The winter vacation season is just round the corner, which means two looming options face many of us: we can maybe think of a quick getaway for a couple of days, or a longer holiday.
The thing about holidays is that they aren’t nearly as much about the alluring wonderments promoted by travelogues, advertisements and mailers as they are about organising them.
No, we don’t mean the packing. This business of planning need not be the dreadfully-boring enterprise that probably keeps you from thinking it through. Au contraire, holiday planning can be a rambunctious family activity, filled with learning and anticipation. So here’s a quick primer to it.
Let the journey begin
First, turn off the TV and call for a family meeting. Throw the discussion open. Simple question: where do we want to go? Be warned, this will lead to surprisingly complicated and potentially fractious answers. Cross-referencing on geographies and weather is inevitable. Considering it’s hard even for a small group to peer into a screen simultaneously, you might actually hear the magic words: where’s the atlas?
Quirky lessons unravel: a trip to the hills works better for connoisseurs of hot soups by real fireplaces.
Do however, remember to read the small print — most tour operators will never think to mention it’s the cyclone season in the Andamans (so the water sports they promise could go for a toss in the choppy ocean); Ladakh goes into hibernation in a bitterly sub-zero winter, accessible only to the hardiest high-altitude adventure enthusiasts, and Sri Lanka’s easily-reached heritage sites are as sweltering as Chennai in the summer and conversely as clement by the end of the year.
Classic heritage destinations such as the great Chola temples of the Thanjavur delta, the Gwalior-Orchha-Khajuraho circuit (or Ujjain-Omkareshwar-Maheshwar), all of Rajasthan except Mt. Abu, Bhubaneshwar-Puri-Konark-(affix Chilika), Hampi-Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal or Mysore-Halebid-Belur-Shravanabelagola lend themselves particularly well to tromping in the mild winter sun with mellow photo ops.
Simply Google ‘no visa for Indian citizens’, zero in on countries with a flying time of under five hours, and bingo, you have a quick overseas hop lined up. Alas, it is not possible to become fit in three weeks (to the question of whether a ‘moderate-to-difficult’ trek is feasible). And, so forth.
Go FIT
Travel professionals have an acronym for self-planned trips that aren’t about package tours, not even ‘customised’ offerings: it’s called FIT or Free Independent Travel.
This will have you chart your own itinerary, take care of the bookings and get around entirely by yourself.
Sure, it’s time-consuming but it is totally worth it — you can give more time to things close to your heart (including offbeat stuff), do away with the sense of being shepherded and interact directly with locals. It’s rather like driving than being driven — you’ll be more observant and involved in your journey. It helps that FIT travel is better value for money too.
All aboard
Now that animated conversations are underway, it would help to lay out some simple guidelines: a broad agreement on the type of vacation (setting a languorous pace or making the most of your time), the number of days available (exclude travel time, add a day before leaving so the holiday mood gets the room to soar, plus a day for settling in before returning to routine), the budget (which will determine, largely, the distances that can be travelled and the mod-cons that can be afforded), and other logistics (flight connectivity, availability of train tickets, whether driveable, shopping for gear, check-in and check-out timings, intra-trip journeys).
Get reading
If you have kids old enough to make PowerPoint presentations as part of their school coursework, divvy the trip up and task them with deciding what to see where, why it’s special, how to travel, how much time to plan for it — and make them the guides when you get there. Switch places as they take over responsibility for ‘their day’ and enjoy knowing things nobody else does.
Younger kids will benefit tremendously from being read out anecdotal stories on the heritage and culture of the destination.
Also, source travel videos for them and watch their excitement (and patience) grow.
Any travel journalist worth his/her salt will tell you that the best way to plan your trip is to read — not only travel publications but well-regarded blogs, online fora, tourism websites and user reviews.
Very soon, you’ll find yourself with a clear sense of exactly what you would like to do. After that, it’s simply a question of sorting out the bookings.
Finally, guilt or remorse must be given no quarter in a holiday. If all of that sounds like it’s too much work, here’s a way out: a staycation. Do everything you would have done if you had taken off to a new destination. Just do it out of home!
