Familycation (Part-1) - How I planned my trip with entire family.

Holidays are like fountains of joy, much needed respite from the dull drudgery of day to day life. And if such outing could be made with the entire family then there’s no such bliss.

(BTW we Bengalis love to travel with family and friends. Solo is absolutely no no... )

However, in the prevailing pandemic situation such endeavours have its own shares of risks. But the stifling lockdown and then intermittent restrictions on daily life for the past 2 years (almost) was pivotal in our decision for planning a family vacation (familycation).

Gathering whole family for a holiday has its own predicaments

though if materialized will be treasure-trove of happy memories. Loads of issues like –

1. For kids – holidays in schools, exam free time

2. For us – leave from workplace, loads of other commitments

3. For elders – they are free but their body is little unfit for long distance and hectic travel.

etc. etc. etc………

But someone has to go through all the paraphernalia for arranging a familycation for the want of unlimited happiness, sweet memories that awaits on the other side. And it was me.

So, in this blog of mine I will tell you about how I planned my FAMILYCATION.

Let me introduce you all to my family first – Small but each member is very different from the other with different requirements.

1. My Mom – Age67, knee replaced, a retired school teacher ( undoubtedly very strict and grumpy…hahaha)

2. My MIL – Age 64, loads of co morbidity like high BP n high creatinine etc. She is cool when inside home and hates going outside, absolutely hates travelling. But this time she was excited about the trip.

3. My younger daughter and the naughtiest of all Raya – Age 4. Just that she missed her tail in my womb otherwise her behaviour is same as ...... hahaha chuck it

4. My elder daughter Jia – Age 10 and she is the one who takes care of rest of the kids.

5. My SIL Sudipa – Age 37, settled in Bangalore with her Kannad family and working there.

6. Her daughter Nishu – Age 7 from Bangalore n a typical kannad by food and language… and the sweetest of all... hahaha…

7. My husband Debashish – Age 43, working, and the only male member of the group… He has lower back issues and we can’t assign him as our official porter but can make him our official camera person…hahaha….

8. Finally me – Age 38, working and the tour coordinator…

So, probably by now you understood how difficult it was for me to put everybody’s myriad needs for consideration while planning this tour. But finally the familycation meterialised and truly ended on super-happy note .

While planning the trip I focused on my 3Ps ( because I love the leter P hahaha)

let's discuss my 3Ps –

• P for Place selection

• P for Planning

• P for Packing

So, let’s explain –

P for Place Selection –

Most important part of the familycation is selecting the place. Each member should agree with the place you select, and then only can you expect their full participation leading to a memorable family outing. This time we all wanted to visit hill station. I short-listed few of them keeping in mind the prevailing COVID-19 situation, and least required travelling time, the places like Sikkim, Meghalaya, Darjeeling, Kalimpong etc. Then on the basis of my criteria like

easily accessibility of the spot

peaceful, scenic and safe place, far from the hustle bustle of the city

comfortable safe stay option and good homely food like ours

safe play zone for kids

Temperature and climate

budget friendly place

availability of tickets on regular price

and finally some adventure activity like trekking, hiking etc for us

We selected Kalimpong ( Mairung gaon and Rishop) because its offbeat places are away from the hustle bustle of the city. You can hear the birds chirping, rivulets flowing and the winds caressing the pine leaves. You can have your morning tea with the rising sun watching the mountain tips turning golden with sunlight along with your family. Then my Mom and MIL both wanted to visit Darjeeling because they both wanted to enjoy the heritage joyride of Darjeeling Himalayan railways. So, we added Darjeeling as well.

After the place is selected we further selected the date of travel on mutual consent. And winter holiday is the best time in terms of applying leave for kids and us. Also, we decided the number of days of tour. We decided to keep it short for 7 days only.

Then we worked on our place of stay based on internet search and experience and feedback of friends who had been to the places. You also can book through some agencies for shortcut but make sure they are reputed and have proper reviews on internet.

P for Planning–

The most important part of planning is BUDGETING and BOOKING. Although in a family trip the cost of tour is usually shared by all the earning members of the family but budgeting is must to avoid unwanted expenditure during any trip because unwanted expenditure will later on add to guilt which in turn will pull down our happy memories in to sad one.

There are 3 major expenses that occur during any travel –

Transport cost – includes to and fro train or flight fare to the spot which is easily available on internet, then daily vehicle cost for sightseeing and reaching one hotel to the another which is approx 3000/- to 4000/- INR per day for vehicle like Sumo or Scorpio for our trip.

Lodging cost – we selected home stays in offbeat Kalimpong places; like Mairung gaon (costed us Rs.1200/- INR per head per day including food for adults and half the cost for kids) and Rishop (costed us Rs.1600/- INR per head per day including food for adults and half the cost for kids)for 2 days each and hotel in Darjeeling for 2 days(costed us 4000/- INR per room excluding food). And hence we got our expenditure for lodging.

Fooding cost – the best part of staying in homestays is that they serve you home cooked food and we booked all the meals with them along with lodging. So, we are set for 4 days. And since, Darjeeling is a city of sorts, loads of options are available. Infact when you are in Darjeeling you should try places like Keventer’s for breakfast, Glenary for dinner, Kunga and local joints for scrumptious Tibbetian or Nepali food like momo, thukpa etc. So, from my past travel experience I keep it 500/- to 800/-INR per head per day as food cost.

So, for a family trip where you have senior citizens, it is always advisable to book the lodging with a proper fooding section in prior. Also if possible book a driver for the entire trip for hassle free travel. Moreover it helps you to prepare an exact budget of a big trip.

P for Packing -

This is the final step before travelling but the toughest one because packing right is important for travelling light. Over and under packing both affects the trip physically and financially. For that we should pack well before the date of journey and always avoid last moment packing. Infact I prefer jotting down stuffs in a small note pad lest I forget to pack something important, out of excitement.

Since we are going to a place which will have temperature less than 5 degree, we decided to layer the cloths with thermals, skivvies, jackets and shawls. We took 2 sets for each one of us. Also took gloves, caps, scarves etc. for extra protection. Best part of family trip is that you can mix n match with each other’s dress to give yourself a new look…hehehe.... Also in cold climate we can repeat dresses isn’t it? Pack all other essentials like medicines, cosmetics, toiletry, sanitizer, masks etc as per requirement.

We are set to go for much awaited familycation.

I will sign off for now and will come again with the details of our familycation in my next travelogue.

Thank you for reading