Take, for example, this weekend. We moved to another city. A full truck-load of household goods was sent through the movers and packers company. Next, was us. Which in our case means the whole pack. The wife and I briefly discussed our options. Air was ruled out because there's just one domestic carrier that allows pets as cabin baggage, and while our experience with them has been very positive in the past, this time we weren't sure how to put a rescue animal, that's illegal to cage, inside a cage, when he doesn't live in a cage. Rail was ruled out as well, for the same reason, and because we couldn't get confirmed first class tickets in such short notice. Ergo, we had to do this by road. Plan A was to sell the car in our previous city, and hire a long distance cab. But that was turning out to be too expensive. Plus, the wife pointed out that we'll need a car in the new city when our eldest, the German Shepherd, comes back home, as no public mode of transport allows him on due to his size. Plan B was to drive down. In my second-hand DL registration 2007 model Maruti Esteem.
And so we did. Pune - Satara - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Hubli (night halt) - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Bangalore. 850+ kilometres. Just a man and his machine. And his beautiful wife, their nine-month old son, a full-time live-in nanny-in-training, an Indian ring-necked parakeet that can't fly, a doll-faced Persian cat that can't sit still, a large suitcase, a gigantic bag full of baby paraphernalia, a litter tray and feeding bowl (for the cat), two potted plants, a wall hanging, and a laptop.
