Flying during a pandemic out of lockdown.

I flew to Belfast on the weekend with Easy Jet.

Easy Jet kept me informed via email about all the regulations and rules and tests and paperwork I would need if flying from outside the Travel Corridor.

Having flown regularly during Covid and in lock downs, I'm more than fully aware and prepared for anything and everything when travelling these days and whilst my flight was within the UK, I took with me my passport, proof of vaccine and letter from Doctor as it was administered outside of the UK, my NHS covid pass on the app via a recent LFT, spare LFT kit for my flight home, printed my tickets in case my phone failed and was just grateful I wasn't having to privately PCR test at the cost of £150 via a lab in Bristol or book a quarantine hotel at the cost of around £2000 as I've had to do with flights during the pandemic.

For many people flying just stopped for a year and when the Government said they could fly again they went off on their holidays complaining about the additional charges and the inconvieneces and the extra time they had to take off work as borders opened/closed and traffic light systems moved around.

I personally have no desire to spend a week or two on a beach in the sun, especially with the announcement of Morocco suspending direct flights from Germany, Netherlands and UK this week.

During the pandemic I've only flown between England and Dubai and to Northern Ireland, places where I can stay without additional costs, should borders close, which they did do when I made it back to Dubai last December and Peter got shut in Saudi as the borders closed overnight and it was 2 weeks before he got home, thankfully he was travelling with work so all his costs were met, but imagine the costs involved with finding accommodation or having to pay medical bills or for hotel quarantine if testing positive for covid prior to departure?

For these reasons I've turned down an opportunity to return to Dubai in November, but we're making plans for visiting our son in Australia as soon as we are allowed to travel. We'll also travel to Germany soon where we have friends to stay with.

Deserted arrivals hall Dubai T1 March 2020.

 Seeing T3 Heathrow closed makes you realise just how serious this pandemic is. 

An empty arrivals hall and closed departure hall at Birmingham International when it reopened was also startling.

Like I said almost back to normal now, apart from the mask wearing. 

Flights are increasing in terms of frequency and destinations. Seeing a departure board cover 4 days of flights in an International airport, is not something I ever want to see again. If I'm honest, I'd be happy if I never had to fly again either, but with kids and close friends living overseas, it's going to have to happen.

November 2020

49 flights over 63 hours

October 2021

41 flights over 14 hours

 

2021 Week 4 - Back in the UK and fully vaccinated

I flew back in to the UK on Tuesday. The flight and arrival in Birmingham went really well, there was an incident in the lift at New Street where I stood my ground and refused to allow the lift doors to close until a couple got out as they were either unable to read or process why I wouldn't let them in until I told them to fuck off, firmly. It was lovely seeing the snow on the ground. I'll be able to leave the house on February 6th. Technically I can now as I have an exemption letter, which I may use to walk Bob in the early hours of the morning, but I've no real desire to go anywhere. 

I'm grateful I have the room to move boxes around and decide what I want to unpack and in which order. I've placed an Ikea order for some display cabinets and started my quest for another house sitter for March. I've also ordered another food delivery for next week and once I'm out of quarantine I'll use the click and collect service.

23 Saturday Child 4's birthday, he turned 26. WTAH? I can't be old enough for this? The cut was made at the golf today and I went out with the penultimate group, a couple of players had a bad round and yes, I knew about it. Only walked 17.500 steps today as opposed to almost 30,000 on Thursday. Had a bath, down to the bar for a drink then had room service dinner. I packed ready for check out in the morning.

The club house at Abu Dhabi.

24 Sunday Last day of the golf, I have a lovely 'golfers' tan. White feet, V neck shirt and short sleeves. Started the day with a PCR test to comply with the rules in the UAE for this event and ready for my flight on Tuesday.

Winner Tyrell Hatton and Caddy with 3rd placed Rory McIlroy. There was a pot of $8 million up for grabs.

25 Monday 2nd covid vaccination today, took around 2 hours. Rest of the day spent tidying and packing and just chilling out. When Peter finished work we popped to the local mall for dinner and had an early night.

26 Tuesday Up and out the house by 4am. The airport and flight was good, arrival in Birmingham was excellent with all the communication, checks and social distancing, caught a train home, had a minor confrontation with a couple until they got out of the lift. Met the house sitters on the drive at 3pm, they left straight away. Cat and dog were pleased to see me, house looks ok. In bed at 6pm.

My travel clothing.

27 Wednesday Woke at 3am, cleaned the kitchen cupboards, surfaces and walls/doors. The downstairs loo and hallway. I unpacked my suitcase, sorted out some bills, made a list of jobs that need doing. The food shop arrived and I unpacked a small chest of drawers so I could put a few things away. In the evening I just chilled out in the evening on the sofa in front of the TV.

I keep forgetting I'm owned by a cat and it just keeps appearing without warning.

28 Thursday Another early morning, drank tea, did some blogging and forced myself to stay in bed till 6am, then showered and got properly dressed for the day. Spent the day unpacking boxes, moving things, discovering broken items, cussing, sleeping, eating and repeat. 

Every box is labelled, glass or books and either kitchen or living room, nothing makes sense and stuff from the shed has ended up in the same box as stuff from the spare bedroom upstairs.

29 Friday A similar day to yesterday and progress is being made. Had a phone call from Public Health England, very friendly bubbly voice telling me to isolate and what to do if I have any symptoms. Would be more effective if they just said 'stay in or get fined'. 

These books were my dad's from his childhood, they were upside down in a box in the shed marked steel. Hopefully I've rescued them from the damp in time.

On the blog this week:

Further developments in Uptown Dubai and the Super Tall Tower with #MySundayPhoto

#PoCoLo Post Comment Love - a weekly linky I co host

My Winter COVID Vacation in Dubai

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Post Comment Love 20th -22nd March 2020

This is my last week hosting from Dubai before I return to the UK on Tuesday, or is it? Thankfully if flights get cancelled due to the virus, I'm not exactly stuck as I have home here, just got to hope my Mother in Law doesn't mind staying in our UK home looking after the cat and dog until I can get back.

My Sister in law and her friend have been visiting this week. I've been showing them round Dubai, it's their first visit here. They arrived on Monday, the day before Dubai stopped issuing new visas, before they even landed the Burj Khalifa announced it was closing like many theme parks, attractions and cinema. So it was wait till the last minute before getting notification about Desert Safari's and Boat trips.

Still, we've had a lovely week and Peter's sister has finally visited our home in Dubai where we've lived for the past 5 years.

I'm spending the weekend organising the house ready for our move in May, half the furniture is returning to the UK and the rest will move into a new apartment, we'll be renting for Peter to live in and for me to visit until he retires in 2-3 years time.

Stephanie and I would love to hear about what you've been up to this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Want to find out more about #pocolo and how to feature on our blogger showcase?

Dealing with chronic pain and flying

I've had chronic neck pain for 24 years years, since an assault in the workplace.

My chronic pain is constant, it is 24/7. I am aware of the pain every waking minute of my life.

My chronic pain is no worse than anyone else's and probably better than a lot of other peoples.

My chronic pain can't be alleviated with meds or a few stretches.

Some days my chronic pain is just there, other days it's flare up and is worse, these I call 'bad days' restricting my movements and actions. Most days are just NOT bad days.

As a result of chronic pain, I sit, walk and move with purpose. I'm constantly changing position, stretching my neck, slouching my back to take the pressure off my shoulders, I end up with a bad lower back and in turn hip pain. I can exercise, I can take meds for that, I can improve the pain levels. I can make it manageable, but there's not a day when I'm not aware of it.

I get cramps in my wrists and pins and needles in my hands and fingers, making fine motor skills difficult such as writing and taking lids off jars etc. Repetitive strain from ironing, hoovering, sweeping and mopping are getting worse and I often can't pick things up or find myself just dropping items such as tea cups.

I have a 14 hour flight ahead of me next week. I recently took a 7 hour flight in business class, I was able to lie down, not flat, and stretch my legs, but I was still in tears after 5 hours, rather than the usual 2 hours. The only time my pain doesn't flare up is when I'm either walking or lying down flat. Neither of which I can do on a 14 hour flight and I doubt I'd bag an upgrade to 1st class.

The most I can hope for is a row of seats all to myself. It happens fairly often to me. Even 3 seats means I can lie flat on my back, legs bent and can curl up on either side. Plus sleeping does help to pass the time.

I've had numerous surgeries, treatments (physio, acupuncture, chiropractic) and tried various medications, but only ever get short term relief and the more meds I take, the more I need and the side effects of some of them such as Gabapentin have been horrendous.

The 14 hour flight and time difference will wipe we out regardless of the added pain on top, so my plan when I arrive in Australia is to check into the hotel, have a deep hot bath and go to bed. I will merge from my room when I return to normal, of which my normal is chronic pain, just without the tears.

Should I be more tolerant?

I'm one of the first people today 'sorry' if I bump into someone. I'm also one of the rare breed of people who will say 'excuse me please' and actually wait for a response rather than just shoving my way through.

It takes quite a bit of piss taking before I will challenge someone on their behaviour, but I do like to have a moan and complain.

If I hold a door open and someone walks through I'll say 'thank you for holding the door' and if someone pushes in a queue I'll politely ask 'have you any idea why I'm actually stood here?'

I don't know really if I should be more tolerant or whether people need to be more mindful of others.

Most of the time I find people are less tolerant and mindful of others when they're travelling.

The other week I took a short flight to Northern Ireland. On this flight I was in an aisle seat, seated next to a man who had his arm in a cast, because of this his arm was hanging over my seat. A woman sat in a front with a small child and for the entire flight, played a children's TV show with the volume on full on her phone to entertain the child. The seat in the aisle opposite me was occupied by a young man with headphones on and his music on his phone could be heard. behind me sat a woman who struggled to physically fit in her seat and his knees pushed into my back the entire flight.

Did I say anything? No, not at first. I sat on an angle, with my elbow being knocked by crew and passengers going to the toilet. When I tried to straighten myself into an upright position, Mr broken arm exerted his right to my air space, no eye contact was made, no apology, no polite smile. I just had to tolerate it, along with the two iPhones and their volume. However when the woman behind stood up, pulling on my seat and grabbing part of my hair as she did so, I let out an audible sigh and muttered FFS.

On her return from the toilet, I got a dirty look, followed by pulling on my chair and pushing her knees into my back.
When I turned round in the aisle to ask her to refrain she said: 'what do you want me to do?' 
I replied with: 'maybe try a smile, apologise for inconveniencing me and pulling my hair' 
She replied: 'whatever'

I accommodated and tolerated everyone around me, until the point where my hair was pulled, however they were not mindful of me or anyone else around them. I'll assume they all had a good flight and were comfortable with their arrangements. I'll also assume that the woman behind me who pulled my hair probably thought I wasn't at all tolerant of her needs and the man next to me with his arm in a cast, just saw it as his right and was probably not aware that he was causing me any problem in any way.

Do you complain when someone inconveniences you? Or do you just sigh, tut and mutter and hope they don't hear you to avoid any confrontation?

Sometimes it's just not worth saying anything, however polite I am, I also end up being the bad guy.

One daily Positive - Week 11. Nicholas Parsons and home to Dubai

Both a sad start and end to this UK trip, arriving for my SIL's funeral and leaving 2 days after the death of my Uncle. This happened in 2016 also, when I came over for my father's youngest brothers funeral and my mother's eldest brother died the day I left. I finished the week back home in Dubai. Fell back into local time straight away, tired and had no milk, the garden had survived, one house plant was a bit worse for wear and it felt strange not being met by the cat and dog.

70 Sunday Our Easy Jet flight from Belfast was delayed by an hour, said our goodbyes to child 4 and 4a, who we'll see again in Dubai at the end of the month. Collected car hire and then the teen from Stratford and dropped him off at my mum's where he's staying till the end of the week. Mother's Day gifts from child 4, 4a and 5.

71 Monday Collected child 1 from Gloucester and hubby suggested we visit Bicester village for a day out, the roads were really misty. I took Mary's (over40andamumtoone) birthday gift with us and called her on route and she joined us for a coffee or two. I must say both Peter and I were impressed with how she handled Stephanie and dodged flying drink bottles.

72 Tuesday Collected MIL from Keynsham and headed off to Street for the day for shopping and lunch. Had the start of a migraine. I know I'm over doing it, but our remaining time in the UK is limited and I lost 4 days to the snow. I took Peter to me local pub to meet Geoff, the landlord, who bought my fathers car. I tend to treat the pub as an extension of my living room as the teen is still living in the flat.

73 Wednesday Woke to the sad news that Uncle Tim died last night. It was something we were expecting and it hit me really hard. Tim was my father's best friend from birth and I can't recall any event over my lifetime of 46 years that he and his wife, Aunty Pat who died in 2012, hadn't been part of. I had a horrendous migraine and really didn't want to go anywhere, but child 2 had his suit fitting appointment for his wedding in June and I was dragged to Gloucester, called in to see ex MIL on our way back and went straight to bed. Peter went to see my sister, mini me and Thing 1, 2 & 3. Managed to get out in the evening to see Nicholas Parsons at the local theatre, it was very good, despite the migraine.

74 Thursday Took mum to visit my cousin, Tim's son, I hadn't seen him during the hospital visits and as I won't be able to attend the funeral, we drove to Aberdare for the day. On the way back we stopped at the crematorium to order my father's memorial plaque. It was a sad time for both mum and I, first time back at the crematorium and we saw where my father's ashes were buried. In the evening Peter and I did a whistle stop tour of saying goodbyes and met friends in the pub for a quiet drink and replied to 2 of the 3 wedding invites we have to look forward to this year.

75 Friday It's not often Peter and I fly together, we joke we're like royalty. We sat together upstairs on the Airbus A380. I require a window seat when I fly so I have something to lean against. Peter was pleased with the extra legroom and storage but I was disappointed as I may as well have been sitting in an aisle seat, I had nothing to lean against and spent most of the flight in pain and tears.

76 Saturday I didn't get much sleep, woke early and fetched milk, caught up with some blogging while Peter slept as it's back to work for him tomorrow, unpacked, collected the cat and dog and had a manicure, pedicure and new gel polish while Peter did some food shopping, a relaxing day and an early night ahead.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Coventry Cathedral - Mixing the old and the new
Triumphant Tales, Tweens Teens Beyond, Best Boot Forward and PoCoLo linky
What it's like being a woman living in Dubai.

Should I cancel my UK holiday in light of recent terrorism?

Terrorist levels in the UK raised to critical levels now by Government.

A question I see a lot from bloggers is 'should I cancel my holiday to xxxxxxx? after an attack in another country. Maybe we should be re thinking the sensitivities as to asking those types of questions.

The media reports that I got locally about the Manchester bomb last week varied little from how the UK reports on terrorist bombs abroad, they focus on their own people over there.

I'm travelling to the UK next month, should I cancel my travel plans?

What advice would you give someone who posted that question?

How does someone posting that question while the situation is still ongoing make you feel about your country?

It would be much more beneficial in future if we asked these types of questions to the right people, rather than people who have no real idea of what a country is like, other than they've had a holiday there.

Do ever get an idea of what a country is really like, what the people are like from a 2-3 week visit?

Holidays are not real life, a tourist resort does not represent a country, its people, a way of life. You know that. Most British people are never more than a 2 hour drive, maximum from a holiday resort and even closer to tourist destinations. You know the misconceptions people have about the north if they're from the south or the opinions of city folk v country folk. Why make those assumptions about another country?

After the attacks in Turkey and Tunisia, people were posting these questions about whether it was safe to go there for their holidays. They were offered to rebook their flights and accommodation to go to other resorts and even other countries. People were flown home early. 
Is this the current case for people who are holidaying in the UK? Are other countries warning against travel there? I can't find anything other than general information on local websites here, but I have found this information from the British government. (May 24th 2017 9am UK time)

Credible information indicates terrorist groups continue plotting possible near-term attacks in Europe. All European countries remain potentially vulnerable to attacks from transnational terrorist organisations. 

This year we've travelled to Egypt and Hong Kong. My husband has also travelled to Saudi and Pakistan with work. Last year I was in Germany and South Africa, there was an attack near Munich when I was there, not terrorism, but that wasn't known at the time. We get asked all the time about our personal safety, especially in regards to flying back to Dubai. But we never get asked about our travel plans to the UK. Do we feel safe? No one ever asks us to reconsider our UK trips, like they do when we travel to other countries. Why is this? 

I of course won't be cancelling my plans to fly to the UK in 3 weeks time. I'm flying via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, I've already travelled this route since the new restrictions with hand luggage. I expect security to have been tightened even further since the end of March.

Cabin Zero Bag Review

I didn't get the opportunity to try the Cabin Zero Bag I was sent for review purely for hand luggage as my planned trip to Ireland with Easy Jet from Birmingham didn't go ahead but I did get to travel to Hong Kong and Dubai and back to the UK with it and I must say I was very impressed with the ease of comfort of carrying and transporting the bag.

Available in different sizes and a variety of colours, I opted to have the Classic 44L - Ultra light Cabin Bag in Galactic Green, a great colour for spring.

It very nearly didn't reach me as my Father took a liking to it and declared it 'perfect for his fishing trips.'

Not only did the bag have adjustable straps but I was able to able to alter them easily without having to take the bag on and off my back to do so. I also used the straps to secure the bag to my suitcase  keeping it safe to and from the airport and save carrying it without worrying about safety.

I felt comfortable and safe carrying it on my back whilst travelling as the zips were easy to conceal from view and adjustable side straps meant the bag would only open slightly. I asked my husband to attempt to get in the bag without me noticing and he wasn't able to do so. The zips also opened and closed with ease and with internal pockets it meant items didn't get caught in the zip on opening and closing.

The bag fitted comfortably under the seat in front of me on the plane and as I prefer a window seat, it saved me from getting up and down to get various items from it during my flight.

The Cabin Zero Bag and I flew over 23,000 miles in 31 days. I used it as a day bag at the Rugby 7's in Hong Kong, carrying waterproofs, spare clothing and my camera. It also meant in a crowd of 40,000 my husband was able to find me.

It was used on the beach in Dubai.

The bag is tough and easily cleaned, making life easier at the airport on a long lay over in Istanbul not having to worry about damage when freshening up in the toilets. Surprisingly not everything drops to the bottom of the bag when carrying it, due to the design of the internal pockets.

At £60 it's a bag designed to last a while and it is worth the investment, due to the durability of the straps and zips. I've had cheaper bags in the past and they've only managed 1 long haul flight and 2 weeks worth of day trips before seams, straps or zips have failed. I think my recent travels and it's daily use have probably tested the bag to it's limits as a day bag and when I finally get to Northern Ireland in July, I'll let you know how it worked as a hand luggage only bag in regards to the using overhead lockers, ease of carrying the bag when it's full, as there is no weight limit with Easy Jet and how comfortable it is carrying for longer periods of time.

Cabin Zero Bags are offering readers of this post a 10% discount by redeeming the code CZCHICKENRUBY over at this link.
This is an affiliate link.

My Sunday Photo Week 122 H is for Holiday

I'm not actually on holiday, despite the photo of the Burj Al Arab, a holiday destination, where I'm currently sitting, drinking coffee, only 3 miles down the road from where I live.

I've travelled 23,000+ miles since March 27th from Dubai to the UK, back to Dubai, to Hong Kong, back to Dubai, the UK and finally reaching home in Dubai on Friday morning.

Child 3/5 and his girlfriend are visiting for a week and I've decided I'm not going to get anything done while they're here so I'm treating this week as a holiday, staying in one place, chilling out and relaxing.

10 things not to do in Luxor, Egypt.

Spend Money.

Apart from your flights and hotel room, you'll be hard pressed to spend money in Luxor, unless you allow yourself to be ripped off or wish to buy pashminas and replica relics. Everyone will try to help you with everything, including pointing at something for your to photograph and then ask you for money for what they did, be firm and polite and say no.

A taxi from the airport is LE 80, around £4, ask and confirm the price before you do anything and check it's LE (Egyptian Pounds) and not $ (Dollars).

Expect to pay up to LE 700 per person for a full day tour of the West Bank, to include the Valley of the Kings, a couple of temples and the tour guides, brothers, Alabaster or Papayas shop. You will have to pay extra to visit Tutankhamen. You can however do this cheaper yourself, but I'd recommend a tour guide a) to tell you the     history b) to stop you being hassled and c) to get
                                                                                    you back to your hotel.
You have to pay your hotel bill in foreign currency, you are not allowed to pay in Egyptian Pounds, but you can withdraw local currency from the cash machines. Banks are heavily guarded, but don't let anyone try to assist you and preferably withdraw money in pairs.

No one will have change anywhere, and will delay giving you change in the hope you won't bother waiting.

Bring Kids.

Don't bring kids with you unless you are prepared to keep a very close eye on them 24/7 and entertain them yourself. While the hotels have pools, they are a long way from the rooms, terraces, life guards are rare. There are no facilities in Luxor aimed at entertaining children, whilst there is a MacDonalds, there isn't a play area, there are no swings and slides to be found or public parks and internet is scarce.

Use the Internet.

Leave that laptop at home. There is little if no wifi in public places and in the hotels, you are limited to two devices per room. Wifi is often limited each day and costs around $10 per 250mb. Your mobile phone provider will sms on arrival with cost of calls, but if you wish to buy a sim card, you can only get this at the airport.

Drink coffee.

I found one coffee shop that served anything that resembled the coffee I like to drink. Nescafe seem to have the monopoly over here and a latte is 2 powered tubes and over heated milk, not nice. Ask for a cappuccino, it's likely to be from a Nespresso machine.








Drink the water

We've travelled to many locations around the world and we often forget to check if we can drink the tap water. To date we've never been ill from drinking the water, but one of us, usually Peter, has had food poisoning. Brushing teeth is ok, but avoid ice in drinks, ask the waiter to give you the bottled water to open, so you can check the seal and personally I avoid foods with high water content such as watermelon and cucumber.






Shop

There are NO high street stores in Luxor, all you'll find are local shops, souks and markets, mainly selling souvenirs and replica, tacky and low quality, clothes and bags. You'll be hard pressed to find a supermarket, corner store, pharmacy, so bring all your toiletries and medications with you.




Queue

December and January are the height of the tourist season, but don't expect to have to wait in long queues for anywhere, there are sadly few tourists coming to Luxor since 2011, due to the current political climate.

Get tired

Luxor is a relaxing place to visit, tours start early morning, 3 days minimum stay to visit all the sights, take a trip on the nile, fit in a hot air balloon trip and enjoy leisurely drinks and meals in the hotel.


Walk anywhere

Don't expect to walk anywhere in Luxor, the second you step out your hotel you'll be inundated with requests to use taxi's and horse and carriages. If you do get a taxi, the driver will tell you he will wait for you at your destination, until you've finished, so don't pay them until you get back to your hotel.





Relax with personal safety

There are many warnings about travelling to Luxor and Egypt in general. The biggest risk is around mosques at prayer times and if you see large groups of people forming, then it is advised to leave the area and not hang around to see what is going on. Use the hotel safe for your passports, laptops, etc and only carry with you cash and cards that you think you'll need each day. Keep your bag in full sight at all times.

My Top 6 Tips for starting a conversation when travelling

Solo travelling is very lonely, the very fact I've used the word solo in the the opening line indicates one is alone, although many people prefer to travel in silence, I'm not one of them. I like to meet people and find out more about where I am visiting and get some insider tips that may not be on offer in the guide books.

When I travel I often have somewhere to stay with people I know. I spend many hours at airports, on planes, trains, buses and on foot. I also stay in B&B's and hotels on my own as I travel through from place to place.

There are plenty of people who like to while (or wile) away the hours with a chat, but how do you know they want to talk?

It may sound relatively simple to start a conversation with someone, a stranger, but it can also be hard work, they may want to sleep, they may not be a sociable person themselves, they may not even speak the same language, but I've whiled away many an hour, in transit, chatting to people I'll never see again and for me it does make a journey a lot more pleasurable and time passes quicker.

People can be suspicious of strangers talking to them, so if you don't succeed the first time, keep trying or you'll end up sitting in silence watching back to back movies or completing puzzles. You'll get a good feeling if someone is interested in chatting or whether they just want to sit/sleep in silence by:

• Making eye contact and smiling, it lets people know you are friendly and approachable.
• Offering to help someone who are struggling with a bag, bay, small child, TV screen on the plane.
• Commenting on something you have in common, such as the waiting, destination, where you're from.
• Commenting on a general topic of current interest, either in the country your flying from or to.
• Asking open questions.
• Responding to what the person says.

Do you have have any other tips on starting a conversation or are one of those people that prefers to sit in silence? 

How else do you pass the time on long journeys?

Travel experiences 'then and now'

Ever since I was a baby I've travelled, from wherever we were living with my Father's job in the UK, Newport, Leicester, York, Ross-on Wye to see my grandparents in Brighton and South Wales, during the holidays as well as caravan holidays in the North East, South West or West Wales.

Our one and only foreign holiday was aged 15 for 2 weeks in the South of France and I had a day trip to Calais when I was around 13, with school.

All travel for us was by car, bags were filled, picnics were made, a few toys and books were selected for the journey and all lose items were thrown in the boot. Blankets and pillows were taken for comfort on the journey and we'd often end up with only 1 cassette tape for the trip and little radio coverage.

Fast forward to the 90's and I became a parent myself, holidays were camping at holiday sites near the beach, we travelled by car and the same method of packing took place. There was a special trip  to EuroDisney about 5 years after it opened, after saving hard, collecting the tokens in a newspaper and redeeming them for cheap flights.

Up until 2000 the only other trips I'd made were aged 17 to Amsterdam and with a friend to Dublin for a weekend. I'd also won a competition with a national newspaper and spent a week in Barcelona for the Olympic games.

As with all the trips, tickets, souvenirs were kept and scrap books were made, photo's were taken carefully and sent for developing arriving back 2 -3 weeks later.

My only other experience of travel was that of my Father, who travelled the world with his job between the mid 70's and early 90's. Everything he brought back was treasured and I had a collection of plane tickets, napkins, postcards, gifts mainly from South Africa, India and Egypt. I still have quite a few things from his travels.

All our holidays were out of term time, I never noticed a price difference, I didn't have the means to check out deals, it was either booked by calling a number in the newspaper, visiting a travel agent or obtaining a number for a camp site from a friend's recommendation.

Fast forward to the last 17 years and my travel has widened. Now living in Dubai and previously in South Africa, my approach to travel has changed. As the children got older we travelled to France and round Europe by car, and then further afield to Turkey, Tunisia and America. We thought nothing of getting in the car and driving to Manchester or London from the Midlands for a football match.

Peter's travels now take him further afield, although working in Europe is now a long haul flight away and while most of our holidays are now to the UK, in the past year, between us and together we've travelled to Europe, Canada, Jordan and Egypt.

The kids now come home for a fortnight, bring a mate or a girlfriend, family come to visit for holidays in far flung, foreign places.

In the past 10 years I've noticed  how many people now think that having a holiday is a basic human right, taking children out of school as it's the only time they can afford to go and feeling that unless you travel to a far flung, tropical location they're all missing out and getting into debt to do so.

What happened to the good old British Holiday, a week or two camping or in a caravan, by the sea?

Saying that, I'm flying to the UK for summer, we're off to Turkey in July, me flying in from the UK and Peter from Dubai. I'm also travelling to Belfast to visit one son and hopefully to Dublin, Munich and South Africa to visit friends.

The rest of my 'holiday' will be spent travelling around in a hire car, visiting family with everything chucked in the boot.

One Daily Positive Week 4 2017 Toothache, dogs and Egypt

I suffered with chronic toothache over the weekend and after years of neglect I finally plucked up the courage to visit the dentist and finally get them sorted, unfortunately there's not much that can be done and over the next few weeks I need a 2nd root canal filling, an extraction, new crown and several fillings.

I've neglected the dentists due to a couple of bad experiences in South Africa and bone disease, which means implants without a bone graft aren't possible.

Back in October I suffered with chronic tooth pain on a flight, where the cabin pressure causes trapped air in fillings and decay to release and the pain is excruciating. I flew to Luxor on Thursday for a long weekend with Peter and I knew the issue had to be addressed or it would spoil the weekend.

I was also very tired this week as I'm fostering a English Staffordshire Terrier and boy is she hard work. I hadn't seen her over the weekend and she was back at square one with jumping, scratching and biting and I had to physically separate her and Bob more than once. By 3am on Monday morning, I dragged the crate out the shed and put her in it so she could sleep. I couldn't lift it in the house so slept with the bedroom door wide open and woke up at 8am covered in insect bites. I then spent the next 2 hours walking around the neighbourhood as I did again for the next 2 mornings and in the evenings, till it was time for her to go back to the vets on Tuesday to be spayed. I'm seriously hoping this helps to calm her down, although next week I shall only have her during the day while I continue to help look for a forever home for her. Thankfully some of the bad behaviours stopped with a little love and guidance.

So here's my week in pictures and a few words, it's been busy.

22/365 My Bestie
Just me and my dogs today, however I did declare undying love to the dentist for her patience and kindness.

23/365 Hello
In pain with my tooth

24/365 Woof!
Rory went to the vets to be spayed and she'll be there till I get back from Egypt on Tuesday.

25/365 Where I'm Standing
Poor Bob was so confused, I visited Rory and he could smell her on me, took the cat to the vets for boarding, a dental visit and nail bar, plus a hair cut. I was coming and going all day. He's off for a sleep over with Jelly and her humans.

26/365 Dance
Arrived in Luxor, after a connecting flight in Qatar, driver failed to turn up on arrival, room not ready, hassled to buy stuff, no wifi, but fantastic views over the Nile.

27/365 My Secret Wish
Words and pictures aren't enough to sum up the beauty of Luxor.

28/365 Smile

Back home on Monday, travel doesn't have the same edge to it anymore, when home is in Dubai and most people think I'm on one permanent holiday anyway.

On the blog this week.

My Sunday Photo - D is for Dentist
PoCoLo - Marriage after the kids leave home
HDYGG - Workmen and gardening just don't mix

Week 42 - One Daily Positive and Project 366. Dubai to Newport.

It's been a super busy week. very little sleep with the demands of work, governors inspection, online learning journeys, baselines and upcoming visit from the Ministry of Education, I can't help but think, Harry Potter, Ministry of Magic and Monty Python, Ministry of Silly Walks.

Sunday #nature

In Zabeel Park

Monday #you

Blog hits and comments are slowing down, there used to be a time where 'publish' was good enough for starting a conversation, but nowadays it's just too much hard work to keep promoting and for what? Another offer to review baby products.

Tuesday - Orange

Changing room doors at the school pool. 

Wednesday -Treat

I'd been up since 4am, dropped Peter at the airport for a day in Saudi, in work at 5.30am and got 

home at 6pm, dinner on the go, packed suitcase, tidied up, took cat to vets, planned next weeks lessons, bed midnight.

Thursday - Family

peter wouldn't play ball with this photo, but it's just me, him and the cat and dog in Dubai. Work at 6.30am, observation by the school governors, staff meeting, classroom prep for when I'm away, home, out for dinner, shower, airport and flew to Qatar.

Friday - What I'm doing now

Transfered in Qatar and fell asleep on plane before take off at 1.30am local time. Woke at 5am over the English channel. Arrived in Birmingham, messed up the rental car booking, got to daughters house at 11am, drank tea, lunch at friends, arrived in Monmouth mid afternoon, signed papers at solitors for the apartment I've bought, transferred money and met up briefly with eldest son. Said Hello to my niece, went to parents at 7pm, spent 2 hours in the attic looking at family photo's, bathed and collapsed into bed.

Saturday - Eat

Stopped at garage to buy coffee and picked up Heinz chicken soup to take back to Dubai and a pumpkin to carve with niece, collected the teen, drove to Bristol to see MIL, called in to see Aunt and Cousin in Newport and back to Monmouth. Struggled with 3G and internet to send work email, blogged and off to bed very soon.