A warm getaway from Chicago's snowstorm to visit family
- Saptarishi Pandey
- Dec 29, 2025
- 3 min read
A quick post before I get into some bigger pieces later. I am writing this mostly to follow some sort of a chronological order of events that seamlessly blends into the upcoming posts.
Travel always finds its way to get me emotional. Every flight I take feels like a mood reset. Between the hustle-bustle of packing, rushing to the airport to not miss the flight, emotions find a way to settle down. Even if I initially didn't want to make the trip, standing at the airport gate I always wonder, "I am here already, might as well accept what's to come", and just like that, I am ready for the next city, town, or adventure.
The anxiety
This winter, the only emotion associated with the travel to visit family was unrest. I wasn't really traveling for leisure, but out of responsibility. My nani (maternal grandmother) passed away earlier in February, and I would be participating in the rituals. In Hinduism, we do a ritual of barsi—prayer for the departed's safe journey in the afterlife. I was still coming to terms with this passing, as my nani and I were close.
The news about travel in and out of the US for non-US citizens was scary in its own right. Everyone at my company received an email to reconsider their travel plans this year. I myself doubted my plans when booking my flight tickets, knowing full well that this would be a risky decision.
Moreover, I was leaving Hera, my 4-year-old cat, behind in Chicago. Luckily, my friends Dhairya, Ipshita, and Sankalp were in town and happy to host her for the month I would be out of the country.
I decided to smooth the transition of Hera's stay in a new place by crashing at my friends' for a couple of days before flying out to Doha. This functional sleepover soon turned into a fun one, filled with movie nights, fun breakfasts, and outings in cold Chicago winter nights.
Having seen the Christkindlmarket launch the week before, I wasn't very happy to be missing out on Christmas in Chicago. But, I was lucky to catch the Christmas tree set up in Millennium Park.
Travel day
After spending a few days with my friends, I finally headed back to my apartment on the day of my flight to pack up. But this was no ordinary day. The weather app warned us of a winter storm approaching, and no doubt, it snowed the whole time I slowly plodded through the city.
Luckily, my point-and-shoot camera has slowly but successfully glued itself onto my body. It is now almost always with me, and on the days I don't have it handy I am in a visibly worse mood. Having my camera with me that day allowed me to quickly snap up some photos before shoving my hands right back into the warmth of my pockets.
The first snow is something I try not to miss. Before the salting begins, the snow is just the right texture: soft, airy, and light. If you wait too long, salt and plow trucks will soon roll-by and what you're left with is sludge, muck, and slip-hazards on the sidewalk. It was this decision alone that made me walk through downtown Chicago to catch a glimpse of what I was about to miss out on for a month.
Later that day, my initial idea of taking the blue line CTA train to the airport had been ditched in favor of a taxi simply because of how difficult it was to walk with 3 suitcases in the snow. In most cases, the L train is a reliable way to get around the city, as the I-190 highway is notorious for being jam-packed and accident prone during snowstorms. This time, I was not willing to drag heavy suitcases through the snow.
It snowed all day that day. It snowed so much that there was a sheet of snow on top of the airplane I was about to board. My flight got delayed by 3 hours as the runways were congested, and the airplane needed to be deiced twice. Ice on the wings of an aircraft can alter the way the wind blows over them and become detrimental to lift. Having lived in warm countries all my life, this was a sight for me to behold!
By now, the feeling of unrest had waned. I was already in the plane, anxiety had lost its power on me. I slept soundly through 10 of the 13 hours, looking forward to meeting my family and friends in Doha and the tasks that awaited me in India.
Beautiful