So my husband & I are out of our minds. We have decided to go on a trip to Kodaikanal (hills in Tamilnadu, India) this weekend. Why Kodaikanal? cuz Manjummel Boys of course (an Indian film associated with the place which became a big hit pan India).
Planning the trip was pretty intense for me because the last thing I want to do is to go on a trip. I am a working mom and it's only the weekends that I get to rest a little. A trip is to relax, but it would mean the opposite with a baby. I do not want to be lifting weights the whole time if you know what I mean (it's my cutie lil baby). My baby is still dependent on me, he's 9 months now, crawling and standing with support, but not yet walking. Sure, my husband takes care of him when I INSIST, but he's no use let's be real here. My husband needs a prompt from me to do things which is not too bad, I guess (crying in silence). Anyway, he's been doing the big things for me like packing my things, shopping for the trip, and all the finances, the transport, the mapping to the destination, coordinating with the other couples, and so on. So, Imma appreciate my man for that.
My Mind Voice.
"First things first- a 10 hr journey with a crawler? How you gonna do that gurrlll!"
Ok, yeah, I tried talking to my spouse about this long-duration travel and suggested something short like Kolli Hills or Yercaud which are much closer instead, because my baby needs to enjoy the trip as well. He needs a comfortable journey, he needs to crawl a little move around a little, or stand a little in that 10 hrs. Us adults could stop in between and walk, stretch, and get a coffee every now and then that's not the case for a baby. But his friends have already visited these 2 places and think that there's nothing to explore there for a 3-day trip, they claim that it's pretty boring and they're uninterested.
I was frustrated that my husband and his friends just weren't thinking straight. Despite my argument, he thinks that a 10-hour journey can be easily handled with a baby. Well, I had to yell at him why it wouldn't be an easy task and then we came up with plans. Finally!
So one of the couples dropped out and we had some extra space. We booked an Innova via Zoom car and bought this inflatable bed thingy for the back seat so that the baby and I could lie down and relax and he could crawl and play as well (which turned out to be of no use, -_-). We bought a few toys like a car window sticking fidget thingy so that he could play with that (see video below). We bought a stroller to take him around. We bought some packaged baby food free from sugar and artificial things (so hard to find! We bought it in-store at Baby Amore in Nungambakkam) so that I don't have to worry about no food for my baby because he is eating solids now and I don't wanna feed him no junk from restaurants on the way. Also, we bought an inflatable pool to contain him inside something so that we could make him sit in it and we could expect him to stay in one place.
The Journey To Kanthaloor From Chennai
Image Source: Kerala Tourism
Day 1
So that Friday morning at 2am we started from Chennai. My baby and I slept through the night. In between my baby woke up at 4am and 6am for 10 mins and then he would feel sleepy and sleep again. Around 9am we stopped for breakfast and I fed him half a Dosa with Sambar, I fed him some puree and snacks which I bought in between the journey until then. We decided to ditch Kodaikanal cuz we got the news that it was too crowded and traffic blocks everywhere, since the movie (Manjummel Boys), the place has been overcrowded. We are now going to Kanthaloor. We managed to find a decent place to stay as well. Around 1pm we stopped for lunch (takeaway). I fed my baby plain veg rice mixed with pieces of an omelet. He was such a cutie, he ate them up and was no fuss at all! We reached Kanthaloor at 2:30 pm. We all slept for a while. Around 5:30 pm my baby woke up and we got ready for a walk, got his stroller out, and viewed the sunset, it was amazing.
Day 2
The next day we visited farms we saw some strawberries and mulberries, apples and oranges, bathed in the waterfall, and had hot Maggi and egg bullseye (for baby) sold near the waterfalls. Lunch was at our place of stay, baby had some Rice and Dal. We then stayed back while the rest of the gang continued the trekking in the jeep because my baby was sound asleep and we didn't wanna disturb him. Around 5:30 pm he woke up and we took him for a walk like yesterday, we bought some passion fruit, and my baby tried some strawberries as well. Our friends returned around 6pm, and so they tagged along with us in the evening walk.
On both days we put the baby to sleep and at night we had beer, beef, and mint smoke.
Day 3
The third day was all gone in travel. We started around 9am. I packed one idli and chutney sambar (asked the cook to make them without chilies), so around 10am I fed my baby that. Lunch was an egg again for him. He slept for a while and woke up super hungry at 6pm ish, he wasn't happy with breast milk alone, and his hunger wasn't satiated with the snacks we had, we had to stop immediately and we fed him Dosa and Sambar. He ate his stomach full and went to sleep around 8pm. We reached back Chennai at 11:30pm, after dropping our Zoom Innova car at the owner's place.
The trip turned out pretty chill actually. It was super cold in Kanthaloor compared to other parts of Tamilnadu especially Chennai this time of the year. We enjoyed the climate and my baby got to spend full time with me. He enjoyed looking at the little sweet singing birds in the morning. All went well after all! It's true what they say, normalize traveling with your kids!
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