what education made simple is going to do. Like the goal of supporting so many teachers and students out there, and also the wider community and parents and caregivers. That that's that's the heart. So I've got I've got to give him, you know, yes, people saying you're crazy. Why don't you just do it on Skype? You can still read body language. And I said, it's I've got to be present in there, just explain and understand what it means. So look, I saved a bit of money and organised a trip. So I had it already advanced to go, four weeks, three weeks down, two weeks to go, and I was counting down, just so excited, couldn't wait to go and you know, going out there by myself and uh foreign country I've never been to, and just pumped for some reason I was just pumped to go. Anyway, got to like a few days out, I just started feeling like there's something gonna go wrong. There's my passport's gonna bounce or something like the passport was brand new. Like I renewed it and I just felt something was gonna go wrong. But I got to the airport and Rage came there with me, I think it was like a 9.15 a.m. plane from international America um in Brisbane. And I got in there about quarter past six, and so went to check in, and then the lady has helped us check in and just goes, Oh, where's your e-visa? And I oh here it is, and they go, No, that's your visa, where's your e-visa? And people out there gonna listen and go, Oh my god, are you are you are you for real, Gary? Like, I had no idea needed an e-visa, even though I've been in the UK before. Like so I hadn't had an e-visa ready, and I said, Well, I don't have one. And they go, Well, this often takes days to you know, you put it in and it actually says, Yeah, it's okay, it's been approved. And of course I hit the stress button, I knew, I knew, and they said, Look, go downstairs, grab a coffee. It's actually not a hard form to do, and it may fast process, so you know, just get it done. Anyway, an hour and a half of struggling and it kept timing us out. We had brother-in-law, son-in-law, Rachel one laptop, me on my phone, trying to get this these forms done. And it somebody kept logging us out. So I went back upstairs, saw the same lady, and she said, Look, let me do it for you on your phone. And so she started doing it on our phone, on my phone, and she got straight through and fixed all up. And she said, and she filled out the details, she was asking me, and I all the information, personal information, etc. And I paid the money, I think it was about$100 what it was, and she said, You're right. Now listen, she said, I think, I think typically they give a bit of a scare tactics. I think this will actually be done for you in the next few hours, it'll actually be approved, so you'll be fine. And I'm like, Oh, and you know, I'm stressed out about to go on a plane. So I'm going from a great mood, have a coffee with my wife before I go on a plane, about to go, this is gonna be awesome, too. Stressed out to the max to eventually get it done, yep, you're okay. Said goodbye, jumped on a plane, um, on the plane over there to I think the first stop was Singapore. Um I was there for I think about five or six hours it was. So on a plane, just relaxed. Um, watched, I think I watched one movie and then straight into doing some work and manual reading, and then f flew into Singapore and then I think I went and goes to eat in the airport and was just chilling out, and the next plane was supposed to leave I think about one o'clock in the afternoon, if I got right. And I kept asking what's going on, yep, checking the times, and then I went aboard, must have been a bit later then, went aboard and and I in the meantime I kept looking at this progression of the e-visa and it had four four circular dots, and they kept filling in saying this one's done, stage two's done, stage three's been approved. Now just waiting for the last one. And the last one kept it wasn't it wasn't being approved. And so I was texting my wife back and uh we chatted whatever I was doing, and um, what's that? And she was saying, I think I've got a bad feeling about this, it's not approving, you won't don't let it go. Now I got to the got to check in, and as I went through the security, they've gone, mate, what are you doing? You can't you can't come here, you haven't got your EVs approved. And I said, Oh no, the lady said it'll be fine, like it's it's it's ready to go. And she's like, No, it's it's the fourth section's not done. We can't let you go into the next country um into Shennai without because it hasn't been approved. And I went, what do you mean? And then they said, Is this your bag? And they showed me a screenshot of my bag a few minutes later, going underneath the plane in the cargo area, and said, Yeah, they said, Yeah, we're ripping it off, you can't go. And my dreams were just shattered. Like that dream was shattered, was just going to India. I'm like, I'm I'm cooked here, I can't do anything. And there's gonna be a quick turnaround. So going to India was only going to be arriving early Tuesday morning. I think it was gonna be a six-hour train ride to get to where I need to be in Durham, and I was thinking, even if I sort another plane out when it gets approved, if it gets approved soon, I'm not gonna have much time in India now. So, what what's going on? And my wife's like, just turn around, just come home, you just have to do another time. And it wasn't necessarily the money that was like it was still painful that I was gonna lose that money, but it was more stress around number one, how could it be so incompetent and not giving myself an e-visa and be prepared for that? And two, usually I've got pretty good attitude of saying there's a workout, workaround, there's always a workaround. Like, I always have that mantra, there's a workaround, there's a workaround. We can do it somehow, we'll get there somehow. So, anyway, I've contacted H and said, mate, I'm not coming. Like, I don't think I can come because the E vis hasn't been approved, and he said, Leave it with me. And so I'm like, Well, what's he gonna do? Like, maybe he's got some contacts over there, but even now can't fast track the process. And so what I did is I went down to the lounge area and it must have been I don't know, it must have been about seven or eight o'clock at night. And I I sat down there on with like about 20 people just sitting there just half asleep or listening, putting the headphones on, and they must be like waiting for connecting flights. And I'm just sitting there going, okay, I've got to manifest this. I can't, I can't fail at this, I've got to get to India. This is they're gonna approve this EVs, I'll catch the next plane. So in the meantime, looked up where the next planes were on. The next plane was um leaving about 4 or 30 in the morning, and I said, I will stay in this airport for seven or eight hours if I if I can get on that one because I'll only be like, you know, a quarter of a day behind, so I can still make this work. So I'm waiting there, waiting, manifesting away as much as I can. Rachel's like, just find yourself a place in Singapore to stay, like go to a motel and I'm like, no, I can't, because if this gets approved, I'm catching the 4am flight. I've got to wait here. So I'm lying, I'm standing there, so I'm sitting there listening to headphones and manifesting good things. And Dad said within 45 minutes, H messages me and sends me a screenshot. It's been approved, you're ready to go. And I looked at it, double-checked it, and it had all the four dots filled in. I said, Who do you know? Like you know someone who goes, I don't know anyone. I was just sort of ringing my end to see if they can fast track it all. And for some reason, you've got a website where it'd actually been approved, but it was taking a long time to come to my mobile as an email to say it's been approved. So I was just elated. So I've gone into the airport, I've asked them to get a new ticket. They said, Not here, you have to go catch the train in between the terminals. So jumped on that, went over there, and they said, Yep, we can get you on, but the plane you're gonna go on is not recognized by any of the people who service those areas on the desk. So you have to do it online. So I did online. Okay, now you have to check out of Singapore and then check back in using the airline. I'm like, what? So yeah, you have to fill out the immigration form. But I'm just staying here, I'm just like, it's just I'm still leaving from here. Yep, you'll have to do that. And I was like, okay, no worries. Look, I've got, you know, I'm thinking I've got five hours. So it's by now 11:30 at night. So I go down the escalator. I'm about to sign in, and the next thing, the guy who's helped me out comes down and goes, Oh, you know, it's okay. I've got someone, just wait here five minutes. I think we can get you on by bypassing the immigration, and we'll organise your bags to come onto the right plane now. All right. So I'm waiting there. Honestly, it's about 10 minutes here and I stand together. Yep, you're sweet, your bags have been sorted. Um, you go to this terminal at 4:05 a.m. And when you get there, they'll give you the boarding passes and the ticket to say that your your actual baggage is fine, but baggage claimant that Shennai. All right, fine. And so I'm just a later, right? So I've just gone to the nearest pub, I've grabbed a big schooner of beer and I've drunk that, and I'm like, okay, it's now midnight, I'm gonna focus again. So I've got out and I've started doing this behaviour support course. I got the online course out like a nerd, and I'm sitting there in the bar having now a soda water, and just just stoked going this, and I was just so proud going, I told you there's always a workaround in my brain. I'm like, I told you, I knew there was a workaround. This is so this is part of a journey, so stoked. So you've got to imagine the emotions, right? Excited to go, hit a barrier, can't go, bags off, waiting. Now you can go again. You have to wait till 4.05 in the morning. So I've had no sleep since you know the night before. And I'm like, okay, this is it. I've nearly had, you know, I mean I wait for 24 hours, but I'm about to get to get the plane. So anyway, the one of the guys there who works in the airport says, Hey, are you Gary Woodford? Yeah, he said, Oh, can you come to the front of the line? We've got your tickets for you. I'm like, stoked. So, you know, go to the front of the plane. And and this is not racist, but I'm the only white guy on the plane, and everyone's looking at me, you know, jump in the queue, so I'm feeling bad as well that I'm, you know, people waiting before me. Anyway, I'm waiting in the corner, waiting in the corner, and then they open up the security check-in to go to Shannai and they let everyone else in. I'm just waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, waiting. I'm like, what's going on? And eventually they said, Oh, you can come through now. Come through and um, here's your boarding pass. Gave them a boarding passes, and I went to scan it to go through. And they said, show me your passport, gave them a passport, and they said, Um, you can't go on a plane. And your picture, like, this is quarter to five in the morning, no sleep. I've gone from you're not going on a plane to you're back to you're not going again, waiting all that time. I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what do you mean? And they said, your details of your passport does not match um the ticket to go in. I said, What do you mean? They said, Well, your e-visa does not match your normal visa. And I said, But the pictures are the same. I've been approved this long to get here. What do you mean? So no, it's missing your middle name. Your e-visa's missing your middle name, Wayne. Gary Wayne would it doesn't say it on there. But on your passport, it does say Wayne, so they have to exactly match to Leo in the country. And so I'm like trying to be polite. I'm just like, I understand there's a mistake, but the lady at Brisbane, I'm not blaming her, but she actually helped me put the details in. The middle name was not put in. I was allowed to go catch a plane international from Brisbane. I've come in here, I've been approved now by my e-visa's being actually approved. So that's based on the details I've had from my visa. And they're like, it doesn't match. We can't let you in. Um so is this your bag? And again, they showed me a photo of the my bag going under the cargo area, and I've nearly lost, I've nearly cried. The first time I've just like, I'm actually broken now. I I can't get into the India. I've gone from excellent, can't wait to go, can't go, can go, can't go again at five in the morning. My brain's just popping, and I'm dead set sitting on this chair by myself. Everyone else is on the plane, and I'm like, please, this is the second time I've been rejected going on a plane. I need to be in India, I need to be here now. And they're like, Look, we'll give you 20 minutes, but um try and sort something out. I'm like, Well, what can I sort out? Like, what can I do here? And so I've contacted H again, and he's like, Well, I know. Um, and he said, He kept saying, 'I've got a good feeling about this, I think we'll be right.' And I was stressing, it's not going to be right. Like, easy on positive, but it's not going to be right this time. And he said, just leave with me. He went away for like 10 minutes, and the guy's like, You've got 10 minutes, everyone's on a plane. Pilot says we have to definitely leave within 10 minutes' time. And so again, I'm feeling bad. Everyone's waiting for you in a plane, and I'm just thinking, I'm gone. Like, and and you see the four or five people working in the airport talking to Charlie about and looking at their watches, and they're going to have two minutes. And with one minute ago, the main guy behind there comes up and says, All right, have you heard anything from the other end? And I text him and he said, Yeah, obviously you can't do anything about it from the center. I said, No, they can't. They said, Look, all we can do is we've run Shannai Airport, see if they'll accept you. Um, but generally they won't accept you over there because it doesn't match. And I'm just like, This is just insane. Anyway, so last call, they all talk, they come out. The three of them come over. One says, Look, I'm really sorry, sir, but you know, this is just the rules, and the and and I've just got about got tears in my eyes. And um, he says, Yeah, well, we have to pack up, sir. So we'll we can meet your bag at terminal three. Um, and I'm just like, I'm just shattered. Because even I can't even fix this problem, right? Because it took nearly 24 hours to get the last e visa approved. So it's gonna I'm gonna be another day behind basically by the time they approve again, if it gets through within a day again. So I'm just like, I'm just cooked. This is not happening. Anyway, you hear him talk to the the pilot saying, basically saying, you know, we're about to come down and shut the doors, and his mobile phone rings. And I look up and he's like, Yep, yep, yep. Okay, so so okay, okay, I'll put him on. And I'm just like, what? He said, Yeah, Shannai Airports actually approved you to go, you you're fine. Almost fell on the ground, like collapses in relief. Don't know what I was feeling, like excited, frustrated, tired. And I'm just sprinting down this, you know, not the tarmac, but sprinting down the little chute to get on the plane, and there's dead set, like you know, a hundred people just eyeballing me saying, 'You're the one while we're late.' I can just feel them. And I jumped on this plane and I'm thinking, Oh, this is a five-hour flight, I can do this. And um I'm sitting there going, okay, I'll just I'm still baked. I'll put some music on or I'll do a bit of work. I'll just or read, I'll just switch my brain off here. And I got on there and there's no meals, no water, no internet service, no anything basically. And the seats were hard, like it was a cheap flight, fair enough. And I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just saying that I couldn't do anything except for just and I saw people actually lying across seats, they were just no worries. And so I'm sitting just awake because I can't sleep, I'm just buzzing, like this is crazy, these emotions all at once. And then I realised that the five-hour flight we're still going, and I realise it's actually a seven-hour flight because of the time difference. We actually go back in time, and so I'm just trying to get to sleep. I'm cooked, but at least I'm excited. I'm going to Shannai Airport. Anyway, I arrive at Shai Airport. Uh I think I actually got about an hour and a half sleep. I think I got about an hour and a half sleep, and I get off, and it's the plane arrives on a tarmac, a bus picks us up, and there's smog outside, and I've never been here before, so you know what to expect. And the buses are full of people from that plane getting on, and and they they shuffle us off to the actual main airport in Shannai. Everyone goes through, and I'm lining up to go to immigration, and the guy's saying, No, or they say, No, this doesn't work, and you need to go down to the next counter. And I can hardly understand it because like not very good English, and I speak fast at the best of times, as you know. And so I moved to the next counter. Guy's like, yes, have a look, and he's looking at me, looking at the photo, looking at the names. I'm like, here we go again. Like, they're not going to approve because my middle name's not there. So I'm stereotypically trying to distract him by talking about um some great Indian players like Firach Holey and Sachin Tendorka because everyone loves cricket over there, and he's smiling and laughing, and we're getting along and talking about that. And he said, Oh, can't get you through, come down here. And he went down to the immigration office at the end, and this smoky little it's like on the movies when you're getting you're getting busted for people get busted for drugs or whatever. I'm going in there, and I'm and there's one person looking at me through the window, through the glass, looking at the paper, shaking his head on a computer, send it to another guy. I'm like, I'm stuck in Shannai here now. What am I gonna what now? How am I gonna get out of here? Um, and you know, I don't even I don't even talk about when I changed my flights too that quantas want to just take like lose all my flight legs if I just change one leg of other flight too. Like it was just insane how the company just said you you you have to buy a whole brand new lot of flights. But anyway, I end up just losing$200 on one flight leg. So I won't go back into that. So I just regressed there for a bit. Anyway, long story short, I'm waiting there, waiting there, and just stressing out, going, I'm cooked. Yeah, and and you know, again, looking at my watch going of an hour and a half to get to the next flight from Channai into India, the main part anywhere I need to be in at Delhi, and thinking, I don't know where to go, where the checking is, how long it is to process to go through there. And eventually they said, Yep, you're okay, you can go through. So I've gone through and I've gone to get my bag off the turnstile going around and it's not there. So I've asked for help. Is this the right? Yeah, this is the right one. I said, My bag's not here, and of course I'm stressing out from way back in Singapore. Has it been lost? Has it actually not been on like it's supposed to? Again, one half hour sleep in about 30 hours. This is insane. And then eventually one lady said, Yeah, not gone, it's not here. And I looked around the corner and it was it was in a section, little section called Lost and Found. It was sitting there. I went, that's it. So I showed my ID, grabbed my bag, asked where to go. It's like 200 metres down the corridor, turn left, outside in the heat. Again, 300 meter walk down to the next turnstile or terminal, up there, and again it's going through um security as again and immigration again, and again it's taking a while, big lineup, and then trying to find where I'm supposed to stay, like where my terminal is. So go through there and think I'm just gonna I can't even eat, I'm just gonna get a coffee or something, and so I found where I had to go, grabbed a coffee, and they told me how much it was in rupees, and I had no idea even to look at the trend the exchange rate, and my little wires card was supposed to be working, and I didn't have a pin, it was just insane. So I just used my credit card and paid the extra surcharge what it was. It's probably like a$12 coffee by the end of it. Sat down and did say it had 20 minutes before I was on the plane. And of course, in the meantime, Ray just told my family and my family's upset, and they're saying come home. And right, wife is going, What's going on? Yet you're not getting back to me. And I'm just like, I'm actually don't have time, I'm just trying to struggle to survive here and know what I'm doing. And I'm waiting there, and then basically 20 minutes later, board the plane to get to Delhi. And so get to Delhi and let H know I'm here, I'm mate, and he's organized uh Uber for me. So an Uber from Delhi to a Dendrum I was going was a six hour drive. Um, and I don't know what he paid, but I think it was like$40,$50. So it was insane that the price when you look at Aussie dollars. And then I was out there for like 20 minutes because he couldn't find me because there's cabs everywhere and traffic everywhere. Anyone who's been in India will understand. Like you see, sometimes in the movies what it's like, but everyone's beeping the horn every three seconds, and there's Car jams, most cars have got like side swipes on the side of them from you know people shuffling their way in. People drive over the white lines just to get to a better position. Like there's no forget the lines. And eventually we find out you find out where it was, jump in the car. He didn't speak very well, in very good English. Um, and we took off. And it was about 50 minutes to get out of the main town there of Delhi, and then we started on the main road, and we're trying to have conversations because I don't mind a chat, and it was just so funny. And I ended up stopping at one place to have um I was using H actually, he was off and translating what I was saying to the Uber driver, and we sat down, had a meal together, it was so cool, and then I bought some KFC, which looked like um we'd been there for like 12 hours, but it was food, and this little shop I went to, and then they asked if I could have a shower somewhere or change, and the restaurants looked at me and just said no, no, no. So I had to go to a toilet at the back, get change at least, get back in, take off, and and about six and a half, seven hours later, I arrived, and H was there. We're arrived at the motel, he'd organized me, he's such a legend, and we embraced massive cuddle, and it was almost like the sigh of relief. You can't I don't know how to explain it. It was just if you're feeling what I'm saying, you just I'm here, I did it, I'm done. And just the luck of the whatever it was got me there. And he said, What are you and he had all these like biscuits and cakes and those things like just a legend, man? And walked me up to the unit and said, What are you gonna do? He said, if you're tired, just we can go and catch up tomorrow. I said, No, let's just I'm gonna go out for a feed. And he said, Well, I've got in a spot around here. He said, I'll just wait downstairs so a quick shower and jumped in the shower and there was no hot water. And I was like, This is gold. I have to write a better book about this, and so I'm waiting, waiting, and turning all the taps on, turning all different light switches on, but I'm not used to not going on, it's not the heat's not working. None of the taps in the sink are working in the heat. So, okay, that's it. I'm just jumping in. I'm jumping into a cold shower after what 35-40 hours. Just want a hot shower. I'm going cold, straight in, freezing cold. And I know you're thinking they're going, it's not a big deal, but I suppose compounding after all these things, it was just crazy. So I jumped in the shower, cold, like five minutes, maybe a three-minute shower outside, working on vapour fumes here, like no sleep, an hour and a half sleep. And then we sat for about an hour and a half, two hours in a restaurant and just had a a meal and drink, and it was so cool just to catch up with H. And he said, Look, I'll see you tomorrow morning around 10, have a sleep in. And I got to bed, and just because my brain was still fired up, and you'd think I'd be exhausted, which I was, I couldn't switch off, so I thought I'd put the TV on, but of course, everything is in Hindu or different language, and I couldn't even the cricket. I tried to put it on the English channels, and it was like ABC News, and I think that's all I had there. So I just went, okay. And so eventually, probably after 10 minutes, I fell asleep, wake up about 6:30, 7 o'clock was breakfast on the deck, did that, and then went for a bit of a walk where Hate showed me the n the night before after our dinner. Um he arrived the next day about 9 30, 10 o'clock, and the concierge at the bottom was stressing out. I was walking around India by myself, I think, but uh jeans and shirt and tatts out, and probably not a good look, especially when all the kids are going to school around that, it's an educational province area. And then I um he actually met me in the coffee shop, and it was just yeah, from it it was amazing. And look, I'll I won't do it justice, and I'll I'll shorten this podcast now, but basically the connection I had with H was just a hundred times worth what I went through. Was it worth me actually seeing him face to face rather than doing on a laptop? A thousand percent. Like he took me up in the hills, up in the mountains where the view was was incredible. The next day we went down to a special place where apparently Steve Jobs went and they put your feet in the water, and it's a very spiritual place, and that's where he got his epiphany of you know his his thought mindfulness of where he wanted to go as a thought leader. And we both sat down there, feet in the water, chatted for about an hour, feeding the fish. It's just incredible. It was just the experiences that H gave me, and then we'd sit in a like a little cafe either up in the hill or the next day down the mountain, and we'd chat, and and probably a quarter of the information was about education made simple, but the rest was just about connecting what H is up to, where his dreams are and goals are, and the time just flew. And one of the most special parts was that when I was leaving on the Friday, I think it was the Friday, so I was there, arrived Tuesday night at Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday had to catch a train at 10.45 um back to Shennai for I think it was like a four and a half hour train. I don't know what to expect there, but I remember we had like a few hours to kill and he invited me into his home, and it was just a absolute privilege to meet him, his family, his extended family wife, young child. I was so grateful. And you know, stereotypically his mother and his wife was cooking Indian food for H and I, and I'd get to talk to his H's brothers, cricket in the background. It was just a surreal moment that we'll never forget, and I'll forever be grateful to his family for accepting me in their home and fully respectful of them for doing that, and just to meet them all and his dad, just to be part of that community. I got I'm I got tears in my eyes now just thinking about it, was just next next level. And H and his brother, you know, 10 4 or 10 30 at night drove me out to the train, and I didn't know what to expect, but it was basically a sleeping carriage train where it's a little tiny section, and there's heaps of them, and it was basically three grain blokes and me, and it's like two double decker beds if they call what they're called, and I was in the bottom of one. I'm just lying. You can't see outside, obviously, because it's dark, and it's like, okay, try and get some sleep. Um, there was two hours of sleep in there, and as I got off, oh, before I got off, that's a before I before Hayes left, he spoke to one of the guys that didn't know what nationality he was. He wasn't Indian, he's a different nationality, but he said, Look after Gary, this is Gary, look after him. He needs to catch an Uber or cab back to Delhi airport. Please make sure he's safe. And you know, the guy said, Yep, no worries, yeah. And he was a younger guy, probably half my age. And when we arrived at uh Shennai, he he was pushing me through the crowds and I was carrying my big luggage, obviously, and people everywhere. This is like even at 4 30 in the morning, but people everywhere. And I couldn't get we went up, we walked across one platform, up two flights of stairs, started walking in. He was trying to get people to answer him and I'll be rude to him, and he eventually they said, No, no, you gotta go here, here, platform 19, whatever. And then he he actually walked me down, got me in front of one guy, and one guy's trying to you know, they're always trying to get your business, so he's like, Yep, yep, I'll take him, I'll take him, where about to and then he goes, Oh, what no, this guy's no good. And the guy's trying to grab my bags, this cabbie, and the and the guy's looking after me and said, No, let go, and grabbed it off me. Next guy, and eventually you hear him talking in a different language and nodding heads, and then he looked at me and goes, Gary, this guy's good, won't rip you off. Um, put Google Maps in so he doesn't go the wrong way, you're safe. This guy will be safe. And then he he basically walked off. I said, Mate, you're a legend, thank you so much, and didn't want money, and he just appreciated it. And this guy took me then out the back streets of Shannai train station and put me in this there's four people in this cab, they all hopped out, I up in the front, and just me and a taxi driver, and he's just flying and beeping a horn, there's no one around, it's beeping a horn just in case someone does pull out from a side street. And I'm looking, it reminds me of the Rambo movies and he's entirely. I'm looking at all outside, and there's like streets with just dim lighting on, low socioeconomic area, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, this is just an experience in itself. I'm just thinking, you know, I'm glad this isn't my kids or my or wife by themselves, because again, stereotypically you'd think this is not a safe area. And he flew to the airport, got off um H course, gave me some some rupee and dollars, and I paid him and then went to the plane uh terminal, the terminal, and the check in there wasn't too bad, it was easy, and then that was my flight home, and the flight home was was no problem at all. And I think I arrived home at like nine in the morning, and then I was meeting Rachel up the Sunshine Coast because she had a conference on. I remember driving up the coast just on fumes again at Mululbar, and the unit was amazing where we stayed and it was overlooking the water, and it was great to be back in Australia, don't get me wrong. But even Rachel said, You want to go back there, don't you? And I said, just want to spend more time because it was rushed, it was stressful at the start, but even the view of Malobar, which is insane, it didn't match the connection I had with H and his family. If that makes sense. I know they're two different things, but the feeling the Euphoria got of being part of something where you feel like you are somebody and you're connected. It was I can't explain it, but it was just I I want that feeling all the time. And so that that was a journey, and that was the the stress and the the the worry of being upset, being frustrated, disappointed myself, not being prepared properly you know anything that could go wrong sort of went wrong in that that element, and it's not to say that people have way worse things in their day every single day, but just get him a comfort zone to be able to achieve that. But really mixed with the Indian culture was insane, insane. And look, I want H to come on to the podcast, and I'll have to stream him in from India at a time it suits their four and a half hours behind where he is. But I want to talk to him about what his experience was from that end because I know he was stressed and worried too because he was looking forward to catching up as well. But from our connection there, and I've probably only known H for six, nine months now online and chatting to him with Skype. Like he was the first one to wish me happy birthday and a lovely heartfelt message saying, you know, we're not business acquaintances anymore, we're actually friends, and the synergies there is just incredible now. And so I'd like to hear his perspective. So I'll get him on the podcast. Um, look, I hope you've got resonated something, or had a bit of a few laughs in this journey and understand. But I guess what's the key message? And I'm not here to preach it to anybody about to be different, but for me, the cheap the the takeaway was like it always is, that authentic connection will will trump everything, it'll supersede anything, anything we've gone through. You find that one special person in a moment, it can change your attitude, your mindset straight away. You know, to be so grateful to be part of that family and that environment where you could show me around and drive me around everywhere, and it was just insane. It was something I'll never ever forget and be forever grateful for. So, you know, is there something in your life where you're hanging on to, you know, there's a lot of people who are in trauma and they they hang on to that trauma and they they live in that trauma every single day because that's their safety, they know what they're going to get or be confronted by. Is there some way you can get out of your comfort zone and meet that one person or go to that one thing that actually might change your life? Is there something that you can save up for and go to? Even something that's free to go to, that might get you out of a rut or a negative experience that you're feeling day in, day out. Because what I've found is that most people I speak to now between 35, maybe 40 and 60, that middle age, most people are struggling. Most people are at their part of their life where they don't feel like they should be where they're at. That wasn't what their plan was. And I just think there can be a massive movement where we can get our focus back through authentic connections. Because at the end of the day, I still believe that that is the thing that changes us as a human species compared to any kind of thing that can try and excite us. Netflix, series shows, sports on KO or Fox, social media, gaming, all the things that you know that they're tempting us. Online shopping, there's pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. I'm telling you now, authentic connection, that's a typical example of where I feel that this is where our society needs to go back to have those connections of human species to improve our mental health. And look, I just want to thank you for sharing the journey and hoping you listen to the next episode when I can bring H on the podcast from India.