Abrams Family World Travel

World Travel: Pack To Basics

ON every trip so far we have packed too much. No matter how hard we attempt to cut back, we always carry items that never get used.

Even after two years on the road, we are still learning and now we are on a strict mission to be more minimalist. Ahead of our journey to Asia, we deliberated whether to continue travelling with large suitcases or explore alternatives. We decided on the latter.

Suitcases are big and often cumbersome, especially if your final destination is in the sticks and/or involves carting your luggage across rugged terrain (as has happened with us several times). And often, because of the shape and size of a suitcase, passenger and bag frequently get separated.

So, following a little research, we opted for a large duffel bag (on wheels) and a big, rugged rucksack that we had purchased some years earlier for a visit to Costa Rica. That would be our checked luggage and each of us would have a small rucksack.

Jamie is the master-packer in our family. A few days ahead of our departure for India, we laid out what we wanted to take with us and then tried to see how much space it would use up.

There are pros and cons with duffel bags and suitcases, of course. Suitcases are more durable and secure. And when we travelled with suitcases, we often packed our clothes in vacuum-seal bags, which protected the clothing, enabled you to utilise space better and made it easier to find your items. With rucksacks and duffel bags, rooting through to find your clothes is harder and messier. 

Flying with Emirates Airlines (via Dubai), we were each allowed 30kgs of checked luggage. Jamie felt quite proud that our load was 15.5kgs and 18.5kgs - well under the limit.

And we managed just fine. Jamie, carrying Kobra in a sling, wheeled the large duffel bag and carried a rucksack, Zenchai pulled his own bag and I took the rest - my rucksack (with computer etc), carry-on food items and the big rucksack.

Getting all the bags in a car was much easier than with suitcases. Often on previous journeys we would have one suitcase in the boot (trunk for American readers) and one inside or, as I recall on one taxi adventure in Ecuador, our second suitcase hanging precariously out of an open boot.

The journey to India, with children in tow and given the time of our arrival and layover, was potentially awkward, but we handled it rather well. Leaving London at 1.30pm, we arrived in Dubai at midnight and had four hours to kill before going onwards to Trivandrum in India.

None of us (except for Kobra) slept until our final flight - and only after about an hour into it. And when we did, we crashed out, only to be woken a few hours later by the landing on Indian soil.

Immediately upon disembarking we felt the heat…and then the commotion. We were handed landing papers at the airport that took a while to complete, by when the queue had grown to almost ridiculous proportions.

We waited in line patiently and all tired, wondering if there were any special privileges for families with young children. And after lining up for, say, 20 minutes, someone finally took us out of the line and to the front.

All in all, it was a fairly painless experience. Emirates is an excellent airline with comfortable seats (for economy), friendly and helpful staff and a first class entertainment system. Dubai airport is almost like a Las Vegas casino - vast and full of lights and shops. I felt quite proud to have not been tempted to spend a penny.

As for India, it is still early days. Although there is the lingering smell of spices in the air and the noise is constant (in towns), the people are unbelievably friendly and welcoming (though many, I suspect, in order to get your business). And where we are, in the south in rather touristic Varkala Beach, it's so nice to be back in the sun and by the sea again, where the kids can be outside playing so freely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Travel: Next Stop Asia!

WE’RE on the move again. After spending Christmas and the New Year in the UK, it’s time to continue our travels.

Although we came back to Britain to enjoy Christmas with family, to see friends and sort out passports for our kids (Zenchai's needed renewing and Kobra a British), the visit confirmed to us how Britain is too draining on our financial resources (I’m staggered at how easily one can go through £100). So we’re heading where the cost of living is much less.

But that’s not the only reason. When we began our world travel two years ago, Jamie and I each had destinations we wanted to visit. And Asia was high on our lists.

Now we are going to make that dream happen – while we can and our children are young. We leave the UK in a few days for India, where we will stay for around six weeks, and then head to Thailand, where we intend to be based for much longer. We also aim to spend time in Malaysia and visit Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.

We know many people who have visited India. We have heard mixed reviews. But there is only one way of knowing if any place suits you or not and that’s to travel there yourself.

We have picked the state of Kerala in the south. It's considered by some to be the most 'socially advanced state' in the country with the highest rate of literacy.

While it's tempting to go all over India, we long ago decided - mainly because we have young children - that the type of travel that suits us best is to be based in one place for a longer period rather than uprooting every few days and moving around.

Although India has a fabulous rail system and its road infrastructure is improving rapidly, we like to follow a less frenetic itinerary and experience countries as though we are living there.

British and American citizens wanting to visit India require a visa. It’s a fairly quick and straightforward process if you have access to a computer. You fill in the form online, print it off, take the required documents to a visa application centre and pay the £42.10 (which includes a fee for processing) per person for the tourist visa (it is slightly more expensive for US passport-holders).

Make sure you get the correct size photos (2”x2” as opposed to what’s needed for British passports) and if travelling with children you will be asked for copies of each parent’s passport and the children’s birth certificates. To save wasting time and money, photocopy only the section of the passport with your document details (ONE FOR EACH CHILD) and a copy of the birth certificates (THE ORIGINALS ARE NOT REQUIRED). This information is not online and I only discovered it after first going to the application centre!

For Thailand the process is much smoother, though costlier. Again you require two 2”X2” photos for each applicant, but the application form, available online, must be printed and filled in by hand. You submit this at a Thai embassy during the specified hours. For a tourist visa there are several options – single or double or triple entry. For each entry a visitor can stay in Thailand 60 days.

Be warned that with a Thai visa you must visit the country within three months of it being issued and the Indian tourist visa, valid for six months, begins from the date of issue.

When applying for the Thai tourist visa, each applicant must indicate which visa he or she is applying for. The fee is dependent on the number of entries - £25 per entry per person.

Processing, as with the Indian visa, usually takes two or three working days.

We’re now all set to leave. We purchased our tickets through Roundtheworldexperts.co.uk. They are professional and their prices competitive. We bought our tickets through them when we travelled to the USA, Trinidad, Argentina and Brazil in 2009/2010. The journey to Asia is much cheaper, though.

Although we survived the English (and Welsh) winter without a problem (more easily than we anticipated after almost two years of sunshine), we are again looking forward to being in warmer climes. I noticed since returning to the UK how, for instance, it has been so much harder to entice Zenchai outdoors whereas in tropical Brazil he needed no encouragement whatsoever.

We are particularly relishing the prospect of Asian food (which we already love), the smells, colour, vibrancy, people, oceans and magnificent scenery, culture and way of life.

And, of course, we shall share our experiences and any knowledge and information we gain that may benefit those who travel along the same path as us.

 

 

 

London: Bringing Books To Life

IT felt kind of strange playing the tourist in my own home city. But for some time now, beginning in Brazil, we’d been reading to Zenchai books about London, so as to keep him in touch with his roots.

So it seemed only appropriate to bring to life for him the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben etc.

First, though, we had to visit the Thai embassy in Queen’s Gate (for our next adventure – more to come) and then we proceeded to the London Eye, getting off outside the Houses of Parliament at Westminster tube station, and walking across the bridge.

It was busy, of course (as I imagine it always is), but the queuing/purchasing process was surprisingly swift and efficient, even if the tickets (£28 for Zenchai and I) weren’t exactly cheap (but what is in London?)

The day was somewhat clear (intermittent rain) and we could see from the Eye as far as Wembley Stadium on one side. Zenchai really enjoyed the 30-minute journey, pointing to the different buildings and making observations about what he could see going on.

From the Eye we plotted our route to Buckingham Palace on foot. So we crossed the river again, hung a right, only for Zenchai to ask if he could ride in a London taxi. So I had him hail one down. We then took a short trip to Trafalgar Square, where he wanted to climb on the lions (which were a bit too large) beneath Nelson’s Column.

We’d read a book in which the lions had come to life and I think Zenchai really believed that if he mounted one it would take him for a ride, too.

Finally, he accepted it wasn’t going to happen and we headed on foot down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, Zenchai asking with excitement if the flag would be raised and the Queen at home.

When we got there, Zenchai was as fascinated by the guards and their marching as he was the cars in the Queen’s car park (presumably belonging to her staff). I heard him use an analogy later in the evening when talking to my father, telling him “he [whoever he was referring to] is as still as a guard at Buckingham Palace.”

From Buckingham Palace it was time to head home, via St James Park tube, first passing the Guard’s Museum, which was closed, but Zenchai didn’t pass up the opportunity to eye up a tank sitting inside the gates (which were open).

It wasn’t a cheap day, but we had fun and it was educational. Zenchai continually asked questions and later we discovered the answers.

Although I’d lived most of my life in London, I’d never really taken a day out like this to properly see the sights.

London: Standing On Old Wembley

I USED to drive down the A40 past Northala Park in Northolt all the time and kept talking about making a visit.

From the motorway the cone-shaped mounds of earth looked an interesting site. For whatever reason we never did go there while we lived locally. But recently, on a return visit to the UK, we finally stopped talking about it and took action. We wished we'd done so much sooner.

Northala Park has four man-made hills and there are plans to make a fifth. From the top of the tallest (84ft high) you can see beyond the new Wembley Stadium and to Canary Wharf in the City of London.

If you ever wondered where the old Wembley disappeared to, the answer is Northala Park.

Approximately 60,000 lorry-loads of spoil and concrete helped create the hills and it came from Wembley and what used to be in White City before the grand Westfields Shopping Centre was constructed.

It took four years (from 2004) to complete and £5.5m to transform the wastelands into something useful - and eco-friendly. Money well spent if you ask me.

Local residents were asked for their input into the design and Northala also has a children's play area and lake area (and fishing pond) as well as the hills which make for fine walks as well as sight-seeing from the top. The hills buffer the noise of the traffic coming from the A40

Zenchai insisted on taking his bike and cycled to the top (mostly pushing and walking) before cruising down. The walkway circles the hill until it reaches the top. It can get blustery at the top and, on a winter's day, seriously chilly. 

Fly a kite, go jogging, cycling or just walking, there's a little something for everyone.

Entry is free and there are small parking bays. If using public transport, get off at Northolt tube and walk. 

Address: Kensington Road, Ealing, UB5 6UR. Tel: 020 88363961.

 

Wales: Start Of A Love Affair?

WE spent our Christmas in Brecon, Wales, looking after a beautiful cottage in the country. It could be the beginning of a love affair.

We’d all like to return one day, not just to Brecon, but Wales in general. Fabulous scenery, friendly people and plenty to do, our 10-day stint flew by. Even a visit to Cardiff during the Christmas melee proved no hassle.

But around where we were based it was far more relaxed. Country lanes, rolling hills, snow-peaked mountains and sheep dotted everywhere, Wales has a slower pace of life to what we’ve been used to in London.

Two visits we particularly enjoyed were to Hay-on-Wye, a quaint market town on the English border known for its many (40-plus) second-hand bookshops and festivals, and Raglan Castle, just off the A-40 in Monmouthshire.

Raglan Castle, which dates back to between the 15th and 17th centuries, is the impressive, large remains of a once-solid fortress where you can still enter the dungeons and go up towers.

Entry to the castle – through a souvenir shop - is fairly inexpensive (£3.50 for adults or £10.10 for families), though your kids will undoubtedly be hankering you to buy some of the strategically-placed memorabilia and toys on the way out. Tel: 01291 690228 for opening times (the castle is open year-round) and more details.

For a day out, especially with children, it's a fun and interesting place to explore and the region has so much more that we wanted to see, but failed to find the time.

Something tells me we'll be heading back one day, even if it's not soon.