Persistence pays off

After our holiday to the lovely Bitacora in Tenerife, we decided we wanted to go back next October. As anyone with children will know - as will teachers - going away in the school holidays costs a fortune. Tour operators hike their prices up to more than double sometimes, and we have long since accepted that our holidays will always cost a bomb compared to those out of school holiday periods. However, airlines and a lot of hotels don't seem to be quite as bad as tour operators, and you can often save a lot of money booking your holiday independently, especially if you do it early. So that was my plan. I waited until the flights for British Airways were displayed for the correct outgoing date (355 days in advance), I winced at the fact that the price was higher than for the week before, and then I waited for the return flights to be displayed. And when I looked back in a week or so, ready to book, I was horrified that the flights were no longer one hundred and something - they were now £228. Each way. Yes, over £450 for a return flight to Tenerife. I hesitated, as you would. I double-checked easyJet but they only displayed flights up until next September, and October flights wouldn't be available until April. The chances are they'd be cheaper, but only if I booked them as soon as they became available - but dare I risk booking the hotel and then not being able to get flights? Or leaving it until April, only to find the hotel was full? Decisions, decisions. I checked Thomson and Thomas Cook - still more expensive than booking independently. I checked Monarch - almost the same ridiculous price as BA but horrible flight times. Reluctantly, I checked Ryanair - outbound flights were available (and very cheap) but returning flights wouldn't be available for months. I almost considered booking one way and crossing fingers I could get return flights later. In the end, I gritted my teeth and decided to book with BA... only to find that the flights had gone up to £323. Yes, each way. Yes, £656 for one return flight to Tenerife. Yes, I could fly to New York or Hong Kong for less. What was going on? I checked again later to make sure I hadn't imagined it. I checked Monarch, and their prices had also gone up - so had the package prices with Thomas Cook and Thomson. Clearly, everyone had decided that Tenerife is the place to be next October, and the airlines and tour operators were responding accordingly. Sadly, we had to decide Tenerife was not the place for us to be after all - no matter how nice the hotel was, we couldn't justify spending that sort of ridiculous money. Maybe we'd try easyJet next year and see what happened.

But the thing is, I don't give up easily. A couple of days later, I checked BA again, just in case - still £323. I checked again a few more days later - still £323. This went on and on - I'm not really sure why I kept trying, because it was clear the price wasn't going to change. But then it did! After over a month of trying, I checked again and the price had gone down to £169! I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't put in the wrong date, but it was real! I didn't know why. I didn't care why. I know for anyone who holidays at other times of year this is still expensive, but after £323, this was cheap!!!I booked the flights there and then.

And the moral? Keep trying. Shop around, keep checking the websites and don't give up. Holiday prices change all the time and sometimes the most unlikely tour operators end up being the cheapest. Cinderella, you WILL go on that holiday!

Spring Hotel Bitacora, Tenerife

Yup, here it is, another cut and paste job from Trip Advisor. This is the review of our most recent hotel, the Bitacora in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife. It's particularly worth a read for anyone with children, as I really would recommend this hotel for families. The kids' clubs and the animation team are brilliant, meaning the kids are happy and you get a few hours' peace. It's also a great place to go in October half-term, as the temperatures are still hot enough (30 degrees while we were there) to go in the pool and the sea - plus everything is still open (unlike the ghost towns we're used to in October)!

When I first read the reviews of the Bitacora, I was amused at the number of repeat visitors - images of 'Benidorm' (the sitcom) sprung to mind, with the same people coming at the same time, year in, year out. While I'm very happy to stay in hotels more than once if I like them and there's more still to see in the area, I wouldn't usually choose to come back the next year, and certainly not regularly. However, by the end of this holiday, I had to eat my words, as I understand the appeal of returning to this hotel, and we're now planning to come back again next October.

I'll start with the 'negatives' to get them out of the way - and this is only me being picky. The first is the sun bed situation - you see it at all hotels, but this is definitely the worst I've seen! People are literally up in the dark to put towels on sunbeds they have no intention of using until the afternoon. We generally found sunbeds without too many problems, but we did have to search sometimes, and we wouldn't have found four together. The rules of the hotel state that sunbeds shouldn't be reserved and that towels would be removed, but I didn't see this enforced at any point. There were so many sunbeds that were barely used and it would have been nice to see towels removed from sunbeds that are unoccupied for more than an hour - however, I do appreciate this is difficult and time-consuming to enforce. The light on our balcony didn't work for the duration of our holiday. We did speak to someone at reception at the beginning of the holiday, but nothing was done about this. However, we weren't too worried, as we took the desk light from inside and put it on the balcony - had we complained again, I'm sure it would have been fixed, so that is partly our fault! The only other thing I would say is that the air-con wasn't particularly effective. I'm not sure if that was just our room or across all rooms. Many areas of the hotel felt like they could do with better air-con - it may be that it is turned down for October, though, as it was unusually hot while we were staying.

The location of this hotel is great. It is at the Los Cristianos end of the resort and is a 5-10 minute walk to the beach. There are lots of shops, restaurants, bars and shopping centres in the area, and it is easy to walk into both Los Cristianos and the rest of Playa de las Americas. A lot of money has clearly been spent on the area (the nearby Gaudi-esque shopping centre and mini golf, for example), and everything is very clean. 

The rooms are larger than most, with plenty of space to accommodate our family of four. The main bed is large, as it's two single beds together, and our boys used a sofa bed and a camp bed (both made up for us). We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a pool-view room, which meant that we got some of the benefits that go with this, such as a mini-fridge and bath robes. Included in all rooms are hairdryer, toiletries, wide-screen TV and safe (for a charge in standard rooms). The bathroom is large with a shower in the bath, and a bidet. There's plenty of storage for your clothes and other things (with a handy light in the wardrobe), and extra blankets if you get cold. The balcony is quite large, with a table and two chairs and a washing rack for drying your wet swim stuff. Our view from the sixth floor was lovely - as well as the pools, you could also see the sea in two directions, as well as La Gomera in the distance. The rooms have recently been renovated, and ours was cleaned every day to a good standard.

 

We really couldn't fault the food at all. It was definitely some of the better hotel food we've had, and there was always plenty of choice. Cold salads, soup, pasta, carvery, lots of regional and international dishes and a wide array of desserts. There was a huge choice for breakfast too, including pancakes and omelettes cooked to order. I can't comment on lunch or the snack bar, as we only stayed half-board - although we usually ate enough at breakfast not to need lunch!

Outside were two pools, one with a water slide and a children's area. This one was surprisingly warm, but the larger pool was a bit of a shock! Despite my earlier moan, there were still plenty of sunbeds and you could find one eventually. Around the side of the hotel is the amazing Springly World - a new kids' playground area that made me wish I was young enough to use it. This is also home to the mini-club, where there is also an indoor area. Inside, there are two bars - a large one upstairs for the main evening entertainment, and a smaller one downstairs, where the mini-disco and children's entertainment took place. Next to this, there is also a games room, with pool tables, air hockey and arcade games. The reception area is very large with plenty of seating and free wi-fi.

Other than the mini-disco (which the children loved), the only entertainment we saw was the Queen tribute and the Halloween show. Judging by the claps and cheers we could hear from our balcony in the evenings, the rest of the entertainment was also of a good standard. The kids loved the mini and maxi clubs, and there was also plenty going on during the day for adults, although we didn't join in with any of it.

This brings me to the staff. On the whole, everybody was very friendly and polite, from the reception staff and cleaners to the restaurant staff and the majority of the bar staff - and we had no problems at all with being served when we were in the main bar. But a huge shout of appreciation has to go to the animation team, who play a large part, I'm sure, in the number of repeat visitors. They worked tirelessly throughout the day and evening and their enthusiasm never waned. They were brilliant with the children in the kids' clubs and always referred to them by name when they saw them around the hotel. The effort they put into the brilliant Halloween show was amazing - what a talented bunch of people! The children are desperate to go back and see them again next year.

Overall, you got the feeling that everybody works very hard and makes a real effort to make the hotel the best it can be, and this didn't go unnoticed by us. We will be back!

Here's a video of our room in the Bitacora. You can visit my YouTube channel (Holiday obsessive) for more holiday-related videos (with more to be uploaded soon...).

 

Too close for comfort

I have a few pet hates - in fact, the older I get, the more I realise how intolerant I am. Near the top of my list are rudeness and unfairness (injustice would probably be a more intelligent word, but that implies something deep, and my gripes are often quite petty), and these are often inextricably linked. One example of this is queue jumping, which is clearly both rude and unfair - why should anyone think they have the right to push in ahead of other people who have been waiting longer? We've already established I suffer from Queue Rage (see my earlier blog post about queuing in Hong Kong) - well, sadly, I also suffer from Plane Rage. Specifically, I have a problem with reclining.

I appreciate that planes will always cause personal space issues - sitting in close proximity to others in an enclosed environment is never going to end well. Unless you're lucky enough to have a row to yourselves, you'll always have those issues that are unavoidable when you're sitting next to someone else - should I leave the armrest up? Is it okay to put my reading light on? How do I take my cardigan off without smacking my neighbour in the face? What happens if I fall asleep and start leaning towards them or, worse, dribbling on them? And my personal favourite is the toilet issue - just when is it a good time to ask them to move so that you can go to the toilet? What happens if you really need to go when they're asleep or are still eating their dinner? On a recent long-haul flight, I found myself sitting next to a rather odd passenger. She refused all food from the cabin crew and she didn't leave her seat once. On the plus side, as I was in the aisle seat, I didn't have to get up for her. On the downside, she had no awareness of personal space whatsoever - she spread her blanket, cushions and goodness knows what else out across her lap - and some of my lap too. She also didn't think about me when removing her jacket, resulting in a sleeve in my mouth. And don't get me started about the incessant leg-tapping for the entire hour before landing. Still, I'll let her off - she was obviously nervous (is that what sitting next to me does to people?). And, on the whole, despite the general inconvenience, most awkward situations can be avoided with a little consideration for the people around you.

So why is it that some people seem incapable of consideration when it comes to reclining their seats? Maybe it's because it affects the people behind you and you can pretend you don't know about it. But it does affect them and, if you have a particularly inconsiderate person in front, it can ruin the whole journey. Anyone who's ever been on a plane knows just how little room there is between your knees and the seat in front - especially on a short-haul flight. The minute that seat in front reclines, you have even less. Your knees are pressed up against the back of the chair, it's hard to watch the television (assuming you have a seat-back TV), there's no room on your tray and don't get me started about attempting to eat. Now, I appreciate that on a night flight or a long-haul flight, people like to sleep. I'm a bit unusual in this respect, as I can't sleep on planes, but I wouldn't deny anyone else. When the cabin crew dim the lights and everyone around you is snoring - yes, this is the time to recline your seat. Yes, it's annoying for me, while I sit there wide awake - but, to use a phrase I learnt in Australia, I just have to suck it up. Plus, if the person behind me is also reclined, I'll recline myself and get comfy. But if all the lights are on and it's daytime - especially if it's a short-haul flight - no way!!! How can people not understand that reclining their seat affects the person behind them? Surely it's selfish to recline your seat just so you can have more room to get comfy and watch TV, while the person behind you suddenly has even less room than they had before, and has to put their head on its side to be able to watch the TV properly. Of course, they could always recline themselves to redress the balance - but then the person behind them would have to recline and so on. I don't help myself in this situation, because I refuse to recline my chair unless the person behind me is asleep or reclined (preferably both) - so I end up squashed, uncomfortable and seething with resentment.

On a recent daytime flight to Tenerife, we were sat behind a foreign family who didn't speak much English. No sooner had they sat down than the grandad had reclined his chair to the maximum level. Now, nothing about the family's demeanour suggested they hadn't flown before - but surely anyone who's been on a plane knows that 'seats should be in the upright position for take-off'? For once, I wasn't too worried, as I knew the cabin crew would soon tell him to put it back up. Then, just as I was putting something in the seat pocket, the grandma in the chair in front also reclined. I couldn't help it - it took me by surprise and squashed my hand - I cried out. The grandad immediately turned round. 'Is okay?' he asked. What I really wanted to say was 'No, it's bloody not okay. It's selfish and inconsiderate and you've left me with no room. Please put your seats back up.' However, being British, I just couldn't do that. I resorted to smiling politely and pointing out that the cabin crew would ask them to put the seats back up for take-off anyway. 'Ah,' he said and they put the chairs back up. I breathed a sigh of relief. But no sooner had the plane left the ground (and while the cabin crew were still seated) than both seats reclined again. So did the mum's. And the dad's across the aisle. They stayed that way for the whole journey. What made it worse was that the plane wasn't full, and the two seats next to the dad were empty, so the family did a lot of seat-swapping. Which meant that, for large amounts of the journey, there were empty reclined seats in front of us while we struggled to eat from what little of the tray was accessible.

Pure selfishness is what it is. Rude, thoughtless and clearly not fair on the people behind. Why can't they introduce a reclining rule so that it's only allowed at certain times on certain flights - and outright banned during mealtimes? Or, better still, get rid of the reclining feature altogether so everyone can sit there wide awake like me?! Grrrrrrrrrr! Anyway. Rant over. Time to go and watch TV from my reclining sofa - knowing there's no one behind to get squashed.

Sneaky

I thought we had all that airport hotel stuff sussed out. First we discovered the joys of the family rooms at the Gatwick Hilton, and then we found out there was a Premier Inn within walking distance of the airport. Problem solved. And then we had to go and book flights leaving from Stansted....

There's only one hotel within walking distance of the terminal at  Stansted, and that's the Radisson Blu. We stayed there once before, pre-children. Nice hotel but sadly not Premier Inn prices. Still, we gritted our teeth and went to book, only to find they didn't have any family rooms - or, at least, none available. This left us with a dilemma - book a room for three or book a hotel further away. Now I've said this before but, when you've got an early flight and have to get up at stupid o'clock, the last thing you want to have to do is hang around outside the hotel or in the long-stay car park for a shuttle bus. Every fifteen minutes, my backside. And the hassle of getting four people's luggage on board is only eclipsed by the hassle of finding somewhere to put it - it's like a warped version of Tetris. Given the choice, it's much nicer just to walk across to the airport. A room for three it was, then. Would the hotel actually mind us having four people? We were the ones that would suffer, trying to squeeze an extra person in, and we would have booked a bigger room if we could. But in some hotels, such as the Formule 1 chain in France, they have signs explicitly stating no more than three people in a room - fire regulations or something. Oh well, better safe than sorry - time for Operation Sneak...  

We've snuck a child in at the Gatwick Hilton a few times, but this was a new hotel for us in this regard. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was almost empty. The Hilton is always busy - you could sneak a giraffe in and no one would notice. But there were three empty reception desks at the Radisson and no one milling around. We briefly considered hiding Dylan in Lee's coat and pretending Lee was just really fat. Or maybe putting Dylan on Lee's shoulders with Lee's head hidden under his coat and Dylan's head sticking out, like in all the best slapstick films. Eventually we opted for me going in on my own. I checked us in ('A room for three people?' 'Oh yes!') and then went back outside to tell Lee our room number. Back in and through to our room I went with Dylan and our cases ('My husband's just sorting out the car...') and then Lee and Finn followed suit a few minutes later, walking nonchalantly and hoping no one asked them where they were going. Job done. Of course, every time we left the room and walked through reception, we did it separately and walked as quickly as possible. I'm sure we didn't look at all suspicious...

Unfortunately, as well as all the sneaking around, a room for three brings other problems - namely, the fact that it only sleeps three. After some bad experiences putting one of the boys in with us (how people co-sleep, I don't know - ouch!), we decided to top and tail them in the single bed. You can imagine how long it took them to get to sleep. And when one woke in the middle of the night, the other woke too, then they both spent an hour trying to get back to sleep, moaning that the other was kicking them. When they were asleep, they snored like 70-year-old men. As you can imagine, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Airport hotels may be a whole lot less stressful (and early) in the morning, but yet again I found myself wondering, when I was considering giving up and getting up at 2am, whether we should just save ourselves the bother and have the luxury of half a night's sleep at home in our own beds...!

A boring blog

We spent the summer touring Australia and Hong Kong. Five weeks, ten flights, eleven hotels/apartments and an awful lot of driving. You'd think I'd have a lot to say about all that - and you'd be right. The trouble is, I don't seem to have as much time as I do things to say. What have I managed to do so far, in the nearly-two months since coming back? Post one hotel review and video and add a few photos to some older reviews. Epic fail. What makes it worse is that I'm off again tomorrow to Tenerife, and I haven't even begun to catch up on the last holiday. Oh, and there was a weekend in the Cotswolds in there somewhere that hasn't even made a mention yet. We have a weekend in Bruges planned in December, and I wonder if I'll have even finished my Oz hotel reviews by then. Ironically, when I started the blog, I was worried I wouldn't have enough to write about. I mean, I know I go on holiday a lot, but I'm hardly an expert - what would I fill the pages with? But it's turned out that I can't even keep up with the holidays I do have! The trouble is, there are so many funny stories from each holiday, but by the time I get home, I've forgotten about them. And much as I enjoy writing, I don't want to spend my time on holiday blogging, as I'm missing out on essential holiday time! I also think it's important to post reviews on Trip Advisor (and here), as I use it so much myself when I'm planning a trip - plus I like to balance the unreasonably negative reviews (and there's yet another blog subject). But that's yet another thing I don't seem to be able to manage. Life just always seems so busy - and it feels hard to justify blogging when I should be working or doing jobs around the house. If only I could be paid for this! The obvious answer, of course, is to stop going on holiday so much - just think of all that extra time I could spend updating my blog! And I'd be sure to have caught up before I go away again. It kind of defeats the object of course...

Anyway, apologies for this nothing-y blog - nothing funny, nothing informative. Just a post for the sake of updating my blog really. Sorry - I promise I will be better next time. And in the meantime, just to make it almost worth reading, here's a pretty photo from my recent trip to the Cotswolds...

Cosmopolitan Hotel, Hong Kong

This was the first hotel on this summer's epic tour and a continuation of my recent upgrade luck. We didn't really know what to expect from a hotel in Hong Kong (other than small rooms, according to everything I read), but we were very pleasantly surprised. Hong Kong hotels aren't cheap, especially when trying to find a family-sized room, but the Cosmopolitan Hotel was pretty reasonable (relatively). It was a good place to stay with children, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Hong Kong. The only thing missing, really, is a pool, but you can't have everything...

Anyway, here is my cut-and-paste review from Trip Advisor, along with a couple of photos and a video if you scroll to the bottom.

We stayed at the Cosmopolitan for a total of five nights, either side of a trip to Australia. We booked a family quad room but, on arrival, we were told we had been upgraded to one of the recently refurbished rooms which was, apparently, slightly larger than the room we’d booked. The room was by no means huge (especially in comparison to the rooms in Australia), but it was large by Hong Kong standards and perfectly spacious enough for the four of us plus all our luggage. The room had clearly been newly done-up – everything was clean, new and had a luxurious feel to it. The beds were very comfy and we slept well, despite both children sleeping in the same double bed. There was a large-screen TV with a few English-speaking channels, a mini-bar (not cheap but not astronomically priced), complimentary bottled water, tea- and coffee-making facilities, a hairdryer, a free-to-use safe, an alarm clock with an iPod/iPhone docker and an iron and ironing board. Robes and slippers were provided – both adult and child-sized. Another nice touch for the children was the soft toy and snack box they were given on arrival (the nice lady at reception even gave me one too!). The bathroom was small (especially the bath!) but smart and clean, with a lovely hot shower, plenty of towels, and toiletries and other bathroom goodies provided. The air-con was very efficient, and a blessing after the temperatures outside, although it did get a little cold in the room sometimes. We were on the nineteenth floor (although there are a few floors missing due to cultural reasons – 4, 13 and 14), so the view was amazing. We could see part of Happy Valley racecourse and out over Causeway Bay, which looked beautiful when lit up at night.

The best thing about the room, though, was the handy smart phone, free to use during your stay. You could use this for the internet when you were out and about or to make free international calls to selected countries (including the UK, USA and Australia). You could also use it as a Wi-Fi hub to hook your own phone up to, which negated any issues of chargeable Wi-Fi in the hotel (although this was free anyway in the restaurant and reception area).

Away from the room, the hotel has a few facilities – a small bar area in reception and a tour desk, and there is a gym, apparently, although we didn’t see it, but no pool. It has a restaurant, but we only used this for breakfast. The breakfast itself was very nice – a mix of Chinese and Western dishes, and plenty even for fussy eaters. The reception staff were friendly and helpful, and they were very efficient in arranging a taxi to the airport for us. They remembered us on our return visit, and even put us in the same upgraded room, which was a nice touch. The location of the hotel was very good – it’s a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk to the nearest MTR station, Causeway Bay, although there are plenty of shops and restaurants in the nearby area and a bus stop right outside. The hotel also offers a free shuttle bus to various locations, although we didn’t make use of this. On a side note, with regards to transport, I would highly recommend purchasing Octopus cards, similar to the Oyster cards in London, which can be used to pay for all forms of transport (except taxis!), including the ferries and the peak tram, and make travelling much easier. I would also recommend getting a taxi to and from the airport if you are a family – it probably works out cheaper than the train (around HK$350), and is much more convenient!

All in all, we had a lovely stay in Hong Kong, and the hotel was very much a part of it. We would definitely return – especially if we got upgraded again!

Here's a video of our room in the Cosmopolitan. You can visit my YouTube channel (Holiday obsessive) for more holiday-related videos (with more to be uploaded soon...).

A town divided

When we told people that we were planning to visit Alice Springs, we got some interesting reactions from people who'd already been there. In fact, 'interesting' was probably the most common adjective used, and it clearly wasn't meant in a positive way. We managed to figure out that the 'interesting' mostly involved the local indigenous people, but not much more than that. We therefore weren't really sure what to expect, but we visited with an open mind nonetheless. We didn't spend a lot of time in Alice, as it was just a stopover for our trip to Uluru, but overall we liked it. It's not too big, although it is fairly sprawling. It has a nice little town centre, with lots of shops selling art and other interesting bits. We ate some of the nicest food that we've eaten during the whole Australia trip in Alice Springs. Oh, and they even had free WiFi in the town centre! But I can understand why people had negative reactions; at no time did I ever feel unsafe, but I did sometimes feel a little uncomfortable. And this discomfort was related to the local Aboriginals - not to the people themselves, but to the stark sense of separation that can be seen in the town. Having now visited a few cities in Australia, I honestly can't remember seeing any Aboriginal people in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. That said, the main cities are multicultural melting pots, where Asian people now outnumber Caucasians, and you'd be hard pushed to register anyone's ethnicity or background. But in Queensland, we saw lots of indigenous people. You wouldn't particularly notice unless you were specifically looking (which I was, after Alice), as they are, as you'd rightly expect, integrated along with everyone else. Not so in Alice Springs. There, the segregation is stark and shocking. We couldn't fail to notice the Aboriginals, because they were always grouped together, and were never with anyone of a different ethnicity. They often took up whole areas of parkland, where there would be maybe 20 indigenous people all sitting together. As outsiders to the area, we felt uncomfortable with the situation - was the segregation by choice or not? Do the Aboriginal people prefer to stick together or are they shunned by the rest of the town? Or do they, in fact, shun the rest of the town? We felt like it would be an intrusion to go and sit in the same areas - but was this in our heads or not? Would we have been made to feel unwelcome or even asked to leave? Or would they have been pleased not to be ignored? Or would they (most likely) not have given two hoots what we did or where we went?! Coming from a country where integration is key and we are taught that race and colour are irrelevant (as is the case elsewhere in Australia), we found the segregation frankly disturbing. Anyone who knows any history will know how the white men basically stole Australia from the Aborigines a couple of hundred years ago. And anyone who watched the recent John Bishop's Australia will also know that some of the atrocities that happened to the Aboriginal people were frighteningly recent. Yet what we couldn't figure out was whether these atrocities are continuing in Alice Springs, through the segregation, or whether this segregation is actually the Aboriginal people maintaining their right not to mix and conform to the 'white' way of life. Similarly, it was impossible not to notice from their dress that poverty is an issue for the indigenous people. But, again, is this a terrible situation where they are discriminated against when it comes to jobs and therefore struggle financially? Or is it a lifestyle choice, where money is largely irrelevant to the Aboriginal way of life? In the other areas of Australia that we visited, the Aboriginal people seem to be very much integrated and living a 'Western' life. But perhaps this is actually the sadder situation, where their culture has been forgotten, or at least inhibited? I very much hope that the segregation in Alice is down to the choice of the local Aboriginals to retain their culture and way of life. And, if that's the case, then it's well worth the discomfort of a few British tourists!

A step up in the world

I first got the holiday bug aged sixteen, when I went with my best friend to stay with her sister on the Greek island of Mykonos for three weeks. It was the first time I'd been abroad, first time on a plane and, unsurprisingly, the first time I'd been away without an 'adult'. It obviously sparked something, because the next year I went to Amsterdam, Tenerife and twice to Paris (those are the ones I remember). I think this set a precedent, because I've gone on holiday at least four or five times a year ever since - gradually to more 'luxurious' destinations and then, soon after having the kids, on cheaper options. The 'holidays' vary wildly in terms of destination, duration and accommodation - from a night away for a wedding or a five-day city break to a fortnight on a Spanish beach or five weeks travelling round Australia. The point is, by my estimation, I've gone on at least 100 holidays since my childhood. And on all those holidays, prior to this year, have I ever been upgraded? The answer, as far as I can remember, is a big fat no! Of course, some of those holidays - camping, staying with friends - wouldn't have given me the option to upgrade. And, (very) occasionally, we've paid for the upgrade ourselves. But the other 80+ holidays (I'm guessing wildly at numbers here)? Not a hope! I suppose the closest we've ever come was the year we got married (not our honeymoon, I hasten to add, when we didn't even get so much as a bottle of wine for being newlyweds!) - we booked a week in Crete and, a week or so before we were due to go, we got a letter saying that our hotel would be closed due to lack of demand, so they had moved us to another hotel. The new hotel had an extra star compared to the original so, technically, it was an upgrade. But it wasn't the hotel we booked, they obviously didn't have any choice in the matter, and it might not actually have been any nicer - therefore it doesn't count. 

Anyway, back to this year. It started with Butlins. There are three basic standards of apartment - bronze, silver and gold. We booked silver, as is our usual plan of action - not wanting the most basic option but not being willing to splash out on the luxuries - in this case, towels, a dishwasher, a DVD player, housekeeping and priority parking and check-in. Oh, and slightly posher decor, apparently. We arrived at the check-in counter to be told we'd been randomly selected for an upgrade to a gold apartment. Woohoo! Actually, it wasn't quite as good as it sounded - we'd already missed out on the priority parking and check-in for a start. The DVD player wasn't much use, as we hadn't brought any DVDs. The dishwasher would have been lovely, but we ate out every night, and there wasn't much point using it for just breakfast bowls. We took advantage of the housekeeping just once - they came so early, while we were still getting up, that we told them not to worry. We did use the towels (and complimentary toiletries!) - but it would have been useful to know we'd have them ahead of packing our own! Anyway, whatever - we had an upgrade and I was chuffed. 

Roll on a couple of weeks to a girlie break at Champneys. We arrived to be told we'd been upgraded to a superior (or deluxe or executive or whatever the word was) room. I'm not entirely sure what this gave us that you couldn't get in a standard room. We decided it was probably the ground floor location, which gave us our own little terrace with comfy chairs overlooking the weir. I'd known in advance (from trusty Trip Advisor) that the building was undergoing renovations, as people were moaning about the noise. Personally, I was grateful for the building work - we didn't hear any noise but did get an upgrade out of it!

Move on less than two months to our current adventure. At the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Hong Kong, we were told on arrival that we had been upgraded to a grand deluxe room, which, we were told, was bigger than our previous room. Lee's first comment as we walked in was 'How small was the original room?!' The grand deluxe room was not particularly grand in terms of size. However, Hong Kong rooms are notoriously small, and I'd consistently read reviews on Trip Advisor moaning about the size of the rooms in our hotel. Our grand deluxe room was a perfectly reasonable size, which is pretty big in Hong Kong terms. Plus it was kind of deluxe - it had clearly been newly renovated, and everything looked clean, new and luxurious. And an upgrade was a very good start to our holiday! 

The good luck carried on at our next stop. Our first accommodation in Australia was the Seashells in Scarborough, where we had booked a (superior!) two-bedroom apartment. We had to phone the day before, to confirm our arrival, where we were told we'd been upgraded to a three-bed Sandcastles Apartment. In Australia, we soon found that it was the opposite to Hong Kong - due to the abundance of space here, all the hotels and apartments are very spacious. So, as Brits, we were pretty excited when we arrived in our apartment. It wasn't brand spanking new, but it did have good facilities. More importantly, it was huge - bigger than most family houses in the UK. The kids had a bedroom each, which meant they both had a good night's sleep. They also had their own bathroom, as we had an en-suite. The lounge, kitchen and balcony were also very large (not to mention our jacuzzi corner bath). I don't know whether the three-bed apartment was also officially 'superior' - but the space alone was enough to impress us. 

Sadly, the upgrade luck hasn't continued since. To be fair, it would have been difficult - there was only one kind of apartment at the Ayer's Rock Resort, and we'd already booked deluxe rooms in Alice Springs. I'm still trying to get my head around how and why it's happened four times in two months, when it hadn't happened in over 20 years previously. I'm also desperately hoping that, just once, it will happen on a plane. Although I don't want to think about the other passengers' faces if we were to sit our kids down in business class...

Hong Kong heaven

Some random observations and tips for Hong Kong...

Transport

Transport was amazingly straightforward, mainly down to the wonderful Octopus card. This is much like an Oyster card (for UK readers), but with added benefits. We bought ours at an MTR station - adult cards cost HK$150 and children's cards cost $70. The price includes a $50 returnable deposit (although I think a small bit of this is forfeited if you return it within 3 months), and the rest counts towards your travel. You can then top this up at little machines in the MTR stations. Given that the child fares seemed to be half the price of the adult fares, I'm not sure why they only get $20 to spend when adults have $100 - it meant we had to top up the children's cards, even though the adult cards still had plenty of credit. Once you have your Octopus card, travel is really easy. On the MTR (the underground system), you simply swipe the cards at the beginning and end of the journey. On the bus, you just swipe it as you get on - there seems to be one price for a route rather than a destination. You can also use the card on the Star Ferry, the trams (including the Peak Tram) and to buy various non-transport-related things (McDonalds and the 7-11s both take them as payment, for example). The only downside of the Octopus card is that you need to use cash to top it up. Public transport is very cheap - other than the Peak Tram, the most expensive journey was around £1 (to Ocean Park), and the average MTR journey cost 20-40p! We also found the transport system remarkably easy to navigate - everything was signposted, and we had no trouble getting wherever we needed to go.

Weather 

I was warned that it would be humid, but I don't think I really understood the meaning of the word until I went to Hong Kong. Ten metres from the hotel doors and I was wanting to go back for my inhaler. The temperature is hot, but I've been in hotter places; it really is the humidity that gets you. The air is oppressive, and all my plans for hikes went out of the window - how anybody exercises in HK, I don't know. The sweat was soon running down my back and dripping off my face just from walking - I would seriously recommend taking a small towel around with you, just to wipe yourself off! This could also come in handy for the other weather extreme we experienced - rain. The forecast said 'occasional showers' - what it failed to mention was that these showers were downright torrential.  When the rain first started, it was quite pleasant in the heat - thirty seconds later and, if you weren't standing in the right place, you were completely drenched. One of the advantages of Hong Kong is that the buildings are all so tall that it is relatively easy to walk along under their shelter and stay dry. Obviously, if you're in the centre, it's easy to pop into a shop or mall to keep dry, and there are plenty of undercover walkways too. That said, we saw an awful lot of Chinese people carrying umbrellas, which doubled as parasols when the rain stopped - something else I'd recommend to take around with you. One more thing I'd recommend is a light cardi or jacket for when you go inside the air-conditioned shops and restaurants, as they get really cold. Oh, and an inhaler.

Scaffolding

It's made of bamboo. There is bamboo scaffolding hundreds of feet up skyscrapers. It doesn't look safe.

Prices

Once you've got your head around the currency (HK$100 is around £8), you have to get your head around the weird differences in price. Clothes and 'stuff' in general, as far as I could see, tended to be the same sort of price as the UK. The meals in restaurants that we had were also similar prices, if not a little more expensive. McDonalds, however, cost around 2/3 of the prices in the UK (yes, we had a McDonalds!). We had an ice cream at the top of The Peak - it cost around £3.50 (we decided to stick with one scoop...). In Kowloon park, there was a McDonalds kiosk (yes, again - it was the only one there!), and the cones only cost around 50p! Public transport is pretty cheap (see above) - best value award goes to the Star Ferry, which cost around 20p (or just 16p if you travel below deck, but we decided to splash out). Taxis were decent value - not cheap like the MTR but still cheaper than the UK. Even the attractions were good value - an adult ticket to Ocean Park costs around £25, while the child price is half of this and a family ticket costs even less (for comparison, a family ticket to Alton Towers is £170...). Even the Hong Kong Disneyland (which we didn't go to) is much cheaper than its Paris or US counterparts.  The bottom line is, far from finding Hong Kong expensive (as we kept hearing), we generally found it pretty cheap. Just eat in McDonalds and don't buy ice creams at The Peak. 

Diet Coke

It doesn't seem to exist. Coke Zero all the way. What is the actual difference anyway? One calorie?!

Airport transfer

If there are three or four of you, a taxi is definitely your best option. Our hotel provided an airport transfer, but it wasn't cheap. The Airport Express Line is good value (HK$100 or £8 for an adult ticket),  but you still have to get from the station to your hotel. There may be a convenient bus or MTR stop, or the hotel may have a free shuttle bus (ours did). Alternatively, you could get a taxi - but we decided it was easier to get a taxi straight from the airport. It cost around HK$350 including luggage and tolls - for the sake of a few pounds, it was well worth the convenience and not having to wait around and lug our cases. I didn't see any taxis that would take more than 4 people and cases, though. 

Overhead walkways 

Not only were shopping centres good for air-con but they were also good for getting from place to place avoiding the roads (and the heat). Overhead walkways link lots of the shopping centres with MTRs and office buildings, so it's often possible to walk a fair part of your journey under cover and without having to cross some of the busy roads. My tip is to avoid going down(!) unless you have to!

Public toilets

There were lots. They were clean. They had toilet paper, soap and lockable doors. And they were free (take note, London). 

People and language

Everyone we came across was friendly and polite (with the exception of a certain old man). We did find ourselves being stared at a lot, particularly the children. I expected the people of Hong Kong to be very used to white people - I was forgetting that many of those people were actually visiting Hong Kong themselves from China, and had perhaps not seen white people (especially children!) in 'real life'. We also found that everyone spoke English, at least well enough to understand us and make themselves understood. I normally attempt to learn some useful phrases before I go (thank you, if nothing else), but I read that the intonation makes all the difference. So I asked a waitress how to say thank you in Cantonese - turned out she was Thai and didn't know, so I gave up. 

Wildlife

Keep your eyes peeled for unusual birds and some really beautiful butterflies. Oh, and mosquitoes - I didn't see any, but they sure saw me. 

Claustrophobia

If you suffer, don't go to Hong Kong. There's an awful lot of stairs to climb if you don't like lifts...

The curse of the queue

I suffer from queue-rage. It's not the queuing itself that bothers me, although I can't say I like it - it's queue-jumping. It's a primal thing - I have no control over the anger that builds when someone DARES to push in (or try). How I've survived several trips to Disney, I don't know - you can guarantee I'll have been close to exploding on at least five occasions a day. Anyway, when I saw a sign at Ocean Park saying that queue-jumping was prohibited, I was ecstatic - sure enough, everybody queued very nicely, and not once did I have even a small flutter of rage. Likewise, when we started queuing for the Peak Tram, I was very impressed - the queue seemed very orderly, and someone came to put up new barriers as soon as the queue extended past them. This all changed, however, once we got past the turnstiles - what was once a queue became a crowd. And as soon as the tram arrived, the crowd became a free-for-all. Even though we were originally halfway through the 'queue', we were pushed and shoved out of the way until the tram was full, leaving just us and another family still standing on the platform dejectedly. The ten-minute wait for the next tram was annoying - what was worse was the fact that WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THAT TRAM!!!! Anger building at this point... So then they let the next lot of people onto the platform, and an old Chinese man came and stood next to us. 'Oh well,' I thought. 'At least we'll be the first on. It's only fair.' Ha. As soon as the tram arrived, the pushing and shoving started again. Everyone was determined to get on the tram first. Including the little old man. Not to be outdone, I put my arm out to block his way and make sure the boys got on first. You should have heard him tutting. 'We were FIRST!!!' I protested, sounding like a five-year-old. I managed to get me and the boys onto the tram first. He managed to push Lee out of the way. I managed to make myself look both childish and mean to old people. Moral: don't be fooled by Chinese queues. And try and avoid standing in a queue with me. 

Culture shock

Hong Kong had never been on my bucket list - it was simply a convenient destination between the UK and Australia. We decided we wanted to stop somewhere on the way to break up the journey, and Hong Kong and Singapore were the best options. Hong Kong won, simply because it worked out the easiest and cheapest option flight-wise. Plus there was another reason for stopping on the way, apart from reducing flight times and jet lag - being able to cross another continent (and country, of course) off my list. I had already crossed off Europe of course (living there kind of helps), North America, Australasia and Africa (Egypt). South America is still to be done (I'm thinking Rio?), and Antarctica is not really a priority. And then there was Asia. We did stop at Singapore airport for refuelling last time we went to Australia. I sort of counted it as Asia, but was well aware it was cheating. Not only had we not seen any of the country, but I think - officially - the departure lounge of an airport is a bit of a no-man's-land! There was also Turkey; Lee assures me that any part east of the Bosphorus is Asia Minor but I'm still not convinced it counts - it certainly didn't feel like Asia. But there is no doubt that Hong Kong is part of Asia, so I was eager to tick another continent off the list.

At the same time, I was a little wary - Asia per se isn't a continent that's ever really appealed. The accounts of Delhi Belly have always put me off going to India, for a start. Then there's the poverty, the politics and the general 'differentness'... I found my day trip to Egypt (from Cyprus) was a bit of a culture shock, so the thought of Asia always made me a little nervous. It's a long way to go to 'test it out' - but was I really willing to commit to spending a week or more in such a (potentially) different country? Despite loving my holidays, I don't consider myself a 'traveller' - I'm not high-maintenance, and can live without my home comforts (hey, I go camping!), but only to a certain extent. I like to experience different cultures, but in a 'safe' way. I like to try the local food, but no chicken feet or sheep's brains, thank you. I like to have a go at the local language but I like to know I'll be able to get by speaking English. And, most importantly, I like nice toilets. I don't do those awful squat toilets and I certainly don't do toilets with no doors (stories of toilets in China have filled me with horror!). I do nice, clean, pleasant-smelling toilets, with a lockable door, soap by the sinks and plenty of toilet paper.

Anyway, a stop in Hong Kong seemed like the perfect choice, given my misgivings. Firstly, it was a short stop - if I didn't like it, I knew I wouldn't be staying long. Plus I hadn't wasted time or (too much) money, as it was part of a journey I was making anyway. Secondly, it was a 'safe' way to experience China - the perfect compromise. I would get to experience the culture of China - the food, the language, the climate, the people, etc. - but with the added 'Westerness' that Hong Kong brings. A quick Google search told me all the signs are in English as well as Cantonese, and most of the people also speak English. The long British occupation of Hong Kong has left several legacies - which meant that I could experience China in a British kind of way.

I was still a little apprehensive about Hong Kong, however. It was still going to be far-removed from anywhere I'd been before. But everyone I spoke to who's been there (quite a lot of people) sung its praises, and I soon understood why. It's a beautiful city, one that my family and I all liked very much, and with plenty to do. In theory, it should still have been a massive culture shock. It's hard to explain how it feels to be the only white people in a sea of Chinese faces - certainly we were an unusual site (or at least the children were), judging by the amount of stares and points we got. It's strange to be in a country where, despite the English signs, the other signs don't use figures that are even vaguely recognisable. I may not be able to read much Spanish, for example, but at least I can still understand numbers! Even the Greek alphabet makes some sense to me. There were so many other things that were very different culturally - the buildings, the currency (it's hard to get your head around $100 only being around £8), the general ways of the people... Yet, at the same time, it didn't feel like a culture shock at all. Stood on the MTR (the Hong Kong metro), surrounded by Chinese people, all speaking a different language and most of them staring at the children, I thought I'd have felt uncomfortable. But I didn't. Lee and I mused over this - we were both surprised at just how at-home we felt. I guess there is still enough 'Britishness' to feel comfortable with those things that are typically Chinese. Our overwhelming feeling upon leaving Hong Kong was that we'd barely scratched the surface - there's so much we didn't do or see, and we'd really like the chance. I might even be prepared to try China, now we've 'tested the water'.

Oh, and the public toilets? Lovely. Clean, lots of toilet roll, doors that locked and antibacterial soap. And there were lots of them. Might be another reason I'm keen to come back to Hong Kong...

Good intentions...

As I write this, we are about to embark on a five-and-a-bit-week tour of Australia with two stops in Hong Kong thrown in for good measure. Those of you who know me personally will know I update my Facebook status religiously when I'm on holiday. It's not all about smug, show-off photos of beaches and pools - although there is that too. It's more likely to be about the various disasters we encounter - and believe me, there are many! It's also nice for family to be able to keep up with where we are and what we're doing - especially when it relates to the kids - and it's turned out to be a way for my mum, amongst others, to vicariously holiday through us. So I plan, Wi-Fi allowing, to do the same this holiday. However, I tend to keep my Facebook updates fairly short - partly because not all my FB friends are actually interested and partly because I haven't got the time to write long updates every day. So I plan to try to update my blog regularly - that way, those FB friends who can be bothered can read about our holiday in more detail, while those who think 'here she goes again' can scroll quickly past my posts in their news feeds. And my random blog readers get to hear all about our adventures in Oz - lucky you! There is also an advantage in writing about things as or soon after they happen - trying to write numerous blog posts a week after arriving home is never quite the same, and I can never remember half the stuff that happened. Of course, I was full of good intentions when I first started this blog too. I was going to update it at least once a week, preferably twice or more. It didn't happen, of course - I think I went over a month between updates once. Now I'll be limited to when and where I can get Wi-Fi access on holiday, plus writing posts on a phone is a lot harder than on the PC. And much as I enjoy writing, I don't want to waste precious holiday time blogging when I could be swimming, eating, exploring, catching up with friends or lying on a beach. So, as I said, I PLAN to update my blog regularly, but I make no promises. In the meantime, here's to good intentions!

Fear of flying

I'm lucky that I've never been frightened of flying. Admittedly, I don't actually believe in aeroplanes. You can talk science to me until you're blue in the face, but I'll never understand how a 300-ton piece of metal stays in the air, let alone how it gets there in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, it must be magic, so I try not to think about that too much when I'm actually in the air. But I'm not one of those people who sits nervously waiting at the airport, knocking back a G&T or a Valium. And, on the whole, I enjoy the flight itself, although it rather depends on who's sitting behind me.

This time will be different. For the first time, I'm actually worried about the flight. Stressed is normal - but this time I'm scared. It started, of course, with the announcement about the terrorist threat on flights to and from America. I felt instantly relieved that we were travelling in the opposite direction, especially as we had previously considered America as a destination for this summer. I felt less confident, however, when the advice was extended to all flights. Practically, it's no problem - my phone would always be charged up before a flight anyway, although I imagine the queues for security will be a fair bit longer. It's more the idea of it - someone somewhere's sole purpose in life right now is to work on an undetectable device of mass murder. It makes me feel sick to the stomach. It is always awful to turn on the television and hear about an earthquake or a tsunami, where the loss of life can be devastating. But somehow it feels worse to me when I hear about something caused by other people - deliberate and avoidable. Likewise, there are so many terrible wars going on in the world, and I feel for everybody involved and those who've lost friends and family. But I am guilty, like many others, of being able to put it to the back of my mind, as it doesn't directly affect me. The tragic events of 911 touched so many because it brought things to the forefront of people's minds. Suddenly, this wasn't something happening somewhere else. This was something that could happen to us. I remember trying to explain what had happened to a class of 30 seven-year-olds - it was very difficult to reassure them when I was feeling so scared myself. And here we are again, with a potential threat of another aircraft disaster hanging over us, and the knowledge that there are people out there trying to cause it. But life has to go on, I told myself. It's probably an extra-safe time to fly, as there are so many extra precautions in place. It won't happen to me - what are the chances? But in the back of my mind, there's the knowledge that everyone thinks it won't happen to them - but it does happen to some people...

Just as I was starting to adjust to the whole bombs-in-phones issue, I heard the devastating news about the Malaysian Airlines plane that was shot down (allegedly) over the Ukraine. Hearing about a major plane disaster ahead of taking a flight myself was never going to be good. But, again, the fact that it was deliberate rather than accidental makes it all the more tragic - and frightening. I cried when I read about all those innocent people, going on holiday, returning from visiting family, en route to a work conference - all caught in the wrong place at the wrong time in a conflict that had nothing to do with them. Of course, there are so many innocent people that lose their lives every day, through war, famine, illness or accident - and, as a mother , I find myself crying very easily when I read about it. I confess I often take the route of closing my ears and eyes and not thinking about it, because it's just so damn depressing. But this particular disaster has affected me that little bit more because - well, it could have been me. It could have been my family and friends talking on the news about the tragic end to our trip of a lifetime. It's easy to separate yourself from things that are happening on the other side of the world. But when you and your family are flying right over the top of them, it's a different matter. I'm suddenly filled with such a sense of responsibility, knowing that I'm making the decision to take my children on a flight at such a politically volatile time. Am I being irresponsible? On the plus side, I'm guessing there will be all sorts of extra security and safeguards in light of the recent awful events. There's probably never been a safer time to fly - but I wish with all my heart that the reason for that hadn't been the loss of so many innocent lives.

So, we're going to Australia. On a plane. And I'm scared. But I'm also telling myself not to be so silly. You can't live life too frightened to do anything. Life is short, and I want to live it without regrets - as far as I can. Life goes on, and hopefully we will look back on this summer as one filled with amazing experiences - and we'll be very glad we took the plunge and carried on regardless.

Incidentally,  I visited the Cathay Pacific website soon after hearing about the Malaysian plane, in the hope of reassuring myself that they don't fly over Ukranian airspace (they don't). The first thing I saw on their home page was typhoon warnings for flights to and from Hong Kong (our first stop). Great... anything else?!

Freedom

We're off to Hong Kong and Australia a week on Friday, and I admit to feeling a certain sense of trepidation. Lee, if he's honest, would rather camp around France for the summer again, and I must admit I'll miss the tent this year. What I'll miss most, though, is the freedom and flexibility to do what we want when we want. Of course, we're always tied to our ferry or tunnel crossing (although that's more flexible than a flight), and we often book a hotel or the odd campsite in advance. We also usually have a rough itinerary in our heads - probable routes and destinations and ideas for possible campsites. But the beauty of it is that we're not tied down to anything. If the weather is cold and we fancy heading south sooner than planned, we can do. If we particularly like a campsite or there's lots to do in the area, we can stay a bit longer. If our neighbours are too noisy, we can move on to another campsite. Nothing is set in stone, and there's no pressure to be somewhere at a particular time.

This holiday is going to be very different. Although we've included a ten-day drive along the Queensland coast in our itinerary, Australia is way too big a country to be able to drive around it all - that means, of course, that we've had to book a lot of flights. In fact, including our stops in Hong Kong, we have ten flights booked for this holiday. Flights don't just tie you down, they tether you with unbreakable cable-ties. Although in theory the flights could be changed in an emergency, one change in flight has a knock-on effect on all the other flights and accommodation - not to mention the potential charges involved. And even a short flight ends up taking almost a whole day once you allow for travel to and from the airport, check-in times, customs and waiting for your luggage. Although we're going for over five weeks, a large amount of that time will be spent on planes or at airports, and it doesn't actually allow for as much time sightseeing as you'd think. At least when we're driving around France, we can please ourselves, stop when we want to and see things on the way. Not to mention the fact that we don't have to check-in with anyone and our luggage stays happily in the car (this in itself is a huge plus - no grappling with cases and hand luggage to contend with!).

In theory, our ten-day drive from Cairns to Brisbane should provide a little more freedom. In practice, however, it's just not - well - practical. In France, we have a tent - that means you can turn up pretty much anywhere and be able to find somewhere to sleep. Even the busiest campsites usually have at least a few pitches free, and when you have no set route, it's easy enough just to drive somewhere else if they're full. In Australia, we won't have a tent. No, it's not because we're scared of snakes, spiders and kangaroos (although they could certainly cause some issues) - it's more to do with the practicalities (or impracticalities) of packing a tent and all our camping gear and taking it on the plane with us. Which leaves us with hotels, motels, B&Bs, apartments, etc. All well and good, but a little more likely to be booked up in advance than campsites. Add to this the fact that Australia is so much less populated than France, and therefore there just aren't quite so many overnight places to choose from. When travelling with kids, you just can't take the risk of not having anywhere to stay for the night. It's easier to find somewhere with room for two than four, and it wouldn't matter too much to us if we didn't find somewhere until late, whereas the kids need their sleep. Lee and I could sleep in the car if it came to it, but I wouldn't want to inflict that on the kids (nor inflict all of us sleeping in the car on us, for that matter!). The bottom line is that we have had to book all our accommodation in advance to ensure we have somewhere to stay. We'll still have the option of driving straight from one hotel to the next and arriving early or taking a more leisurely drive and arriving later, which will make a change from the rigours of airport check-ins, but this part of the holiday is still pretty much set in stone. We've even booked a few trips in advance because we're scared they'll get booked up and won't be able to fit us in if we don't!

So all in all, it's a pretty different holiday for us. I could tell you fairly accurately exactly where we'll be at any given time on any given day - I have the five-page itinerary to prove it! In theory, this should suit my control-freak personality, but the laid-back part of me (there must be one somewhere!) loves the spontaneity of our camping adventures and the freedom of not knowing where we're going next. Of course, I neglected to mention the time when we drove around the Carcassonne area of France for three hours and tried around 20 campsites, none of which had room for us. We ended up in a convoy of camper vans, caravans and cars with roof boxes, all clearly in the same position, and all desperately hoping to spot a campsite before the others. We found somewhere eventually, of course, but it wasn't very nice, and we had to put the tent up in the dark with two very tired and hungry children moaning at us. I do remember the mounting feeling of panic that we had nowhere to stay and two children to worry about - suddenly that freedom was not looking quite so attractive. So at least this time we know we've got somewhere to stay every night - and, thanks to Trip Advisor, we know our accommodation will be nice. And if I really get an urge for spontaneity and freedom of choice, maybe I'll go for a strawberry ice cream instead of my usual chocolate...