My Goan Connection
My work with a certain MNC where I spent nearly three and a half years doing something I loved and enjoyed gave me and my team chances to go on trips. One such trip that we most frequented was Goa. We used to target Goa at a time when it wasn't peak season because we wanted to just relax in Goa and the best time to do that is off-peak time. You can go and laze on a beach without having too many tourists flocking the beaches.
In a way, we were getting paid by the company for such trips as well. We used to name these trips as Team Building trips. And oh yes we used to do team building activities as well. I know of many team members from my team who when at work rather prefer to keep themselves actually connected well when we went on such trips. It was always more of fun on such trips and that actually gave other members the chance to gel along.
Whenever we went to Goa we used to prefer staying at guest houses which were nearby the beach. And during the off-peak season, you get such places at a steal away price. The first thing we used to do when we reached was to put our luggage in the room and head to the beach irrespective of the fact that at times it is raining. We still used to go and be on the beach get wet and then after a few hours return back to our rooms. It is that Ahhh We are in Goaaa feeling !! We used to get in touch with the owner/manager of the property to arrange our bikes so that we can go around seeing what the city has to offer us during the off-peak season. We used to go and search places which had some good party scenes for our evening get-togethers. Hunting these places was super awesome as it helped us connect with people and we used to actually try and strike a deal with them for discounted rates as we generally spend 3-4 nights in Goa. So if the person knows that you won't go anywhere but come to his place for food and drinks then you have got yourself a deal especially when you are in a group of 10-15 members.
Our days were generally spent in some team building activities and then touring the city, having lunch and spending a good amount of time on beaches. And as evenings neared we used to charge up for the good times. We used to spend most evenings at St. Anthony's a beach side karaoke resto-bar. Booze and food flowed like crazy on such evenings and we used to even do karaoke.
The hardest part was the mornings after which were generally blurred and dazed with severe hangovers. We used to actually gulp a chilled one to come out of the hangover zone. There was this one time when we checked in to Anjuna side of Goa because we wanted to try some crazy party. And boy it was really fun. When you stay at a property which hosts the party you get free entry into the party by default. You booze and you dance away till the sun is actually seen coming up on the horizon.
Wild and crazy were our Goa days and I certainly do miss the good old days.