Fun is the FUNDA of Life: Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!

Fun is the FUNDA of Life: Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!: Couples are on top of the world when they want to start a family and they have a super baby. Many people in the world are unde...

Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!

Couples are on top of the world when they want to start a family and they have a super baby.

Many people in the world are under the myth that we cannot travel with an infant. My wife and I were also under the same myth till we had our little one in this world. I will introduce him to the world of blog in my next write up. But in this write up I would like to emphasize more on the planning and execution of travels across the globe with the little one.

Travelling across the globe sound exciting but if it is with the little one then the reactions form others are weird. Nevertheless it just involves lot of preparation, stamina and co-operation between husband and wife. Of course lot of time.    

Idea of travel: First point before you begin a long travel is to have your own enthusiasm to travel and make sure you are not forced by anyone to travel. 

•  Choice of places: Safety, distance, weather, mode of transport to the place and to all the destinations once you land, availability of preferred food are the main points to be considered.
• Avoid places where you might need to compromise of safety like countries where there are high crime rate, political unrest or risk of specific diseases.
• Before deciding the place keep in mind to have evaluated a couple of options.

Now let us get into a bit of details once you have decided on the options. 

How to plan a travel?

• Read about the place and the surroundings you would like to visit.
• Make points on how to get to the main destination (choice between flights, trains and bus). I would suggest to take a flight if you have the option as it is going to get difficult in bus due the space constraint and long duration of journey. Babies don’t like it.
• Make points on how to reach the places of interest from the main destination. Try to download all the necessary applications for navigation. Make all the reservations for the stay either in a hotel or in a serviced apartment depending on your interest and availability of options. Always choose an option to stay which will give you the best access to the public transport, do not bother much about the aesthetics of the apartment as you do not stay there for the whole day but only for the night.
• Make points on the weather, availability of escalators and lifts for strollers (if not then you should carry the baby and the stroller at the train stations).
• Based on the mode of transport you choose make a daily plan from the time you get up to the time you get back home for sleep. Make sure your detailed daily plan has the travelling time, feeding and changing time for the baby, time required for purchase of entry tickets (if any), breakfast, lunch and snack time. Mainly keep some time buffer every day as your kid might get cranky and you might not be able to meet the timelines. Try not to over strain yourself as you need to take care of the baby once you are back.
•  It is good to have one main activity and rest small activities for a day. Try not to have many activities on the same day. Keep buffers in case you miss a connection.

Choice of mode of transport:

•  Car hire is the best mode of local transport if you are legally allowed to drive in the country.
•  In certain countries the taxis are expensive so if one can afford then it will also be great.
• Buses and trains; make the choice and prepare yourself to carry the kinder wagon / baby stroller. In some countries there are no proper facilities like escalators and lifts to take the strollers, then you should always have a baby carrier to carry your baby.

 Food:

• Read about the food habits and the timings for lunch and dinner of the place you are visiting. In some countries people have early dinner so if you go late to the hotels and you might end up empty stomach.
• If you are a veggie and you prefer to cook for yourself then find an accommodation with kitchen, confirm with the owner about the availability of basic utensils.
• Carry with you the basic veggies raw materials like rice and some ready to eat stuff which you can heat up.
• But if you are a bread lover then you can survive in most of the countries.
• Else you might pack your lunch.

Suggestion – try all the possible food in each country. It is a different and wonderful experience in itself.

Choice of Accommodation (if you want to rent a serviced apartment)

• It should be closer to the public transport (max of 5-8 min walk)
• It should be well connected to the main station so that you can change buses or trains without hassles. 
•  Check if the apartment owner is kid friendly.
• Check if you would have to share bath rooms. It becomes really difficult when you travel with a baby to share bathrooms. 
•  Does he have a cot for the baby and some basic stuff for the baby?
• In some countries the apartments do not have elevators so make sure to enquire the floor in which you would stay and if there is an elevator, else you might end up lifting your stroller up and down every day.
• If you wish to spend a lot of time at the house than experiencing the local place and culture you should go for a bigger place with a garden and pool etc., to have some fun.

 Points to be noted and prepared for the flight:

• Call the airlines well before the trip to confirm a few aspects like your child is registered for the flight so that he gets a separate boarding pass (it is a must), to ensure that the basinet is available for the seats you have selected and in case required some baby food is available.
• If you have a layover while booking your tickets, it is advised to go for a higher lay over as you and the baby get a break from the continuous journey and you will have sufficient time to change diapers, pick up some snacks and mainly some play time for your baby.
•  Leave early from home to the airport so that you don’t mess up in case you are stuck in a bad traffic or missed a train etc.
• Try to reach the airport well in advance before the check in time as you would require some time for your baby like feeding, changing etc., before boarding the flight as some flights might not have sufficient space for diaper changing.
•  Pick up some snacks or purees for your baby to eat during the flight. Keep sufficient baby food for the duration of the travel.
•  Split your hand luggage into two parts if both the parents are travelling so that it is easy to carry and keep all the baby essentials in one bag which should always be with the person who has the baby.
• Dress the baby in such a way that you can do quick and easy diaper changes.
• Feed your baby during take off and landing.

Check list: You will find a lot of check lists in general for travel but when you are travelling with a baby then the below are very important:

• Plane tickets where the name of baby is mentioned along with one of the parent or a separate ticket if the baby above 2 years.
• Passports, ID cards, Birth certificate of the baby, travel insurance.
• If only one parent is travelling then it is better to carry a No Objection Letter from the other parent.
• Copies of accommodation reservation, credit cards, currency, driving license.
• Important medicines along with the prescriptions.
•  Baby blanket, toy and touch and feel books, other books based on the age.
• One diaper for every couple of hours, lots and lots of wipes.
• Two sets of cloths for the baby.
• Baby food, formula milk.
• Adequate feeding bottles for the whole time of travel as you may not find place to clean the bottle and sterilize the same.
• Plastic bags in order to dispose drapers or carry the old clothes.
• Diaper cream, baby cream.
• Toys for the baby to keep it busy.

Note – This write-up will get updated more with more experience. (suggestions are also welcome based on the reader's experience)

Memories of Pondicherry!!!

After the ride to BR hills now it’s the time to enjoy a weekend in Pondicherry. But this time we decided to take our car and hit the roads of pondy.
A shrill noise of alarm on my mobile woke me up, at 2:30AM on a Saturday. I just had a look out of my window and was dejected to see that it was raining heavily. It made me worried a bit because couple of my friends had to reach my place at that time. All cheers to the guys who made it in spite of the rains.

We started our journey towards Pondicherry from Bangalore which is around 325 kms. We reached pondy with the aid of google maps and GPS.

On the way to pondy we halted at a place called Tiruvannamalai to take the blessings of lord Arunachaleshwara. It is a very large area with 24 acre of temple campus. It is one of the best temples in south India to be visited.
After the blessings of the lord it is all about PONDY and FUN.
I could say Pondicherry is nothing less than tropical paradise hugging the Bay of Bengal. A remarkable degree of French influence still exists in the place. Many streets and the villas still retain the French names. There are ample places to stay in pondy at decent rates. The beach road has a lot of places which are a bit expensive but fabulous.

The laid back attitude of the place makes you feel that you are on a perfect holiday. I loved the rock beach road, the road has French was memorial on one side and Gandhi memorial on the other side.

Other major attractions in the city are Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, Auroville beach, Paradise beach, the Church and the Matri mandir.The church is an example of the medieval architecture and the Matri mandir is a classic example of the modern architecture.

The Aurobindo Ashram attracts a lot of people for the values of Aurobindo. It is a very calm place to visit which indeed brings in peace of mind.

And now….. It is time to reveal a couple secrets of pondy…..all awaited…

The city has a very happening pub called the “Asian House”. “Entry for Couples Only” Point to be noted that they don’t entertain Gay Couples so make sure you have your girlfriend beside you.

The Seagulls restaurant is a nice calm place to have dinner and drinks with a pleasant view of a private beach.

People who love various brands of liquor please don’t miss a chance to get them at a huge discount.

After all the fun and excitement the weekend was getting to an end we had to leave for Bangalore.

Note the points if you are planning for a trip to pondy.

- It is around 325 Kms from Bangalore
- The road till Krishnagiri is very good and the road after that is really worst.

- Carry enough food along with you as you don’t have good hang outs to eat on the way.

- Don’t carry drinks from here as you get them in ample there.

- The major attractions are the Beaches, Churches, Aurobindo Ashram and the French people

Ride - Bikers paradise “BR Hills, K Gudi forest and himavad gopalswamy hills” - 530Kms

Thanks to the busy schedule of each of us which gave us the idea of a holiday and a break from the hectic schedule. Six guys daring to drive long decided to rip through a distance of 530 kms on our bikes. The decided trip was BR Hills-K Gudi-Himavad Gopalswamy betta-Nanjangood-Bangalore.

We decided to meet in kengeri on the Bangalore mysore highway at 7 AM on 11^th December 2010. We started off from there after having a cup of tea from the roadside vendor. As it was early in the morning and the road was free from the usual traffic, we could rip through very quickly to maddur were we decided to have our breakfast. We had the breakfast in kadamba and headed further. A kilometer after maddur we have to take the route towards Kollegal via malavalli. A stretch of 10 kms was a pothole stuck road while reaching malavalli, thereafter we loved the road to kollegal.

Once we reached kollegal we enquired the route to BR hills though the road had signs of direction to that place. We reached the foot of BR hills at around 11:15AM. We had to enter all our vehicle numbers and addresses in the register of the forest department and then enter the jungle area.

We were very much impressed with the flora of the jungle. The snake like roads was all admired by us and we had a wonderful ride till the Billigiri Ranga temple. This is a famous temple in the Hills. The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Ranganatha. The local name of the God is Biligiriranga and the deity is shown as being in a standing position. This is the only place in the country where it is depicted as being in this position. From there we took the road to K Gudi forest. It was around 15 kms from the temple. The rich vegetation of BR Hills in turn supported a wide variety of fauna. We could see lot of animals going around in the natural vegetation.

As it was an unplanned trip we had no designated place for lunch. After reaching K Gudi we contacted the jungle resorts for lunch and found it very costly. Then we found a local who could prepare lunch for us and indeed it was yummy. Then we booked a safari. It costs Rs 140 per person. We waited for the jeep to come back and we left for the safari at around 4:45 PM. We were slowly beginning to fall in love with the surroundings.

There were lots of deer in the jungle. We were quite disappointed that we were not able to see any of the wild animals. The guide asked us to come in the summer so that we could do some trekking in the forest to see the wild animals. While this conversation was going on we could spot a jungle elephant. It was very exciting to see a huge jungle elephant in front of us. It had come alone to drink water. Here people say that ONTISALAGA i.e. a single elephant is very dangerous. It started coming nearer to our jeep and our hearts started pumping faster and faster. But it was fun to have such kind of experience.

By the time we reached back it was 6:20PM and the gate to chamrajnagar was closed. They follow a rule of 6:00AM to 6:00PM. We requested the range officer to let us go as we had no accommodation in K Gudi but the officer explained the risks involved after darkness in the forest. He was kind enough to let us accompany his jeep till the forest got over and the villages started. The journey of ten kilometers in the jungle darkness was breathtaking. We could spot some wild creatures travelling along with us on the road. After the jungle area we took our way to chamarjnagar and stayed there.

Next morning we left the place around 5:30AM and headed towards Himavad Gopalswamy betta. We reached the place at round 6:45AM. The road towards the upward hill was not very good but the scenes on the way were unmatchable. We were covered by clouds all over on the top of the hill and it was very unique experience to people living in the concrete jungle. Later we left the place and headed towards Nanjangud . We visited the temple there and left for Bangalore.