So after the arrival of my Daughter in Mar 2018 we decided that we cannot stop travelling and going places since both me and my hubby have restless feet!! and I badly needed to hit the road again to uplift my spirits post partum...So we decided to not go to far but take a 3 hour road trip to Anandvan Resort, Bhandardara..This is also the place where Mt. Kalsubai the highest peak of Maharashtra is situated...This was the preferred destination also cause of the temprature being 15 C.
We went to this getaway on 13-14 Jun 18 whn my daughter was 3 months old. This was not the first time I was travelling with her. We did Pune to mumbai before she completed 1 month and mumbai to Delhi and back via train and plane respectively before she hit 2 months..but yes definitely the first time we traveled together as a family for pleasure..
A baby definitely changes your criteria for chosing your destination and the things you plan to do on your vacation..Me and my husband usually preferred adventurous outings involving treks or exciting activities but this was a different kind of holiday that i thoroughly enjoyed and loved..
A few pointers that we kept in mind were:
a) We chose a resort that in itself was a destination. A beautiful interesting place. We booked a tree house and were accomodated in one ..When the wind blew we could actually hear the branches of the tree in which our room was housed, creek and move ..It was lovely ..Out in the balcony I could easily see how we were nested in the midst of a big tree..I never felt like coming indoors and it was gorgeous also because of the cool temperature, the wind and the tiny birds that crowded the tree. At night fireflies filled our tree top...It was a sight to relish..:)
b) There was the provision of a swimming pool, a club house, a games centre and an ayurvedic massage center. The resort in itself was very picturesque. The rooms had the amenities of a modern day hotel but the resort looked like a mini rock garden/forest ...what more can you ask for..
c) We made sure we chose a place we can drive to since nothing beat the comfort of a self driven vehicle with such a small baby who is exclusively breast fed.
d) My check off list for the baby was - Diaper bag with all its contents like enough diapers, extra clothes, wipes, cotton, feeding cover, diaper rash cream, mosquito repellant, nasal drops, colicaid, her vitamin drops, etc...I did not want her massage and bath routine to get disturbed so I carried all the related items. I had decided to make use of the Ayurvedic massage centre so I packed my Breast pump and bottle to express feed and handover to my husband while I enjoyed my massage.
e) It was a short 2 day trip where in we enjoyed room service on a tree top ;), a buffet breakfast surrounded by nature, a massage, drove around Bhandardara a little bit and returned back to the resort.
All thanks to our lil girl we enjoyed a relaxed laid back holiday , very unlike us..It is important to chose a destination that is nether too taxing for you nor for the baby since 90% of your happiness depends on how calm your baby remains!!
We should not stop travelling with arrival of a new member...Infact the baby becomes a part of the journey..A baby enables new experiences..
Bon Voyage everyone