Our journey began with a train journey in Padatik Express which left Sealdah station at 11:00 pm, so we got onto the train and straight away made preparations to doze off.

#TravelWithKids Tip1 — Always try to tuck the little one under you on the upper berth with head toward the wall. Hold them as tight as possible the whole night, remember they are the most valuable possession you are carrying. Contradictory to the belief that we should sleep on the lower birth with children, upper berth is lot more safer. No, none of you would fall so enjoy the cozy tight sleep with your little one.

Padatik Express reached New Jalpaiguri, our destination at 9:30 am, so the kid’s breakfast had to be done in the train, little milk or cerelac would be good option to keep them light for the upcoming 4-hour road journey.

#TravelWithKids Tip2 — Try to keep them light and do not force feed during the trips. Their appetite is usually less when traveling, may be because they are way too busy observing the new surroundings.

We checked-in to Central Gleneagles Resort, Darjeeling at around 1:00 pm and needed to call up the hotel to arrange for luggage pick up since the cars would drop you at Bhanu Bhavan with around 10 mins uphill climb to the hotel.

The hotel is beautifully located on the Mall road, huge rooms, wooden floorings, excellent service. We got the room with a huge verandah, and a swing, perfect to enjoy the beautiful cold mornings.

#TravelWithKids Tip3 — Try booking hotels closest to the Mall when travelling with kids, they might be little expensive but uphill climb with a kid is much of a task.

As soon as we checked-in, my first task was to arrange for some lunch for Vihaan, and I quickly washed some Rice & Daal and prepared a simple khichri in my newly bought Electric Rice cooker.

#TravelWithKids Tip4 — Carry a small rice cooker, they are not very expensive and come very handy to prepare some basic food for the kids like khichri or suji. It can also be used for boiling drinking water since I prefer not to use the hotel provided kettles for my kid.

Post lunch we took a stroll around the Mall, it was cold so a cap with covered ears for Vihaan was a must. Use the ones which can be tied as a knot on the neck, some cute ones are available there at a very reasonable price. The hawkers also have some good stuff, try not bargaining with them much, they survive on tourism. Just walk around the shops, sipping some chai, do try the freshly roasted bhuttas. We stopped by the Keventers, open rooftop, chilling weather and a cup of Hot chocolate…!!!!

Vihaan dozed off and we had to come back to the hotel, to give him some rest after the long tiring journey.

After his evening snack, maybe some Biscuits with milk, we planned to have dinner at the Glenary’s. People on mountains have early dinner for obvious reasons. So we were back by Vihaan’s dinner time and the rice cooker again came to rescue. All shops on the Mall would close by 7:00 pm and Vihaan gets some opportunity to crawl around and play with his toys. The hotel had really clean wooden floors.

#TravelWithKids Tip5 — Remember to carry few toys to keep them busy.

Tiger Hill — We left the hotel at around 4am to try our luck with Kanchanjanga view at the sunrise. It was freezing cold, and not a good idea to bring the kid along, so if you are traveling alone with your kid please drop this from your itinerary. We left our kid sleeping at the hotel with other family members.

#TravelWithKids Tip6 — Travelling with family is a good idea with kids.

Later that day we had bookings for the much exaggerated Toy Train ride. Toy train, the iconic Himalayan Railway beauty is much of a treat to eyes and great for photography. The steam engine sound might take you back in history, but all of that can be experienced from the outside. There is nothing much fascinating about being inside the train, the ride is pretty slow and a large number of coal particles are released into the air, which is not very pleasant either. I had to make a request to the TT to make me shift to the diesel coach since my kid was having trouble in so much coal-polluted air.

#TravelWithKids Tip7 — Go for the diesel coach if still interested to take the ride.

We stopped by the railway museum for sight-seeing, all smeared with coal particles, and it was time for some milk for Vihaan. I quickly took some lukewarm water from the thermos flask and emptied in formula from the milk dispenser, the exact quantity, without having to worry about contaminating the milk with my dirty hands.

#TravelWithKids Tip8 — Fill in the dispenser with the exact scoops of formula powder required per serving in the back pack. They generally come with 3 small containers, and the main formula tin can be kept with the main luggage. Comes very handy when milk needs to be prepared on the go, just open the small lid and pour the entire content. No need to use the scoop and contaminate the milk with dirty hands.

We checked out at around 11am to head towards our next destination Kalingpong, another hill station at around 50 km. We stopped by Lamahatta Park, a nice quiet green place, good for photography. It also supposedly had a waterfall and lake but since it was quite an uphill walk we decided not to go. Later we heard from some fellow travelers that it was not worth the effort, so it can very well be skipped.

We next stopped at Lover’s viewpoint, where River Tista and Rangit meet.

We had some quick bite here from the stalls offering mouthwatering channa chaat. We also prepared some quick Ragi instant mix for Vihaan. It took us 2.5 hours to reach our next hotel Summit Barsana.

Extremely beautiful property with a playroom for kids and nice open garden to relax for the rest of the day. We took a family room and enjoyed ourselves in the hotel for the rest of the day.

This was the last day of our trip, we checked out from the hotel at around 11:30 am, and planned to reach New Jalpaiguri by evening to catch Darjeeling Mail at 8:00 pm for our return journey. This was going to be a long day on road, so we decided to prepare some lunch for Vihaan and carry along.

Our first stop was Deolo park, a nice park surrounding the Deolo Resort, famous for paragliding and horse riding. We spent some time photographing and playing around with Vihaan. He had his lunch here and we were all set to move ahead.

#TravelWithKids Tip9 — Parking to Deolo park is a little uphill walk to 5–7 mins, so be sure to carry all you need from the car at a go. Also try carrying backpack for all kids essentials instead of fancy diaper bags, they are more convenient to carry and husbands would not mind lending a hand to carry them for you.

Next, we stop by the famous Kalimpong Cactus Nursery, which houses more than 100 varieties of cactus on display. It’s an absolute do not miss destination and houses a beautiful variety of flowers from all over the world. You can also pack a few saplings to take home based on the climatic conditions.

We next visited a few monasteries on our way to NJP and catch the train. Dinner for Vihaan this time could be nothing more than some cerelac.

1. Make sure to carry some ready to eat mixes like Cerelac and Ragi meal.

2. Pre-roasted suji — Dry roast some suji and carry with you, it would just need some hot water and salt/sugar. So lunch on the move would be sorted. Top it with the little homemade ghee.

3. Carry a decent quantity of formula milk powder.

4. Bananas are great for this age and easily available everywhere.

5. Boiled eggs are easily available in Hotel, mix with cerelac and breakfast would be done

6. You can also carry — Horlicks biscuits, melts very easily with milk. Along with crushed cornflakes.

7. Make a dry fruit powder by dry roasting almonds, cashews, walnuts and makhanas and grind to a smooth powder. Just add this to the cerelac mix and would give kids nutrition and keep them fuller for longer.

Travel light does not hold true with kids and toddlers, especially when you travel by train, so keep the food and other essentials stocked for the little one.

1. A good stock of diapers

2. Wet tissue — buy smaller packs

3. Diaper disposable bags — Really good investment, prevents you from loitering the used diapers, also handy to dispose of any clutter during the journey…remember clean India, healthy India.

4. Winter essentials — Cream, moisturizers, etc.

5. Carry top to toe body washes instead of soaps.

6. Electric rice cooker

7. Some liquid utensil cleaner and a scrubber is a must, to clean the rice cooker.

8. Remember to carry the bottle cleaning essentials.

9. Electric Bottle sterilizer — I use the one from Chiko, it comes with a portable component for travel.

10. Thermos Flask to carry hot water, better to carry water at the drinking temperature and not too hot.

11. Medicine kit

1. Use zip lock bags for carrying food items instead of plastic containers. They would save a lot of space.

2. Do not carry packed diaper packs, instead open them out and spread as layers between your clothes, inside the side pockets, tuck them into any small space available. But make sure to keep some in the outer pockets of travel bags for easy access.

3. Milk dispenser — Fill in the dispenser with the exact scoops of formula powder required per serving in the backpack. They generally come with 3 small containers, and the main formula tin can be kept with the main luggage. Comes very handy when milk needs to be prepared on the go, just open the small lid and pour the entire content. No need to use the scoop and contaminate the milk with dirty hands.

4. Some toys in the backpack would be great.

Lastly, TravelWithKids Tip10 — When traveling with kids, plan the trips to be more relaxed and enjoy the time, all the places on the checklist need not be covered. Plan ahead for their meal times.

So that’s it…pack your bags and move, let the little one explore and fall in love with the world they have come into. Trust me they enjoy these trips more than we can imagine.

I hope this blog would give you enough confidence to take on that first trip with your kid which you have been wanting to since so long. If you have any questions please connect with me, also do share your experiences and tips with me for me to make my upcoming trips better…!!!

I am all excited to come up with the next post on my little one’s first air journey…until then keep traveling and keep exploring.