**Originally published 18/6/2016
Our departure date really snuck up on me, leading up to our trip of a lifetime people would ask if I was excited yet but I was so busy with work, kids & life in general that I hadn’t found the time to be excited. But once that day arrived & I found myself tidying up final loose ends, closing our backpacks and mopping my way out of the house it really kicked in.
For me the holiday starts once you’ve checked in and have your first wine in hand at the airport pub. The buzz of people from all walks of life coming & going to & from far flung places really affects me, the laughter & the tears, the rushing & the waiting, it all adds something to the experience that makes it so wonderful.
With that said not long after take off I find that glow begin to dim. How is it that the human brain so quickly forgets how revolting long haul travel is. As you know I’ve done my fair share of travel, this was my 4th trip to Europe alone so you’d think I’d be prepared but within a few hours of being on the flight I actually asked myself, how did I get here again? I liken it to labour in a way. It’s excruciating, exhausting & at the time feels never ending but once you’ve done the hard yards it’s like Boom!! it’s all but forgotten, the reward & excitement, the idea of the possibilities that lay ahead of you make it all worth while, a means to and end if you like and hence, women go back time and time again and those of us bitten by the travel bug continue to buy a ticket, board that plane & tough it out for hours on end to see the world.
I was only slightly concerned with how my kids would cope with such a long flight. In all our past trips they’ve mostly been real troopers and adapted to most situations & this time they didn’t disappoint. To be honest I’m not sure why I was even slightly worried, I’ve now discovered long haul flights are a teenagers Nirvana! 24 hours of movies & TV shows on demand, napping when ever they like and being served food at the push of a button and all without being nagged by me to get up and do something!!
So after all that time which included a 5 hour stopover in Hong Kong that resulted in entertaining ourselves with silly selfies, a whole bag of Fantales being eaten, you know…just so we could test each other’s celebrity knowledge & the first of many games of Uno being played we finally arrived in good old London Town.
Arriving early evening allowed for a reasonably early night to bed but we were up far too bright and early (thanks jet lag!) for our first day of being tourists & exploring this beautiful city.
Looking forward to see what the next 8 weeks exploring Europe has in store for us!
wanderlust mum 