Our Big Fat Family Roadtrip









My son was born in India but is being raised in the UK. Unfortunately, his impression of India was largely formed of dehydrated or mal-nourished children who desperately need charitable aid as being constantly implored by the thousands of ads on television. It is a truth he encounters every time he visits India to see grandparents almost immediately after landing in Mumbai.

 

But I have always believed that it is only fair to show him the other half, the half of kings and queens, of grand palaces and castles, of craftsmanship and culture which nestles proudly in the heart of the country, albeit a little lost now in the veil of masses of people and poverty.

 

How would you make a lasting impression on a 6 year old? Take him to see the Taj Mahal... ofcourse! And why not add a couple of Rajasthan palaces and a pit stop in the land of Lord Krishna? Even better if you convince your entire family to join you on this mega road trip? It wasn't going to be easy with age range of 6 to 60+ who had never previously spent hours in a claustrophobically small space of a car. Not to mention the varied mental stages of a hyper active little boy, temperamental aunt and mom, uncle who was contemplating going back to school, dad who hates traffic and chaos, granddad who was nearing retirement and grandma who invariably acted as peace keeping force between all these highly volatile factions.

 

Before I detail the places we visited, a quick thought for all the parents doing road trips with young children. If you don't want them feeling nauseous by watching portable TVs or playing on gadgets while in the car, here are a few of our favourite games.

1. Guess who (20 questions if you recollect playing it) - in this case ofcourse there is no limit to the questions. We love playing this with sports people especially footballers since there are atleast five leagues of European football that we follow ardently

2. Name Place Animal Thing - chose an alphabet and take turns saying each of these four starting with your alphabet - if you are travelling in a group then its much more fun - you can add anything else you like in this list as well like Action, Fruit, Flower, Movie depending on the age group

3. World capitals - another great one especially for travelholics - trust me it won't take too long for the kids to start challenging the knowledge of the grown ups

4. Car games - if you are travelling in UK or in India there are tons of cars on the motor way and we've always played games of adding up the digits on the number plate or guess the make of the car from the logo or who can spot the first yellow car on the opposite side - be creative

5. Find me the way - while traveling in Europe where the directions are well marked on the roads, we've found mapping our path and then looking for directions together is fun (ofcourse don't completely depend on the judgement of your toddler!!)

 

I'll have to keep the details of the road trip for the next post. It was dichotomous to say the least with majestic architecture and dilapidating ruins, congested eateries and grand dinners, and food..... lots of food!!!

It's Genetic!!

 

There is no other way to explain the travel madness that runs in our family - at least in the female species. It's genetic!! I have very fond memories of travels made in my teenage including suffering the sweltering heat of May in Madhya Pradesh where we were reduced to eating onions and dousing our towels in water to cover our heads. Or the travel in Rajasthan where we hurtled down a steep slope in a tuk tuk at break neck speed to catch the folk dance program. Or the Karnataka road trip with my grand parents where I had the luxury of resting my head on grandma's lap on the back seat of the car and look at the swaying palm trees through the window, while the car traced the curves of the terrain.

With three women in the family my father has always been an unfortunate minority. Since then we've added two husbands and a son, however, when it comes to obsessive compulsive travelling, they are still a minority mentally. It has also helped that we've employed the divide and conquer rule where my mum has been given free reign on Asia while I explore Europe and my sister, the Americas.

Are we eccentric travellers - don't think so. We do the usual travel spots and photo ops and are not at all prosaic to admit it. This blog is a leisurely reminiscence of our experiences and a gentle nudge to humanity at large to become a .... travelholic!