[ranjith.rajaram]

Here are some more items from HVK’s checklist item, got it from one of the video's posted on his thread.

Reserve Water bottle that should be kept aside
Knife,
Scissors
Lighter
Double side tapes
Rubber bang
Insulation tape
Swiss knife
Tool kid - screw driver, blade
Torch
Halls, some kind of chewable chocolates, mentos etc near the dashboard for the driver.
Route guide
Below seat – Colin (windshield cleaner) bottle and dirt cloth
First aid box
Antifungal powder – to be used inside the shoe to avoid smell.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

wow, that's quite a comprehensive list. What does a small baby bathtub look like?
And yes, I would like to see the filled ikon boot pic, if you have one.

I have 8 GB memory - so I don't think I need that XL sheet though.

I will get you photos of the small bath tub shortly. I'll also try to load the luggage back in my boot over the weekend and try to shoot a video of that and upload it here.

Originally Posted by khoj

MX6,
Your travelogue does not cease to surprise even the planning bit is interesting and funny too. The most organized travelogue writer likes the most disorganised stand up comic 'Sienfeld dvds from Udupi' no wonder that the saying goes 'opposites attract'.

Going to check the french log now.

Guess who's my favourite in that? It's not the disorganised sienfeld. It's the completely insane Kramer!

Originally Posted by tortoiseNhare

Finished getting up to date with this fantastic travelogue. I have not been to any place on the West Coast except Mumbai. Never traveled on the Konkan Railway either, which used to fascinate me during my college days when the project was underway. My next holidays must be in coastal Karnataka and Kerala.

Thanks TNH. YOU should come to coastal karnataka. It's a different world altogether!

Originally Posted by LongDrive lover

MX6. Saw the thread after a long gap. So much have happened since I last checked it. Your eye for details, and the methodical way you went about it, is really appreciable.

Thanks LDL for your kind words.

@ranjith. See my response in bold.

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Here are some more items from HVK’s checklist item, got it from one of the video's posted on his thread.

Reserve Water bottle that should be kept aside - I had 4 reserve water bottles for all of us and a flask of boiled water and a bottle of boiled and cooled water for my daughter.

Knife, - There were two of them which goes in with my baby food bag. She loves oranges and we kept one knife exclusively for cutting her oranges.

Scissors - Two scissors once again. She drinks Amul Taaza on the move. I also carried her electric Milk boiler. So one scissors was specific for cutting open the amul taaza carton.

Lighter - Well, no one strictly smokes. So no lighter. However, we carried a match box and candles. Just in case there's a sudden power cut in the hotel where we stay.

Double side tapes - It's in my car boot. Always there. Used only once to stick the ganesha on the dash.

Rubber bang - What's this?

Insulation tape - Didn't carry any. I had the complete wiring checked and fixed with all insulation tape before embarking on my journey. Plus every morning and night I inspect all the lights before embarking on a drive and before hitting the sack.

Swiss knife - There's a nail cutter with the assortments in my wife's vanity pack.

Tool kid - screw driver, blade - Second knife to use in case of emergency. Also handy if someone holds you and shows a knife. You can show you have two! . Had a bare minimum tool kit. Since I never drove this trip after 7 pm, didn't need an extended tool kit.

Torch - 3 torches in all. Broke my mother's torch in Sringeri as well trying to put that on charge.

Halls, some kind of chewable chocolates, mentos etc near the dashboard for the driver. This we didn't take. Every damn toll booth between pune and belgaum, they give toffees instead of change. After 200 kms I had over 10 cadburies toffies! So never bother taking these. You have trouble getting rid of the "change you get" as such.

Route guide. Didn't need this with a net-book and the tata indicom USB modem. But the route was well laid out and clear in my mind that I rarely logged in to see how to proceed midway.

Below seat – Colin (windshield cleaner) bottle and dirt cloth. Had 3 dirt cloths that I bought in Big Bazaar. No windshield cleaner. I use plain water.

First aid box. All the medicines in the checklist went in to the first aid box along with Band aids.

Antifungal powder – to be used inside the shoe to avoid smell. My parents, me and my wife wore chappals. Daughter travelled bare foot. Inside car, everyone sat barefoot. I had the chappals on as I don't drive bare foot. No shoes, no socks (except on first day when my wife felt cold at 6 am near katraj ghat so she wore my spare socks which I always keep in the boot), during the whole trip.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by MX6

Guess who's my favourite in that? It's not the disorganised sienfeld. It's the completely insane Kramer!

@ranjith. See my response in bold.

and Cosmo Kramer is the most organized of the lot though in his own crazy way.

I believe ranjith meant 'Rubber band'

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by khoj

I believe ranjith meant 'Rubber band'

Yes - I meant Rubber Band but I am not sure abt the purpose.

Originally Posted by MX6

@ranjith. See my response in bold.

Great MS you had all the necessary/basic stuffs....

[hvkumar]

Having steel-ducted tapes would also be useful to fix any leakages or breakages temporarily.

I also carry rubber bands - useful for all sorts of purposes.

I hope you have added double-sided tape also.

[shreeps]

This is a wonderful travelogue. Not only does MX6 take us with him on the journey (which is the gift of a true raconteur), but he has also shared all the preparations, tips and tricks which will help the rest of us planning such journeys. Last but not the least, he has defintely inspired me to drive down to udupi with my family - a trip about which I was in two minds since my parents are elderly and I have a seven month old daughter as well.

[VLOCT]

@MX6,

This is a fantastic travelogue. Although I've been living outside India for a long time now, such travelogues helps us renew the connection with our homeland. I'm also planning a trip here in the US to the West Coast and back which of course would be a much longer trip, distance wise, covering enormous distances and probably taking around two weeks or maybe more. I can only hope that I can be half as effective in creating a travelogue as yours. Yours, Yetblogs etc. are superb blue prints on creating excellent travel diaries.

Thanks again for the great reading experience.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by khoj

and Cosmo Kramer is the most organized of the lot though in his own crazy way.

I believe ranjith meant 'Rubber band'

I love Kramer. He rocks. Once a we did an impromptu act of the seinfeld series in Biscayne Bay Boulevard. A friend pitched in as George and another as Elaine. I did the Kramer part. Soon we had a crowd around us that was in splits!

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Yes - I meant Rubber Band but I am not sure abt the purpose.



Great MS you had all the necessary/basic stuffs....

Yes RR. It was a long trip in India. So I had a lot of planning going on. HVK's logs helped a lot. T-BHP rocks.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Having steel-ducted tapes would also be useful to fix any leakages or breakages temporarily.

I also carry rubber bands - useful for all sorts of purposes.

I hope you have added double-sided tape also.

Yes sir. But I didn't have those. But I always stop and do an underbody inspection anytime a stone or anything hits the under carriage. I stop and wait for 15 - 20 mins to see whether there are any visible leaks. If there are, I drive straight to the nearest roadside mechanic. Next time I shall add the tapes. Double sided tapes are a standard accessory in my glove compartment apart from fevi kwik.

Originally Posted by shreeps

This is a wonderful travelogue. Not only does MX6 take us with him on the journey (which is the gift of a true raconteur), but he has also shared all the preparations, tips and tricks which will help the rest of us planning such journeys. Last but not the least, he has defintely inspired me to drive down to udupi with my family - a trip about which I was in two minds since my parents are elderly and I have a seven month old daughter as well.

Thanks Shreeps. Enjoy your drive to Udupi and do post a travelogue!

Originally Posted by VLOCT

@MX6,

This is a fantastic travelogue. Although I've been living outside India for a long time now, such travelogues helps us renew the connection with our homeland. I'm also planning a trip here in the US to the West Coast and back which of course would be a much longer trip, distance wise, covering enormous distances and probably taking around two weeks or maybe more. I can only hope that I can be half as effective in creating a travelogue as yours. Yours, Yetblogs etc. are superb blue prints on creating excellent travel diaries.

Thanks again for the great reading experience.

Thanks VLOCT. The difference between US and India are two. After a while it becomes monotonous in US. Down here, every turn offers something different. Here road side support is not as good as in US. Emergency services are poor as well.
Do finish your WC drive and post a log! Will bring memories of my US days to me.

Up next. Some important things I carried (especially for first time parents!)

[MX6]

Here are some important things I carried over in my mega trip. They are not everything I carried. But some important one's that made life easier.

Graco baby bag. There were two off those. One had all her nappies, related things, spare clothes (thin cotton stuff with a string to tie behind), bibs to be used while feeding, literally all the linen that was carried. The other one had her flask, feeding bottles, her cerelac stuff, the electric heater and other feeding stuff.
Apart from this we carried a bag of her toys and books.


Foldable baby bath tub. When unfolded, a baby can sit in comfortably or even lie down (one end has a way of holding up at an incline so that baby sits in position like an easy chair). Fill with warm water for baby to take bath.


When folded, it becomes so small that it corresponds to two dvd players stacked above each other. That's a big space saver.
Apart from this, she also has a plastic bath tub (bigger) which we left back at home. Now she takes a shower directly from the bucket!


Morphy Richards electric boiler! It's not washed in the photo. Very handy. Vijay sales sells it around 1000 bucks. Boils water/ milk in under 10 seconds. Connect to any socket in any road side dhaba. No one will refuse when they see your baby!


The complete stainless steam makes it odorless, easy to clean and hygenic unlike the earlier plastic stuff which has danger of melting. This came with auto cut off. When things boil, automatically power is cut off. Added safety feature.


Amul Taaza double toned long life milk. She took a liking to this and we stocked it. 12 liters before we set out to Udupi. Was helpful. Every stop we cut one pack and boiled milk using the electric boiler. Filled 1 bottle for use after 2 hours. filled one for immediate consumption. Rest gulped by me and wife. Best part was early morning, we had milk to have and didn't need to order at hotel where we stayed. Plus if one carries coffee/ tea bags, they can wake up to wonderful bed coffee or bed tea. Every time the supply went down to 2 liters, I'd buy 10 more packs. Best part is that we need not refrigerate till we open it. Once opened, one pack was consumed by us.


In car bottle warmer. Connect it to the cigarette charger in the car. Doesn't boil things, but warms to a degree the baby feels good to have. very useful on the drive, when you quickly want to warm the remaining milk in the feeding bottle. Bought it in reliance mart for 200 bucks or so.


Baby changing mat. When you want to change nappies, spread this out as in photo on the car seat. Baby lies on the white part and you pull out nappies and wipes stored on the side compartment as in photo and do the clean up job. Refill as and when the nappies and wipes get exhausted. It's good and will ensure that baby poo and urine don't spill over to your seat!


And when folded, the changing mat can be attached to your pram like this. Not just in car, take it where ever you go. Any remote corner, you can change this. Dispose of used nappies responsibly in proper dust-bins.


Thermos. Used to store boiled water for use on the way. Boiled water is a must. Especially in preparing cerelac/ ragi etc.


Hotpack to store feeding bottle filled with milk. We never stored milk for over 2 hours. And if it's not warm enough at the time of feed, I finished the milk and drove to the nearest plug point to boil fresh milk for baby. But worth having this as this keeps milk hot for a couple of hours. Bought this in UK.


Cold water Sterilizing tablets from Mothercare. When one doesn't have facility to boil water, use these tablets. 1 tab in one container of water can be used to sterilise water, which can be used for 24 hours. Pop in one tab in water then immerse utensils to be sterilised for an hour. Take them out using the sterilised tongs and rinse with distilled/ bisleri water. Water can be reused for 24 hours. A pack costs around 300 bucks and comes for 2 months of sterilising.


Sterilising tub and pair of plastic tongs. This container when filled to brim took one tablet for sterilising. Can accomodate 3 feeding bottles in one shot. It's a must to ensure that the bottles, nipples and caps are completely immeresed with no air bubbles trapped to ensure complete sterilisation.


Washing stuff. They went in a separate bag. Vim liquid and Scotch brite mainly.


Portable dvd player. This was a bonus. In extreme cases when daughter got cranky, I played her favourite video so that we can manage to the nearest plug point or rest area! I spent 1600 bucks changing the head to make it not skip over the famed karnataka pot-holes!


Her favourite dvd number 2. Bambi and jungle book!


The cult which always had a calming effect on her. The movie called Thillana mohanambal. Now she's trying to dance as well when I put it at home!


Another thing I found in my initial drives. She got cranky after sun set. So I had to go for this reading lamp and costed me 400 bucks to get it fitted in my ikon. Initial days we had to switch it on when it became dark so that she could continue playing with her toys or reading her books. A light is a must for babies during initial days. This with a flexible long stalk ensured that it didn't interfere with my driving and was pointed down in to her car seat where she sat!


The travel system. Graco pram and Graco car seat. Another 3 months I will have to upgrade to the next level of car seat. We don't use the pram much nowadays. She is walking small distances. But it's a big boon walking around pushing it. She sits and watches and we don't need to carry her!


Apart from this the ikon held my big samsonite, small cabin baggage of mine, 2 suitcases (cabin baggage size) of my parents, 2 - 3 duffel bags, 1 laundry bag, baby's bed and loads of plastic covers!

[ampere]

MX,

Thats quite a list. Nicely prepared. When I read through, I see, I had covered almost all of it, but surely not in such an elaborately planned fashion.
Thanks for sharing.

I do not carry a DVD player though. Planning to get a netbook, which should solve all these problems and help me plan my routes as well. Today either I lug my personal home lap which is heavy or dont take anything at all.

Another point: You also get baby's bottling cleaning liquid (eg Faalin), which also keeps it odourless. Folks can try that as well.

[SmartCat]

Lots of stuff you got there! Time for you to buy a Xylo/Innova/Aria? My "USA brother" sold his Pontiac sedan and bought a full sized SUV called Honda Pilot after his baby arrived - and yes, he carries lot more stuff than you do.

I think I should test drive the Tata Xenon pick-up truck - 0.8 tonne load carrying capacity!

[MX6]

@ampere. Apart from this I carried my netbook and laptop as well. This along with USB modem from tata indicom.
Dvd player runs on car (with car charger) and has stand alone battery as well. Can't do the same for netbook or laptop. Hence DVD player has its advantages.
Further, netbooks don't come with dvd drives. Then you will have to dump avi files, which kills the viewing aesthetics.
Laptops/ netbooks are out of bounds for my baby. If I let her watch movies in them once, then I will have to write them off. Hence the portable dvd player!
No cleaning liquid for bottle. I used regular vim liquid and let it air dry after sterilizing. It removes odours completely!

@SmartCat. This was fine for us. It's innovative packing that (almost to the brim). When the baby grows, slowly many things can be left behind. But when I upgrade I will probably buy Scorpio in India (distant dream. sigh sigh SIGH).

[VLOCT]

Originally Posted by MX6

The difference between US and India are two. After a while it becomes monotonous in US. Down here, every turn offers something different.

I agree, interstates are quite boring unless you are crossing the Continental Divide. My idea is to use the old Rt66 all the way to Cali and then PCH and/or some other state routes up north to Oregon or Washington and then back. Essentially avoid the Interstates as much as possible, maybe even break down different sections into separate trips if the distances and time become too much.

Nothing compares to driving in India. I used to drive and ride a lot between Mumbai and all places in the south, a long time ago. The roads were much more challenging then. Its great to see the progress that has been made in infrastructure there. I still love driving there whenever I visit although my dad is totally against it.

Keep up the good work.

[shreeps]

Thanks a lot for the pics of the items you carried. Now I know exactly what you were talking about when you mentioned boiler, folding bathtub etc.

Now if only you can replicate your innovative packing feat and take a pic of that. Hehehe guess I am asking for too much!!

[khoj]

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Yes - I meant Rubber Band but I am not sure abt the purpose.



Great MS you had all the necessary/basic stuffs....

@ ranjith
You know the purpose of the rubber band is lost on me too. The use of Rubber Bang on the other hand is another story