“It’s only 7 more days until we leave for Dublin!” said a very excited Hamish this morning, “OMGW Mum!” (Oh My Gosh Wow…apparently). However, he’s right – next Friday night we fly from Melbourne and start our 7 week trip. Hamish and I are heading to Dublin, but Rod is on official school business and will spend a few days in Heidenheim, Germany, before meeting us in Ireland. We will part ways in Dubai.

This trip has been in the planning stage all year. We’ve booked and paid for bits and pieces each month – so at this stage, there’s not much else to do! I’ve purchased many of our winter strength clothing online from a store in the UK (Cotswold Outdoors), which amazingly, has been a very affordable option for quality brands at highly discounted prices. Boots, jackets, pants, thermals – you name it, I’ve probably bought it from CO!

Not surprisingly (if you know me well), I’ve basically been packing mine and Hamish’s bag all year. This time, he and I are sharing a mid-sized suitcase – I am only taking two pairs of shoes! Gasp! Last trip an entire post was devoted to the shoe debate…live and learn. Hamish suggested I pack his Christmas stocking, “Otherwise how will he (Santa) find me?” We are also sharing a carry on sized suitcase for the last week of our trip which will be in Singapore and Malaysia.

Rod typically, is not packed. I forced him to do a practice pack a few weeks ago to ensure he had enough clothing and that his bag was going to be under the weight limit. It is. You wouldn’t want to get to the day before to find these things out! (He’s always grateful of my suggestions). Each of our suitcases weigh a massive 13 kg – not bad for 3 people travelling for 7 weeks!

Jess: Just a quick note about Jess: she’s not coming on this trip. She’ll have the important job of airport drop-off/pick-up, babysitting my car, continuing her relentless job hunting and finding new digs for 2020. She recently graduated from Deakin Uni with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching, following the family trade into secondary education.

Rod sporting his Movember moustache

It’s been four year since we headed overseas on our extended trip around Europe. We reminisc about this trip all the time and I guess we’ve just been waiting for the right time to plan another adventure. Is it ever really the right time? Perhaps. Here’s a brief update.

Hamish.

He’s just turned 9. He turned 5 in Italy during our last trip and we’re hoping some of the struggles we had with him will be reduced due to him just being older! He’s enjoyed assisting with the planning and has even picked accommodation when the decisions between two very similar (but different) apartments was getting too much for us! His decision making process is very different to ours, such as, “That one has a fruit bowl – it’s the best” or, “I like the one with the blue bedroom”. Fair enough.

 

Rod.

He’s still teaching Maths at Cathedral College, but is now the Careers Advisor too. He completed a Post Grad Cert in Careers Education in 2018, his first formal bout of study since graduating from Melbourne University back in the day. Again, he’s been more than happy for me to do most of the planning and organising, but is, as always, a great sounding board and voice of reason.

 

Me.

This trip was my idea, bought on by pure envy: a picture of a work colleague hanging out of a window in Barcelona with a glass of red in her hand was the impetus. I said to Rod, “I’m sick of everyone being in Spain drinking red wine! I want to be in Spain!” This conversation occured 12 months ago and here we are, with two weeks to go until we fly out. I am still working at Northeast Heatlh as a nurse and have just finished a Post Grad Cert in Critical Care. I think I have less than 10 shifts left at work – but who’s counting?

 

The Blog.

We really wanted to document another overseas trip; we’ve loved re-reading the last blog and it’s filled us with great memories! In light of us not coming up with a better name, we’ve decided to keep the old blog with the old name. Obvioulsy, the 111 days part, and the Europe part might not count anymore, but hey, it’s a blog for family and friends and you guys know us well.

I’ll continue to update over the next two weeks before we fly out. The blog site might change format as I (re) – learn what to do. I’ve paid for the site so there’s no annoying ads. Looking forward to having you along for our 7 weeks!