Family Vacation to Europe
There is a lot written out to there to help plan an itinerary to places to visit and I am sure they will have done a far better then i ever will. This is my first trip to Europe add to that the first trip with my family on such a long journey.
We are traveling with a 2 year old and a 6 year old. You can imagine the butterflies and the excitement. While I am relatively frequent traveler and so is my family. This by far would be our longest journey. Am I sounding anxious definitely I am.
Let me begin with my planning, I booked myself on JetAirways from Bangalore to Paris via Abu Dhabi carefully using all our miles returning London to Bangalore via Delhi again JetAirways. I preferred the Indian Airlines over the other options purely from the fact that they might just understand Indian Travellers better but it remains to be seen. I booked the rest of the trip mostly for hotels and Visa through a travel agent Trip Factory. I think i could have done a better job than they did but guess didnt want to take the risk and responsibility to make sure everything is right. I realise that its only better that you do things on your own and talk to people you might know who have traveled to plan your trip then these agents. You definitely cant plan everything and you definitely dont think you can research it all. But as they say some plan is better than no plan.
UK Visa has to be first if you are planning Europe with London. For the Visa make sure that you have enough documents and make sets of at least two. VFS offices make a killing out of even photocopying papers and documents. There is absolutely no use of paying to them for an SMS service. Thats water down the toilet DO NOT OPT for it. Once done apply for Schengen Visa again there is no SMS and tracking charges for the Schengen Visa, they keep updating you on the status and its very fast. You get the visa in less than 4 working days. But again carry multiple sets of insurance, tickets and other paper work to ensure that the process is smooth.
We are a vegetarian family add to that my wife is very particular about food. We are carrying one bag of ready to eat meals for the trip easily upto 23 kgs. The anxiousness is only growing as we draw close to the travel dates. First the luggage, you are allowed only 2 PCs of checkin luggage per person and it cannot be more than 23 kgs each. I thought I could carry 83 Kgs and it would a breeze. Pack everything in one bag and carry two smaller bags for everything else. Guess what you cant do that. You have to carry 2 pc of luggage for each passenger and keep it under 23 kgs. This only means that you will travel with more number of luggage and a stroller for your young one. The plan from an original 3 suitcase (1 large, 1 medium and 1 small) all gone for a toss. We had not add two more pieces which means that now my travel is already very exciting given that i am traveling on Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam, a high speed rail experience. They have very little information on stoppage time and they close the gates 2 minutes before departure so you need to be ahead of schedule but
you cant reach the station too early because track and other details are displayed only 20 minutes prior. But I guess you need to face what comes. Manage kids and load everything on the train and guess that you don't be anxious. My neighbor who travels frequently to europe threw a last minute spanner saying you need Car seats or you wont be able to travel by cabs as it is mandatory for travel. I freaked for one I dont have one and even if I did have one how do I carry the car seat a monster in itself. The kept me awake through the night, researching. Finally to conclude that public transport is the answer and wherever you are using cabs you need to request for family vans rest I can tell you only once I have completed my travel. Indian Kids used to jumping around in the car no seat belts this is going to be interesting. I am preparing myself mentally to keep calm and believe this will be one hell of a team building activity for my family. We are in the final moments of packing and to set off on this memorable journey.
There is a lot written out to there to help plan an itinerary to places to visit and I am sure they will have done a far better then i ever will. This is my first trip to Europe add to that the first trip with my family on such a long journey.
We are traveling with a 2 year old and a 6 year old. You can imagine the butterflies and the excitement. While I am relatively frequent traveler and so is my family. This by far would be our longest journey. Am I sounding anxious definitely I am.
Let me begin with my planning, I booked myself on JetAirways from Bangalore to Paris via Abu Dhabi carefully using all our miles returning London to Bangalore via Delhi again JetAirways. I preferred the Indian Airlines over the other options purely from the fact that they might just understand Indian Travellers better but it remains to be seen. I booked the rest of the trip mostly for hotels and Visa through a travel agent Trip Factory. I think i could have done a better job than they did but guess didnt want to take the risk and responsibility to make sure everything is right. I realise that its only better that you do things on your own and talk to people you might know who have traveled to plan your trip then these agents. You definitely cant plan everything and you definitely dont think you can research it all. But as they say some plan is better than no plan.
UK Visa has to be first if you are planning Europe with London. For the Visa make sure that you have enough documents and make sets of at least two. VFS offices make a killing out of even photocopying papers and documents. There is absolutely no use of paying to them for an SMS service. Thats water down the toilet DO NOT OPT for it. Once done apply for Schengen Visa again there is no SMS and tracking charges for the Schengen Visa, they keep updating you on the status and its very fast. You get the visa in less than 4 working days. But again carry multiple sets of insurance, tickets and other paper work to ensure that the process is smooth.
We are a vegetarian family add to that my wife is very particular about food. We are carrying one bag of ready to eat meals for the trip easily upto 23 kgs. The anxiousness is only growing as we draw close to the travel dates. First the luggage, you are allowed only 2 PCs of checkin luggage per person and it cannot be more than 23 kgs each. I thought I could carry 83 Kgs and it would a breeze. Pack everything in one bag and carry two smaller bags for everything else. Guess what you cant do that. You have to carry 2 pc of luggage for each passenger and keep it under 23 kgs. This only means that you will travel with more number of luggage and a stroller for your young one. The plan from an original 3 suitcase (1 large, 1 medium and 1 small) all gone for a toss. We had not add two more pieces which means that now my travel is already very exciting given that i am traveling on Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam, a high speed rail experience. They have very little information on stoppage time and they close the gates 2 minutes before departure so you need to be ahead of schedule but
you cant reach the station too early because track and other details are displayed only 20 minutes prior. But I guess you need to face what comes. Manage kids and load everything on the train and guess that you don't be anxious. My neighbor who travels frequently to europe threw a last minute spanner saying you need Car seats or you wont be able to travel by cabs as it is mandatory for travel. I freaked for one I dont have one and even if I did have one how do I carry the car seat a monster in itself. The kept me awake through the night, researching. Finally to conclude that public transport is the answer and wherever you are using cabs you need to request for family vans rest I can tell you only once I have completed my travel. Indian Kids used to jumping around in the car no seat belts this is going to be interesting. I am preparing myself mentally to keep calm and believe this will be one hell of a team building activity for my family. We are in the final moments of packing and to set off on this memorable journey.
