At the end of my last blog entry, I promised to update later in the week when “we were more organised” – whilst it is the end of the week, we are not what I would classify as organised. I think it’s different when you’re only travelling for a few weeks as opposed to a few months. I pride myself on packing light for lengthy trips and scoff at those who overpack; but this time my care factor is low. Hamish asked how many shorts and t-shirts he could take, I said “pack whatever you want!”

Monday evening, we fly from Tullamarine on the first of two flights to get us to Phuket. We are booked with Singapore Airlines, but our first (and longest) flight is with their budget offsider Scoot. I am super fussy about booking details, such as the airlines we fly with, so my expectation of travelling on a full-service carrier was NOT met when I checked the flight details. I may have expressed my disappointment to Rod with language such as, “If I wanted to fly with (*insert swear) Scoot I would have booked with (*insert the same swear) Scoot!”

There’s nothing wrong with Scoot. At all. But your ticket includes a seat, a meal and luggage. Everything else costs: seat allocation (can’t guarantee we’ll be seated together otherwise), wifi (there’s no inflight entertainment), pillows/blankies…you know, the little luxuries that make a short 8 hour flight more bearable. As a result, we have now purchased those annoying little neck pillows (the same ones we took to Europe 8 years ago and didn’t use) and need to take more games and tech than we thought we’d need. First world problems? Maybe…

Monday will be a busy day with last minute packing of luggage and organising of pets before we leave in the early afternoon to drive to the airport. Rod is having his monthly immunotherapy Monday afternoon (it’s a subcut injection) just before we leave (insert Dad joke *(sub) cutting it fine – from Rod) and we have (purchased) seats close to the bathroom in case his stomach plays up – which it does at times after his treatment. Nurse Bel has all bases covered with: anti-spew, anti-poo, hydration, motion travel and pain relief tablets packed for our carry on.

Thanks for your heartfelt messages of love and support after the last post; I know that was hard to read, but it’s one of the benefits of social media in that Rod doesn’t have to keep telling his story. Please keep him in your thoughts. I’ll update you before we fly out.

It’s nearly 3 and a half years since we returned from our last overseas trip. We have (perhaps under false pretences) re-activated the travel blog twice since then (Tasmania 2021, Central Australia 2022) but we are pretty excited to say we’re heading to Phuket next Monday for a little winter getaway.

Let’s start with a family update. As with everyone, our lives are a busy mix of work, school, parenting, paying bills and trying to live full and healthy lives (insert chocolate, chippies and wine to balance out our intentions). Read on for our good and not so good updates.

The Good

After being separated for 18 months, Rod and I are back together. We’ve worked particularly hard over the past 6 months with the help of a couple’s counsellor to iron out our points of difference and boy, that wasn’t easy! Plenty of tears, lots of talking and just plain old perseverance has really made a difference. We are like the old Rod and Belinda circa 2018; with a bit more wisdom, patience and understanding. Rod is still teaching (the hard) Maths at Cathedral and I am the Grad Nurse Coordinator at the Hospital.

Hamish is in Year 7 – he turns 13 this October. He continues to grow and grow – he is hungry all the time and is 166cm tall! He is funny, fun and has recently expanded his geographical knowledge through online quizzes. I now get statements like: “Mum, that looks nothing like Egypt…” or “Which colours are least used on flags?” – I feel we have created this inquisitive monster and we love it.  

Jess is 26 and is a Secondary Teacher at Ringwood SC in Melbourne. She is completely living her best life in Melbourne, but isn’t travelling with us to Thailand. We did offer, but the dates didn’t match up

The Bad (and the Ugly)

There’s no easy way to say this, but Rod has cancer. The technicalities: Stage 4, Grade 2, Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumour. He’s had a very long history of abdo pain, nausea and vomiting which we think started when we were in Oxford in the UK so many years ago! He’s had various episodes which have put him in hospital or just put him out of action for a day or so. The last couple of years these ‘episodes’ have increased in frequency and he started losing weight, which on a man with a slight build was quite noticeable. It’s not an uncommon form of cancer, but unfortunately is rarely caught before Stage 4.

Rod received the diagnosis in December, when we were in Noosa, just before Christmas. We had a bit of an idea bad news was to be delivered, but to hear it for real gave us a bit of a jolt. His treatment (one subcut injection each month – lanreotide) started early in the New Year and this has made a huge difference in his overall health. He hasn’t had an ‘episode’ since, he’s put back on all the weight he lost and is feeling very well.

Whilst this news will be new to most of you (and a shock), please rest assured he is well. It is a slow growing form of cancer and we are just getting on with our lives as best we can. Hamish and Jess have been great and they get all the updates as we get them.

Now, for Thailand.

We found an all-inclusive offer for 10 days in Phuket; we hummed and harred about it for a week or so as it seemed too good to be true – fingers crossed it’s not. This is not our usual type of travel. I am usually the one who books flights and accommodation – it’s never done through a third party, so I’m a bit nervous. However, I have looked at our booking with Singapore Airlines and it’s definitely confirmed…so at least we will arrive in Phuket!

Our package includes return airfares, breakfast and dinner daily, a daily cocktail, a massage, a boat trip to islands, airport transfers and a family room in a Novotel branded hotel with a very large swimming pool in Kata Beach. This trip cost less than our week in Noosaville in December. With a week to go, we are not close to being ready! There’s a couple of bags on our bedroom floor that are empty except for Hamish’s swimmers, a box of rapid tests, sunscreen and a pretty decent first aid kit.

Will update later in the week as we start to get organised.