I may have mentioned once or twice, I’m off
to Australia for my dream holiday. We are now firmly into Spring and the worst
of the Winter is hopefully behind us.
With the sun shining and the light evenings peoples’ spirits begins to
lift and thoughts are turning to summer and well-earned holidays. I’m no different but now beginning to realize
that there’s so much to sort out before I can even step on the plane.
Now I thought I was quite good at sorting
myself out for trips. In my former job I
was constantly travelling, so packing my overnight bag and getting to the
airport was no problem. However, when I
take a bit longer to recall the reality my assistant, Val, made all the travel
arrangements. All I had to do was pack
my bag and sit on a plane and you wouldn’t believe the number of times I messed
that up!
When it came to family holidays well I had
even less involvement. Caroline would
book the flight, holiday, pack the cases ensuring we were within the weight
limit, book the taxi to the airport, sort the kids out etc. Whenever I was asked to do anything I would
respond with “Don’t worry! We’ve got
ages yet”
On reflection I have absolutely no idea what
is involved.
Now lets face it, its only me going to
Australia, the holiday is booked and all I got to do is to get to the
airport. Well that’s what I
thought.
First of all Georgina is going on holiday for
a week three days after I leave. No
doubt there will some small panics that will need to be sorted but Georgina is
fairly organized. But then there is my
lovely handsome boy, Joe. Quite a
different kettle of fish. Whilst
Georgina is away Joe will be on his own for that week.
Caroline and I were making plans to travel
without the kids as they got older and more independent but he has gone through
a lot over the past year I do feel overly protective towards Joe. When I look
back to the time when I was 17 I feel that I was more grown up. That’s not Joes fault. There is definitely a
tendency nowadays to mollycoddle our kids.
Not sure when and why this trend happened but almost all of us parents
have fallen into the trap.
My major fear is that he will be on his own
for long periods when I am away. Joe may
have other ideas. Joe tells me he can go
around his mates’ houses and the “not girlfriend” Eve only lives up the road! I have asked his aunty, Karen, to keep an eye
on him. His artful 12-year-old cousin
Ciaran has told him “she [K.aren] will do his cooking and I will do your head
in!”
One of my worst nightmares may become a
reality. I can’t think anything much
worse than going clothes shopping with Joe.
Walking around Topman enthusiastically saying “Joe this looks good, what
do you think?”
The response is generally “nah” or “alright”!
I will be looking for volunteers to carryout
this task. In fairness to Joe he doesn’t
rate me as the top shopper either.
I am disappointed to learn that whilst away
Joe will have his school prom on July 4th marking the end of his
school era. In typical fashion Joe tells
me “everyone’s not bothered” These kids have no sense of occasion! So I need to dig a bit deeper to find out
what’s happening by getting in tune with the mums jungle drums.
The day after I return Joe is off to Malia
with his mates. Every time I mention
Malia other parents pull a face as to say “Oh my god! Have you seen the TV programme about
Malia”? I can only imagine. I daren’t watch it. At least I will be home by the time he leaves.
However, I will need to sort out the
foreign currency before I disappear off for a couple of weeks. When Georgina went inter-railing last year she
used Travelex Cash Passport bought from Sainsburys. Basically you load the card with money before
leaving ready to use as a debit card in shops, bars and at ATMs whilst away. A big advantage is that the card cannot be
overdrawn and can be reloaded remotely if required. Additionally the card is secure and there is
24/7 global assistance. In fact the Cash
Passport is the modern day travellers cheque.
Obviously, I will need to check the charges to ensure to find the best
value. http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-money/
There is so much to do and plan over the next
8 weeks before I’m off. No doubt there
will be more that I haven’t even thought of besides. “Hey!
There’s ages to go yet! NOT!
