It's that time of year
for teachers when they are winding down the school year completing the children's reports and having an end of term drink with colleagues. For us it is the start of a 2 month stint away from our flat in Bucharest and lots of traveling.
Socks? How Many!
How do you pack for a trip that will include staying at 5 different places in Bristol, going cycling in France for two weeks, visiting friends in London and then back to Bristol and then flying back to Bucharest? My daughter and I were flying Saturday afternoon from Otopeni (Bucharest) to Lulsgate (Bristol). Jayne hasn't finished school yet and will be flying ten days after us, which creates its own issues.
Swim shorts and a ski jacket
The idea was that we would take as much with us now and leave Jayne with less to worry about on the second flight. I was also taking my bike in its dedicated bike box which is another issue.
So we needed to pack for all eventualities. The UK weather in the summer is very inconsistent, so summer clothes and some warm weather stuff too.
Dave Grohl here we come
My bike and all of the equipment that goes with that like my helmet, shorts, tops, cycling shoes, gloves, track pump, spare tyres and a few tools for basic maintenance, need to fly with us too! Laptops, ipads, phones and all the chargers and adapters need to go as well. My tickets to the Foo Fighters concert, which by the way is another destination, London) that I will be staying at overnight. Finally passports and any other documentation.
No sharp items for Jayne, bless her! :)
The logistics of these flights are made more difficult because of the situation with checked luggage, hand luggage and the bike box. Jayne is only taking hand luggage so we have to pack all of the items like fluids and sharp items and take them with us. The cost of the bike on our flight was crazy and was nearly the cost of the actual flight itself. Jaynes flight ten days later had a special deal for over size luggage so she is bringing the bike on the second flight, but means that she has to fly into London and then travel on down to Bristol. It is a logistical nightmare but part of our routine at this time of year. A lot of watching flight costs in the months prior to the trip, is very important.
Big hugs
It's all worth it though because this is the time of year we get to spend with our families. Living away from Bristol limits our time with them throughout the year so every moment needs to be taken advantage of. Most of our family and friends are in Bristol which makes it easier but not all of them are. As our life has evolved around the world, so have our friendships. Expat friends become your family and you know that when you leave you will have little opportunity to see them again. Trying to take the time away from family to get together with these friends can be hard, especially with the distance involved.
Here is our itinerary:
- Me and Jaime fly out. 16th June.
- Jaime is camping in the South of England with her grandparents. 19th June
- Foo Fighters gig in London. 22nd June
- Jayne arrives ten days after us. 25th June
- Travel to London to catch the Eurostar to Lille and stay overnight 10th July
- Pick up the car to travel to St Vallier to see friends 11th July
- Move on to the French Alps for two weeks to watch the TDF.14th July
- Back to Bristol for three weeks. 28th July
- Not sure yet on how we are getting home, via London (to see friends, or through Bristol)
- Get to Iasi in Romania for a friends wedding.18th August
- A six hour drive to Bucharest and home for Jayne to start work on the 20th August.
- Sleep.
An impossible task
We are very lucky that we have an opportunity to do these things and it will be a wonderful experience for all three of us. It will be exhausting though and at times will be stressful but absolutely worth it. Organising it is an impossible task because of the endless variables that this sort of trip faces but you do the best you can to make it successful and work.
We will forget or miss stuff, it happens all the time, but you just have to get on with it. I'm sure I will update you with the latest as it happens.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
Gaz