The time I flew to India with a 10 month old.. it took us 30 hours to get to our destination!

I live in the Pacific Northwest, getting anywhere from this remote part of the country often involves flying. But when I told my co-workers and friends that I was going to India (read 30 hours journey) with my 10 month old in November, I could see them thanking the stars that they were not going to be traveling with us.

Lets rewind to when I was not a mom, my heart would drop when I saw a parent with a baby heading towards my seat on a plane. I am sure I made that face - you know the one I mean and I am certain I even used to sigh out loud.

Fast forward to last November when me and my husband and my little baby were making our way to our seats on the first flights on a series of flights that would eventually get us to India. I was scowling and staring down every face that made me feel like I was being a bad human being for bringing my baby onto the flight. What was I meant to do?? Well if only they would get a move on inventing teleporting.

As I walked through the aisles, I was cringing on the inside at the person I used to be, and wishing I could go back and apologize to all those parents.

Thankfully, for us at least, this potential nightmare had a fabulous end. My daughter was so well behaved, she made less noise than many of the adults on the flight and many of the co-passengers came up to us and congratulated us on a successful mission. Houston we had done it!

I don't claim to have brought into this world an unusually quiet baby. Ila (my daughter) is as boisterous as you'd expect any baby to be. She is curious about the world around her and in November she was crawling so didn't appreciate being restricted for hours on end. Unfortunately for us, she was too big for the bassinets that they provide on these flights and let's be real, she was never going to sleep in those things with all the pilot announcements and the lights around us.

But we made it work with a bit of team work and being prepared for the worst :) I will be sharing my tips and tricks to surviving long flights with a baby in my next post. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog if you want to know more :)

Thanksgiving break in Puerto Rico

Thanksgiving is an American holiday that I particularly love, not only because of the history and tradition behind it but more so for the lovely 4 day weekend that we get because of it. Shallow, I know but what can I do when vacation days are so darn few in the States. We always try and make good use of the time off and in 2013 we decided to hop on the plane (like scores of other Americans) and head south. Way way south to the sunny land of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spanish and the language, culture and local architecture is still deeply Spanish. The States invaded Puerto Rico (when it was still a Spanish colony) on 25th July 1988 and in the war that followed Spain was defeated and the island became property of the USA. Today Puerto Rico is an incorporated part of the States, which means that Puerto Rico is not a state so the citizens of Puerto Rico cannot vote in the Presidential Elections. The current status of the Island is always a matter for intense debate amongst Puerto Ricans.

The fascinating history, tropical climate, lush landscapes and the mind blowing views were just a few reasons why we chose to visit it. The weather was perfect when we visited except that every day without any notice at all, it rained for about half an hour or so, which discouraged us from carrying our good (read expensive) camera with us, so we didn't end up taking a lot of pictures but I have chosen a few for you guys. I hope you like them! If you want any recommendations on where to stay, eat and what to do if you are planning on visiting Puerto Rico, feel free to ask me.

Disclaimer - I am by no means a photographer so please be kind :)

The Travel - Wanderlust Series - Travel Mythbuster..

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Busting the Biggest Travel Myths infographic

The Travel - Wanderlust series #3 - Luggage Packing Techniques

Another such post can be found here.
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Summer is upon us and we are all looking forward to our summer vacations, hopefully going somewhere hot and exotic. But trips are expensive and these days most of us have to pay to check in luggage for short flights or pay for an additional bag for longer flights. It's a cost that can be avoided if you just follow the rules below. 

a. Roll all your clothes, this will not wrinkle them and they will fit in easier.

b. Put all your shoes round the sides of the bag and then the rolled up clothes in the middle. 

c. Accessories can be slid into the gaps between rolls. 

d. Don't pack unnecessary items which you can easily buy at your destination or might find at your hotel.

The following grapic was published in Infografika, a Moscow based magazine which only publishes images and high-quality graphics, no text. Field of interest - anything that can be counted and measured. I read this magazine online sometimes and thought I'd share this post with you. It's the 'scheme' used by a girl who is traveling to Cuba for 10 days, to fit all her stuff into 1 bag. It tells you what she packed and how she managed to fit everything. I for one am keen to try this (I always have a bulging suitcase when I travel).

Courtesy of Infografika

The Travel - Wanderlust series #2 - Travel destination - Kenya - the trips

 I have a giveaway that is open internationally for 2 NYX blushes and a lip gloss and the end date is June 30th. Enter to win here! Good luck :)
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I have been privileged to visit Kenya not once but twice so far. It happens to be one of my favourite places in the world. There are many reasons to love Kenya, the friendly and unassuming people, the vast expansive landscapes, the fabulous weather and most of all the incredible wildlife. I love Kenya for all those things and every time I think about  my time there, I feel an ache in my soul for not being there. Ok, that might seem a bit melodramatic to most people, but the ones who know me know that sadly I am telling the truth. I am passionate about travel because I am passionate about the places I choose to visit and you know that it has to be a pretty special place for me to want to visit more than once.

The Travel - Wanderlust series

I love traveling, well maybe love is an understatement. I'm as obsessed with it as a dog is with a bone. I don't really know when this obsession began, but we moved around a little when I was young (back in India) and then we made the big move to Wales when I was 15. I changed school a few times and we moved cities/countries/continents a few times. I suppose in my own small world, I was exposed to lots of change, and while change can be scary, for me at least the first emotion is always excitement. 

Now to those who know me even a little bit, this post / series won't be a total surprise but hopefully my crazy passion for traveling will translate well on paper (well the interweb.. you know what I mean).

I don't have a fixed agenda about what I am going to write about, it will come to me as we go along (she prays). So where have I been so far? Well just before my 30th birthday in December I visited my 25th country :) That might sound impressive but that is only about a tenth of the world and it's really not about the number of places, it's what you do when you get there.

The countries in dark blue are the ones I have been to

I hope that through these series of posts, we can inspire each other to save up and roam the world. I would love any suggestions for posts as this is a new adventure we are starting on, I will need all your help. Speak soon! Adios.