I may have mentioned in this blog before that my dad loved his travels. Love is probably an insufficient word to describe what we would probably diagnose today as obsessive compulsive disorder! The pleasure he took from a holiday was not so much the actual holiday, but rather the weeks of meticulous planning he would do in preparation for the trip. Planning would usually begin with scouring AA and Michelin travel guides – these were real printed guides as it was years before the internet. Potential destinations were discussed with my mum, maps (again real ones – no Google maps then!) were poured over and slowly an itinerary began to emerge. More references to the guides to find possible campsites, then – in the days before email – phone calls and sometimes actual letters sent back and forth in the post were exchanged to confirm availability and costs. Dad’s holiday preparations were almost a military exercise! Eventually a plan on a chart emerged (on paper – no spreadsheets then), it contained dates, times, the route with all the places we’d stop at and places we’d stay. It amazes me to think he would pack us all in the car, caravan in tow, destined for a foreign destination – France, Germany, Austria, we went all over Europe. My primary school mates would go on summer holidays to Yarmouth or Lowestoft – lovely as they are, but for us Heidelberg, Salzburg, Nantes or La Rochelle sounded much more exotic!

Fast forward thirty-something years and here I am, my father’s son, but with a bit more technology at my disposal. Our holiday is mapped out on a spreadsheet, with different tabs for the daily itinerary, the accommodation, the days we’ll be travelling with a driver, the train travel, the places to visit, and last but not least, the availability of vegan food. We two greedy vegans do not want to be left hungry, so I have researched vegan-friendly eateries in every place we’re visiting/staying – we shall not go hungry (as an emergency back up I even know where there are Marks & Spencer stores in India – and there are over a 100 of them!).

As with all best laid plans, however, I’ve hit a snag that has called for a last minute change. I was laying in bed a couple of nights ago and thought I’d check the details for the Bengalore Republic Day Flower Show (that’s the India version of the Chelsea Flower Show!). A visit to this show has been high up my list of places I want to go on this trip. To my dismay, when I checked it turned out that the flower show dates this year are a bit earlier than I’d expected and the show would end the day before we were due to arrive in Bengalore – catastrophe! Fear not, quick thinking and a small re-jig of the schedule at the start of our trip means we will now be able to visit Bangalore twice – first next week (I shall go to the flower show!), before we return at the end of January for a longer trip. Spreadsheet is duly updated and a dawning realisation that I am also an obsessive compulsive holiday planner – Dad would be proud I think!