Bangalore to Detroit is not the highlighting part.....'WITH A LITTLE ONE' is the major part :)
Well...as my facebook update announces, I have now reached Marysville in Ohio,US.
I travelled alone with my son all the way from Bangalore to Detroit..and this little blog is all about its highs and lows :)
As soon as I knew I would be managing my little one all alone in the journey of around 24 hours...I must admit I freaked out. Then as there was no other go...did all the preparation possible to keep things under control. Google came to help as always in churning out different write-ups other moms have written while travelling alone with a baby/toddler. Most of their tips definitely helped.A big thanks to them. I had the maps of Bangalore, Frankfurt and Detroit airport almost printed in my mind.....did not want to loose anytime searching for anything...But did any of it help? You will find out soon :)
My first flight was from Bangalore to Frankfurt. Sacheth (my son) was feeling fresh at that time, so did not have much trouble in fulfilling the formalities at the airport. He fell asleep as soon as the journey started, and continued sleeping for a marathon 8 hours....Good or bad? Well....good for the co-passengers...good for him...and not soo good for me :) As he was on my lap full time, I was almost immobile the whole flight....just moving my hand to gulp down something now and then. My seat was just after the pantry (I am not sure what is the name actually used for that area....)After serving the first set of snacks, the flight attendants kept some water and lot of chocolates in that area and vanished. It wasnt personally served, and so I couldnt eat it :(. I was quite hungry already....and the look of some delicious chocolates increased it even more. With the condition I was in, I could only count how many times every person came there to take their chocolates. There was one gentleman in blue who made around 12 trips to the pantry.Everytime he was there he would drink a glass of water and grab a fistfull of chocolates into his pocket and fade away from the scene.Hmm.....his love for chocolates surely beats mine!Nothing more worth mentioning in the first leg of the jounrney...
We had around 4.5 hours wait time in the Frankfurt airport before we boarded the flight to Detroit.
My first flight landed in the B terminal of the airport and my next flight was in terminal A. With the help of some officials, I could find out that I need to take the sky train to reach there.Took the train that came to reach there....but there was some confusion and I missed the stop. Train came back to the earlier station where I had boarded. A manager or guard whoever he was in uniform came up to me and asked "What is your final destination?"...."I need to reach the gate A62"....He said "Next stop" and held a firm face without any expression....Not sure if he was thinking if we were taking a joy ride.....or may be plain helpful but couldnt convey it through his expressions.But to be frank Sacheth was really enjoying the train ride, and I did not mind as we seemed to have all the time in the world.But after the strict instruction of "Next stop", I did not dare have a repeat trip and got down. Got down and started towards my gate. During the walk is when I realised that my bags werent as light as they seemed when I strarted the journey. The backpack, a side bag on the right shoulder, Sacheth in the left arm and a cross bag which had my passport, tickets and other urgent things were all seeming like a mountain each. I found a trolley, put my bags on them and tried to make Sacheth sit on it too to relieve my hands for pushing the cart. But he seemed to be feeling a little insecure...so just refused to let go off me.With him in my hand, I couldnt push the trolley too.So put back all the bags and walked my way towards the gate. I was praying badly that there be no gate change, as I had no energy left to go to some other gate. I was hungry, and Sacheth was cranky so couldnt really explore the shops there to find something right to eat. All the shops nearby seemed to be selling meat....and I thought why am I a vegetarian?And that was just a passing thought :)
Second flight first half, Sacheth again dozed off comfortably....and I wasnt feeling sleepy :( I watched Golmaal3 instead.When the movie was over, I was feeling sleepy and Sacheth got up all fresh :) Keeping him engaged and entertained and yet not allowing him to move around was challenge in itself. But somehow managed that too. One needs to have a lot of patience while dealing with kids of this age....as they dont understand what you say...but very well understand when you are angry at them and start crying even louder. With this, by the time I reached Detroit, I was more mentally tired than physically. The wait of even 5 mins at each counters after arrival seemed like eternity. Finally I saw my husband smiling and waiting for us....he relieved me of all the luggage I had....it was such a relief. And that broad smile on Sacheth's face on seeing his dad is unexplainable....and all the tiredness of the journey just vanished....And I felt like jumping and telling...."Aah...I made it..." Yes I did it :)
Did I just scare off anyone planning to travel alone with a baby? Dont be...this is a test that you will never get to do on yourself. Its a test on your mental strength, physical strength, how long can you stay hungry, how long can you stay without using the restroom in a cold weather...its a journey worth taking.....go for it :)
Well...as my facebook update announces, I have now reached Marysville in Ohio,US.
I travelled alone with my son all the way from Bangalore to Detroit..and this little blog is all about its highs and lows :)
As soon as I knew I would be managing my little one all alone in the journey of around 24 hours...I must admit I freaked out. Then as there was no other go...did all the preparation possible to keep things under control. Google came to help as always in churning out different write-ups other moms have written while travelling alone with a baby/toddler. Most of their tips definitely helped.A big thanks to them. I had the maps of Bangalore, Frankfurt and Detroit airport almost printed in my mind.....did not want to loose anytime searching for anything...But did any of it help? You will find out soon :)
My first flight was from Bangalore to Frankfurt. Sacheth (my son) was feeling fresh at that time, so did not have much trouble in fulfilling the formalities at the airport. He fell asleep as soon as the journey started, and continued sleeping for a marathon 8 hours....Good or bad? Well....good for the co-passengers...good for him...and not soo good for me :) As he was on my lap full time, I was almost immobile the whole flight....just moving my hand to gulp down something now and then. My seat was just after the pantry (I am not sure what is the name actually used for that area....)After serving the first set of snacks, the flight attendants kept some water and lot of chocolates in that area and vanished. It wasnt personally served, and so I couldnt eat it :(. I was quite hungry already....and the look of some delicious chocolates increased it even more. With the condition I was in, I could only count how many times every person came there to take their chocolates. There was one gentleman in blue who made around 12 trips to the pantry.Everytime he was there he would drink a glass of water and grab a fistfull of chocolates into his pocket and fade away from the scene.Hmm.....his love for chocolates surely beats mine!Nothing more worth mentioning in the first leg of the jounrney...
We had around 4.5 hours wait time in the Frankfurt airport before we boarded the flight to Detroit.
My first flight landed in the B terminal of the airport and my next flight was in terminal A. With the help of some officials, I could find out that I need to take the sky train to reach there.Took the train that came to reach there....but there was some confusion and I missed the stop. Train came back to the earlier station where I had boarded. A manager or guard whoever he was in uniform came up to me and asked "What is your final destination?"...."I need to reach the gate A62"....He said "Next stop" and held a firm face without any expression....Not sure if he was thinking if we were taking a joy ride.....or may be plain helpful but couldnt convey it through his expressions.But to be frank Sacheth was really enjoying the train ride, and I did not mind as we seemed to have all the time in the world.But after the strict instruction of "Next stop", I did not dare have a repeat trip and got down. Got down and started towards my gate. During the walk is when I realised that my bags werent as light as they seemed when I strarted the journey. The backpack, a side bag on the right shoulder, Sacheth in the left arm and a cross bag which had my passport, tickets and other urgent things were all seeming like a mountain each. I found a trolley, put my bags on them and tried to make Sacheth sit on it too to relieve my hands for pushing the cart. But he seemed to be feeling a little insecure...so just refused to let go off me.With him in my hand, I couldnt push the trolley too.So put back all the bags and walked my way towards the gate. I was praying badly that there be no gate change, as I had no energy left to go to some other gate. I was hungry, and Sacheth was cranky so couldnt really explore the shops there to find something right to eat. All the shops nearby seemed to be selling meat....and I thought why am I a vegetarian?And that was just a passing thought :)
Second flight first half, Sacheth again dozed off comfortably....and I wasnt feeling sleepy :( I watched Golmaal3 instead.When the movie was over, I was feeling sleepy and Sacheth got up all fresh :) Keeping him engaged and entertained and yet not allowing him to move around was challenge in itself. But somehow managed that too. One needs to have a lot of patience while dealing with kids of this age....as they dont understand what you say...but very well understand when you are angry at them and start crying even louder. With this, by the time I reached Detroit, I was more mentally tired than physically. The wait of even 5 mins at each counters after arrival seemed like eternity. Finally I saw my husband smiling and waiting for us....he relieved me of all the luggage I had....it was such a relief. And that broad smile on Sacheth's face on seeing his dad is unexplainable....and all the tiredness of the journey just vanished....And I felt like jumping and telling...."Aah...I made it..." Yes I did it :)
Did I just scare off anyone planning to travel alone with a baby? Dont be...this is a test that you will never get to do on yourself. Its a test on your mental strength, physical strength, how long can you stay hungry, how long can you stay without using the restroom in a cold weather...its a journey worth taking.....go for it :)
9 comments:
Hats off mam!!
I sure dont hv patience to do this!!
Take care & keep writing..
Wow..a long wait for ur blog was worth it..the way you hv put across ones tolerance in such subtle way..
"Patience"......
I am happy that you did it. I completely agree with the Vegetarian part :). You are in US which is awesome..
Welcome to the US...:)...and a big hats off to the MOM in you...yes after reading ur write up , I too felt like saying.."Yes, You did it!!"....
Some patience Rithe! That was a good read!
Didnt know you blog too! Nice!! I like the fact that years down the lane we can look back at these things we wrote and smile away :)
Had jus heard that u write good.. But realized that u deserved that praise.. Superb journey it seemed.. Challenging although but inevitable.. :) Take care and keep writing .. :)
hmmmmmm :) aaaahhh.. a great relief for all of us at home that " YOU DID IT " .. :) hip hip hurray ;) n this write up adds to one of my favourites :)( although i expected the journey to b still more intersting wid more mischiefs of gunda ;))
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