creating happy travellers

image source:google

a holiday or a vacation to me is not just about the place you visit. it is an overall experience that starts from planning the trip (deciding the dates, choosing the destination, the mode of transport and the accommodation) continues through the journey you make, carries on while enjoying quality time with the loved ones and ends finally once you reach back home. when i read about the "creating happy travellers" contest on indiblogger, i knew just the right place on this planet to create that sort of an experience;dehradun.

most of us would either choose the hills, or the beach or probably the backwaters down south as the ideal location for a family holiday when we think of india and the list would be endless thinking of a place abroad. but i choose dehradun as the perfect location for a family holiday(for that matter even a holiday with friends) for my own special reasons.

to let you understand the reasons better, let me give you a quick background. my new family (post marriage) has a beautiful little holiday home at rajpur road, in dehradun. from the very moment i had got fixed, i had been listening to the dehradun stories not just from my husband but the entire extended family and friends. so after we got married the first trip that we made with the family was to dehradun. few months back we visited the place again with cousins. now most of you will wonder that why we visited the same place twice (it is not that, we also made a trip to mumbai). but both the trips to dehradun left us with different memories and entirely different experiences.

the first time, when i visited the place with family, besides meeting the friendly neighbours, enjoying the bonfire, cooking the mouth watering butter chicken at home and making a brief day trip to mussoorie we indulged into the lip smacking street food (bun tikkis, chicken soup, momos;steamed and fried). the next time we went with cousins (with relaxation as the main motive), our lazy souls dawdled here and there around the house. we explored this amazing chinese restaurant called "the orchard". 

outside view of the orchard (image source:google)

and now even after these two visits i want to visit dehradun again simply because there is so much left unexplored (plus it always gives us the opportunity to say a quick "hi" to mussoorie). i had visited dehradun as a student while i was in school but did not go anywhere besides the general sight seeing spots. every city or town has these little hidden places and restaurants that only a local can take you to. and since my husband has been coming to dehradun for family vacations for a decade now, he knows the city in and out. so, i want to dig into the city's beauty through my husband's eyes and then make new memories of our own .

while i had already tried a few places ,my husband promised me that the next time we visit, there will be new and different things to be seen and done .

a cute, cozy cafe called the marigold cafe at rajpur road which has a very rustic feel to it has to be visited, a walk along the woods has to be taken, a buddhist monastery has to be seen and the list goes on. so this time i  have my to-do list prepared already.

zeroing in on the desired destination, the question arises- how to make the trip a blissful and happy one?. i find happiness in small little things. it starts with those big smiles once we sit in the car(or board the train) to start towards the final station, stopping over at a highway restaurant and enjoying the sugary ginger tea to waking up to the chirping birds and the clean environment of rajpur, dehradun. bliss to me will be found in those enchanted treks that we'll take while exploring the clean and green peaceful surroundings. it will be found in the precious time that we'll spend together as  family.

but adopting a pragmatic approach, a trip's experience can turn into a happy one only if it is well planned. a little homework on the location you will be visiting and finding out the right weather to make the trip is required. if traveling by bus/train/flight the tickets have to be booked well in time(if you can save a little on those tickets, why not?).  the accommodation needs to be taken care off well in advance to avoid any chaos at the last moment(you would want go through the reviews of the hotels you are looking at).

the planning has got easier with the existence of a site like http://www.yatra.com/ one can make the most of their planned budget for the trip since the site provides you with the best deals and offers.

so once you have locked in the destination of your choice take the assistance of the site before finalizing the details of the trip to avoid a pricking pinch on the pocket. after all, with a good location and a good company it takes some thought and planning to  turn the vacation into the most joyful experience.