England is finally being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. A smoking ban on all public places comes into force on the 1st July 2007. I can remember when I first moved to London, you could still smoke on the tube. Not just on the platforms, but in the carriages. Then a bunch of people got burnt to death and everyone realised that it was a really stupid idea.

There is even talk about banning smoke in cars, but not to save people breathing in second hand smoke, just to avoid people being distracted. The safety mafia are big on concentration in cars. Firstly, you were banned from using a mobile phone unless you had a hands free set. Safety would improve, we were told. Now they are trying to ban even hands free phones. Even talking on a hands free phone is apparently too distracting – especially we are told, if we receive bad news when we are driving. So-called experts are wheeled out. Generally these are people who have had a family member who has been killed in a driving accident and now it has become their cause celebre. Now tragic at this might be, it doesn’t make them experts. I have fallen of a wall when I was drunk, but that didn’t make me an expert in gravity. All it did was make my head hurt.

There is one thing that the safety police have overlooked. If speaking on the phone can be distracting, then how about passengers? Cars would be much safer if we banned the distraction of passengers. Especially children! Honestly. Ban all children from cars. There will be far fewer accidents. I know this for a fact. My 5 month old daughter has a cracking set of lungs. When she starts screaming in the car seat next to me when I am driving it is more distracting than speeding down the motorway at ninety miles an hour with a close friend’s head in my lap! I know this for a fact too.

I am thinking a lot about travel and children at the moment – making great plans about where we are going to take our little arrival. North Africa and India are all very much on the list, but the first trip is likely to be a driving jaunt around France and Northern Spain. I secretly have my heart set on making it back out to the Fiesta at Pamplona, but rest assured do not intend to be the first runner to be wearing a baby carrier!

A lot of people have said that I am mad taking Amber to India, but I have travelled there dozens of times and even her middle name, Sashi, is Hindi for Moonlight. Nonetheless, it is good to know that I am not the only one who thinks it is a good idea. Susan Keselenko Coll takes a decidedly upmarket view in With Care, India Can Be Magic whereas Esther Selsdon, originally published in The Observer newspaper in England, takes a different approach in Happiness is a Bucket Bath.

I have to confess, before Amber Sashi came along, I always used to avoid kids when travelling. Generally speaking it was only on the plane where I saw any – I usually head on to the remote destinations where people with kids wouldn’t generally go.

There don’t seem to be too many people doing that. Most people equate family travel with Disneyland not the middle of nowhere! One of those who does is the Travellin’ Mama who is currently mooching around Australia with her two daughters.

Of course, for more inspiration there is also my colleague Sheila’s blog on Family Travel.

Lastly, and on a lighter note, checkout Monkey Travel. If this doesn’t inspire your little monkeys to come travelling to see the world, then nothing will!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under Asia travel, Steve projects, travel blogs, travel websites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.