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...

The time when The List didn't work (also known as the time when The List would have worked perfectly well if it wasn't for my husband...)

On reading my last blog, a friend reminded me that The List isn't quite guaranteed to ensure you don't forget anything. To be fair, I didn't actually forget anything at all. The List was written, the bags were packed. Everything I needed for my holiday went into those bags. Most of those bags went into the car. You see? Not my fault!

Luckily, it wasn't an epic camping adventure or a five-week trip to Australia - it was just a week-long trip around the UK, visiting friends. Also luckily, all my clothes were in a case, and the bag in question just contained my 'stuff' - brush, book, make-up, etc. I packed all the bags myself, and asked Lee to load them into the car. He says it was my fault for not leaving all the bags in clear sight. I say it was my fault for thinking it was safe to delegate. Either way, we were at a motorway service station  several hours' drive away when I realised. We only opened up the boot because my son (a toddler at the time) had wet himself and needed a change of clothes. A quick search through the boot for his clothes, and I realised my bag was missing. We then had the decision of whether to turn round and go home for it or to carry on regardless. Of course, we chose the latter option. It wasn't too much of a problem, as I still had all my clothes - it just took a trip to the local supermarket to buy supplies (good excuse for a new book!). The only real problem was that my inhalers were also in the bag still sitting expectantly in my hallway at home. Cue a delightful evening spent at the walk-in centre at the local hospital, waiting for a prescription.

So what did I learn from this experience? Firstly, The List is still the way to go - I did actually remember everything! Secondly, if you do forget something, it's not the end of the world. Most things can be bought while you're away (even clothes - what a great excuse!). Lastly, if you want something done, DO IT YOURSELF!!!

How do you pack for five weeks?!

In exactly three weeks, we're going to Australia. For just over five weeks. Gulp. After countless holidays, to different places and of different durations, I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert on packing. But this one is going to be tough. Here's a few reasons why:

1. Duration
Okay, this one's a no-brainer. A week is easy. A fortnight's no problem. But five weeks is a different matter entirely. Obviously, we can't take five weeks' worth of clothes. But we still need enough to last us...

2. Weather
If we were going for five weeks in the Caribbean, it would be easy. You could pack a bikini for every day of the holiday, plus a few summer dresses, and still have room to bring back a pineapple and a bottle of rum. But when we go, it will be winter in Australia. Obviously, an Australian winter is nothing like a British winter. But it does match our autumn. The temperatures in the north of Queensland are likely to be in the mid to late 20s (Celsius for those who think in Fahrenheit!), but temperatures in Melbourne may go down to 10 degrees - and let's not mention night-time temperatures. When we visited Sydney ten years ago, it was so cold when we arrived that I went out and bought a hat and scarf! Yet two days later, it was warm enough to be wearing shorts and T-shirt. Plus we also spend a few days in Hong Kong, where the weather will be hot and humid. Basically, we need to take winter and summer clothes and something in between. In a nod to Antipodean talent, I keep finding myself adapting Crowded House's song and singing 'Four Seasons in One Holiday...'

3. Weight
Lugging suitcases around is hard-going at the best of times. But this holiday, it's going to be made extra difficult due to Lee's fractured spine. All is nearly recovered, and the specialist said Lee should be able to resume normal 'sporting' activity (ha!) around now. 'Great,' said Lee, 'does that mean I'll be able to carry the cases on holiday?' 'Oh no,' was the reply, accompanied with a grave shaking of the head. This means, of course, that it will be yours truly hefting cases on and off trollies and conveyer belts, and in and out of cars, trains and coaches. Our hold luggage limit is 20kg per case - several people have already been horrified that it's not the usual 23kg. Sod that - I'll be the one carrying it! Not only do we have to pack five weeks' worth of stuff into four cases and four hand luggage bags, but those cases need to be light enough for Lee and the boys to pull, and light enough for me to actually lift! And who cares what the hand luggage weight limit is - we have to carry those bags!

4. Living out of a suitcase
Normally when you go on holiday, you unpack when you get there. It doesn't matter how things fit in the suitcase - as long as they actually do fit - because once you get there, you're going to unpack them all. Shoes tend to go at the bottom of the case, followed by clothes and then anything else. It doesn't matter if you don't know where things are, 'cos they'll all come out of the case when you reach your destination. Clothes aren't kept packed for long enough to crease much - and hanging them up in the wardrobe when you get there means that most of the creases will drop out anyway. Travelling around, however, makes things a bit more difficult. When you're only in one place for a night or two, is it really worth unpacking everything? It would be easy enough if you only had one or two nights' worth of stuff, but unpacking five weeks' worth every couple of days is a hassle, and takes up a large chunk of what little time you have at a destination. So you leave most of your stuff in the suitcase - which brings a whole host of problems. Clothes end up creased from being folded so long. Trying to get shoes from the bottom of your case means the clothes on top get messed up - and how the hell do you put them back again?! How do you find the dress you want in amongst all the other clothes? And how do you separate out the dirty clothes?! Help!

Of course, I refuse to be defeated, and I'm nothing if not resourceful (ahem!). My first weapon is, unsurprisingly, The List. This doesn't apply to this holiday specifically, of course - I have made The List for every holiday I've been on since the age of about 17. It started off as a list in a little notebook - the clothes I would take and all the other important bits like toothbrush, sun-cream, books, etc. Each time I went on holiday, I would dig out my notebook and look at my most recent list and then write a new one, using that for inspiration. It was invariably the same but with slightly different clothes, depending on what I'd bought in between holidays. It took an embarrassingly long time to realise that the computer was actually a far better option than a notebook. I now have a 'Holiday Packing Lists' folder on my PC, with lists for every holiday I've been on for the last five years (which is quite a lot). Each time I go on holiday, I look through the files to find the previous holiday that matches most closely. Is it a few days, a week, a fortnight or the whole summer? Is it UK, city break, beach or camping? You get the idea. Then I read through the list, make a few alterations (don't think we need nappies or a dummy anymore, but the iPhone has now been invented...) and save it for the current holiday, to be used again in the future. Anal, I know. But it's much safer (and easier, of course) than making a list from scratch each time, let alone (shudder) not making one. It's very unlikely that I'll get to my destination and suddenly realise I've left behind something vital, or even something completely unimportant.

Anyway, this will be my first step towards this summer's packing. But what are my plans for dealing with the problems above?

1. Washing
Yup, also a no-brainer. We simply can't take five weeks' worth of clothes - fact. And I refuse (as some people have seriously suggested) to throw away the dirty clothes on holiday and buy new ones as we go - wasteful and expensive! Which only really leaves washing. It's what you'd do at home! We're pretty used to this from our camping extravaganzas - we usually take enough clothes to last around ten days, and then make sure we stay at a campsite with a laundrette. This time we're staying in a few apartments, as well as with friends, so hopefully we'll be able to do a few loads of washing there while we're away. If necessary, we'll trawl the streets of wherever, looking for a laundrette (as we did once in Spain - an interesting experience!). Other than clothes, the duration isn't really a problem. You'd take a toothbrush, phone and camera whether you went for three days or three months. And it's not as if you can't buy things that run out while you're away, like shower gel and toothpaste. The only real problem is books. We're all readers in our family, the kids included. And we read more on holiday than at any other time. Normally it'll take me a month or so to finish a book, but I'll easily get through a couple a week on holiday. Yes, I know, Kindle, blah blah blah. I know it's the solution. But I like books. Hey, something's gotta give.

2. Um...layering?
There's no great answer to this one, really. There's no getting away from the fact that we're going to need swimsuits for the beach, shorts for Hong Kong, raincoats for Perth and jumpers for Melbourne. Not to mention walking boots for Ayers Rock, flip-flops for Queensland and comfy, waterproof shoes for most other places. The only thing we can do is take a few staples in neutral colours and layer them up in the colder weather. Forget pretty dresses and colour schemes - this holiday wardrobe is all about practical, comfortable, non-crease and tumble-dryable (is that a word?!). Denim goes with everything, so jeans, cropped jeans, denim shorts and denim skirt make life easier, as all tops will go with them. Vest tops, T-shirts and a couple of hoodies should see me through all weather, plus a couple of dresses just in case. (You may notice I'm not speaking from a male perspective here; shorts, jeans, T-shirts and hoodies will suffice there - easy!) We've bought light waterproof jackets for everyone - warmer than cagoules but small and light enough to fit in the front pocket of the cases. Plus we'll pack a hat and scarf for everyone (I learnt my lesson in Sydney last time!), which should be enough to keep out the wind. Sorted (hopefully)!

3. New cases
Our old cases are - well - old. They're heavy, they fall over if you attempt to stand them up, and - the most important bit - two of the handles have jammed, meaning they're pretty difficult to pull unless you're four-foot-nothing. Yup, we needed new cases. And this time we needed cases that were light and easy to pull. Obviously, we'll need to pack as light as possible, because I'll have to lift these cases frequently, but the weight of the cases themselves plays a big part in that. I keep seeing these 'lightest suitcases in the world' in shops. Given that they're all made by different brands, they can't all be telling the truth, but they certainly are light. However, they also look very flimsy, and I'm not convinced they'd do a good job of protecting everything inside. So, it was off to my tried and tested friend Amazon, where at least I could read some reviews and work out which cases were likely to survive ten flights (and preferably more after that). I eventually settled on Aerolite cases, which were light, had four wheels and, most importantly, had good reviews. Actually, scrap that - most importantly, they were really reasonably priced. The price seemed to depend on the colour and the availability - the most expensive was £129 but, by choosing the cheapest colours, we were able to get the largest one for £40 and the others (two small and one medium - although it's actually pretty big) for £20 each. They arrived last week, and so far I'm pretty impressed. The handles extend to varying heights, making them easy for everyone to pull. The four wheels mean they can stand alone - particularly vital for the kids, who always let go of the handles when they stop pulling, only to see the cases fall to the ground. The four wheels also mean that the cases can be pushed, pulled or just rolled along next to you. Even a five-year-old and a man with a fractured spine should be able to manoeuver these. And I realised how light they were when they arrived and I lifted the biggest case out of the box, thinking how much lighter it was than our old one. I then searched the other box for the medium case, wondering where it was, until I realised it was actually inside the biggest case - yup, both cases combined weigh less than our old case! They even each came with a combination lock - bargain. Obviously I haven't yet put them through the rigorous testing of our holiday, but so far I'm impressed. And no, I'm not on commission - although maybe I should be...

4. Clever packing
I've had a certain amount of practice at this during our camping holidays, where you certainly don't get to unpack. I've now developed a rigorous system for camping packing, which has worked really well so far. We have the overnight case, which has everything we all need for night-time - toothbrush, PJs, shower gel, book, etc. - and this comes into the tent as soon as we've put it up. We have a bag each for clothes, which stays in the car and gets accessed in the morning when we're getting dressed. We have a bag for toiletries, medicines, shower gel refills, sun cream, etc. A bag for books, toys, board games and other miscellaneous bits. A bag for shoes and a bag for beach stuff. And of course we have boxes for food and cooking utensils - plus sleeping bags, camping stove and so on. Okay, this won't exactly work for flights - plus we won't be needing airbeds and camping chairs - but I can certainly borrow from it. The first thing is the overnight case - this will be what travels in our hand luggage. We'll all take what we need for a night in our own hand luggage - even the boys should manage to carry PJs, a toothbrush, a book and a teddy. This way, if we arrive somewhere late at night, we don't even have to open the cases to find everything we need to get ready for bed. The second thing is rolling. I wasn't convinced initially when someone suggested rolling clothes for packing instead of folding them. I'm still not 100% convinced that it takes up less space or stops creases. However, it does make it an awful lot easier to locate and remove items of clothing without upsetting all the other ones. The final thing is separate bags for different things. I did briefly wonder about using one case for clothes, one for shoes, one for books, etc., but quickly realised the uneven distribution would make this a problem. So my solution is dividers: I'm going to make cardboard dividers to stick in the cases and separate them into different compartments. Yes, I really have no life. Shoes can all go in one compartment, preferably at the bottom of the case when it's standing, to help stabilise it. Clothes will go in another compartment, rolled of course. Everything else will go in the other compartment, probably in the middle. That way, everything should be easy to find and take out without upsetting everything else in the case. I'm even going to have a divider ready to make up a dirty-clothes compartment. Oh yes, I know how to live.

So that's the plan. It's by no means fool-proof, but I'm hoping it will help to reduce some of the potential problems with this mammoth packing task. I haven't even written the packing list yet, let alone made the dividers, but I have been planning this for months. I will let you know if it works...!

Hilton Rose Hall, Jamaica

Another Trip Advisor review copied and pasted - this time with added videos if you scroll to the end!

I’m a bit late with this review, as I stayed with my husband and two children (five and eight) in February, but we had an amazing time, and I really couldn’t fault anything!

The staff were all brilliant. With the exception of one lady at reception, everyone was friendly, chatty and helpful. Contrary to what I’ve read in other reviews, we never felt under pressure to tip. We usually did tip anyway (I’d advise non-Americans to change up a bunch of $1 and $2 notes before you visit, for this purpose) but didn’t feel that the service was any different on those occasions when we didn’t.

The room was great. Fairly standard for a Hilton, and not very ‘Jamaican’ but it was clean and comfortable, with toiletries, TV, safe and iPod player. It had a fridge, which was replenished everyday with bottles of still mineral water. We had a decent-sized balcony with beautiful views over the pool and the sea. It was a ‘partial-sea view’ room, and it certainly wouldn’t be worth paying for the full view, as ours was just fine! No lights on the balcony if you want to sit outside at night, but we used one of the lights from the room and could see perfectly. I’ve read lots of reviews complaining about the noise from the entertainment, but I really didn’t see the problem. It was fairly loud if you were on the balcony or had the door open, but if you were inside with the door shut, it was quiet (and the children were able to sleep through it). We went to bed fairly early (never quite got over the jet lag!) and it was always finished before we went to bed.

  

The cleaning was of a good standard throughout. Our lovely maid Jacinta made towel sculptures every day and left us little notes. Everywhere was clean, and you often saw staff walking around collecting litter. Yes, you occasionally saw cups around the pool that hadn’t been collected because they’d been left in stupid places – this reflects more on the guests than the hotel.

The food was delicious! We ate almost exclusively in Fresh, the buffet – the food was so good, we kept coming back, there was lots of choice, and I like the way a buffet gives you the chance to try different foods (especially good for children!). There was a theme every night, and there was always plenty to choose from, including Jamaican specialities and a kids’ buffet. There were lots of fresh tropical fruit available, and a good selection of juices and non-alcoholic drinks as well as alcoholic. The breakfasts were amazing – as well as the usual cooked and continental breakfast fare, there were omelettes, pancakes, waffles and French toast cooked to order, as well as a variety of fresh smoothies and some traditional Jamaican breakfast dishes. We didn’t eat at either of the a la carte restaurants (Luna Di Mare – Italian – and Three Palms – Jamaican) – we did make reservations but we couldn’t get them until 9pm, and we soon realised this was too late for the children (and us – jet lag again!) so we cancelled. If you would like to eat at these restaurants, it’s worth booking as soon as you arrive. We didn’t eat at the Seaside Grill either (just didn’t get around to it), but we had some lighter lunches at Mangoes a couple of times, which were very nice. They also had an al-fresco barbecue restaurant set up near the beach/pool while we were there.

The pool was great. There’s a traditional rectangular pool in front of the main building, where aqua-aerobics and other activities take place, and then there is also the waterpark. This makes it sound grander than it is, but there was enough to keep us happy – one big slide, on which you need to go down on an inner tube, and three shorter slides (no tube needed), joined together with little pools. There were height limits, but these didn’t seem to be implemented on the smaller slides, although the lifeguards were always very attentive. There is also the lazy river to float around on a tube, as well as a swim-up bar (the smoothies/slushies are to die for). It wasn’t always easy to find a free tube, but we always managed it if we looked hard enough! Same story with sunbeds – there were the usual reservation issues but we usually managed to find sunbeds somewhere, and the staff were good at helping with this.

 

As other people have mentioned, the beach isn’t the best in Jamaica, but it’s okay. There is an adults-only beach towards the left, which was always very quiet, and the right end is more crowded. Again – we always managed to find a sunbed in the end! The sea was lovely and warm, and there’s an area roped off for safe swimming, but it was too sandy to be able to snorkel. We did sign up for a snorkelling trip, but the sea was too rough for that or the glass-bottomed boat, which was a real pity. We did have a go at kayaking, though, which was fun and free! There was also the opportunity to go sailing (also free), but we didn’t try it.

 

Other activities included tennis, paddle board (like table tennis), corn toss and giant chess. There were various things organised by the animation team too, for adults and families, like dance lessons. There were books and board games to borrow from the towel hut. There was a children’s play area and a kids’ club, which our boys went to on several occasions. They had a great time, and did all sorts of things. This was also free, but there was a small charge for some of the craft activities where they got to take something home. The evening entertainment was relatively samey – a band and/or singer, usually playing/singing reggae – but it was enjoyable and laid-back and helped you feel you were in Jamaica and not somewhere else in the Caribbean. They had occasional other acts and activities too, like the hermit crab racing, which was good fun. There is an area near reception where you can get free WiFi, although you have to re-register every day and it is quite slow. There is a golf course on one side of the hotel, which is nice for a walk around even if you don’t play golf. We didn’t leave the hotel except for a visit to the nearby Rose Hall Great House, which is worth a trip – the hotel has a free shuttle bus that takes you there. The bus also takes you to a nearby shopping centre, but I can’t comment on this!

 

 

 

The thing that really made my holiday special was the extras. It was my birthday at the beginning of the holiday, and our maid obviously saw my birthday cards, as she made me a beautiful towel heart on the bed with a happy birthday note. My husband also mentioned it when he made our restaurant reservations – they then brought me out a special pudding at lunchtime with candles and my name, and sang happy birthday. When we returned to the room later, they had sent up a bottle of champagne and a personalised card – these little touches really made the holiday for me.

All in all, we had an amazing time, the only downside being that we only had a week and it wasn’t nearly long enough!

For a tour of the hotel and grounds, have a look at my YouTube videos below. You can visit my YouTube channel (Holiday obsessive) for more holiday-related videos (with more to be uploaded soon...).

Review of Champneys Henlow

To save me writing things twice, here's my Trip Advisor review of Champneys at Henlow Grange, where I recently spent a one-night break. Highly recommend if you'd like a bit of pampering!

This was my second visit to Champneys Henlow, after a break of nine years. I was wondering what to expect, after the reviews seemed to suggest that the standards had dropped. Well, I've come to the conclusion that maybe I'm just not that fussy, or perhaps I have different priorities to other people. For me, the most important things are having friendly staff, nice food and good facilities, and in this respect I had no complaints. Life is too short to worry about a slightly worn carpet or a bit of peeling paint. When we arrived, we were greeted straightaway and shown to a drawing room with our welcome pack to complete our details. They obviously do need to work on their admin, as they still had my old address and had not got us down for the correct treatments, despite my having emailed them. However, it was easily sorted after a quick trip to the spa reception - in fact, we were able to arrange more convenient times, so it actually worked in our favour! We also received a complementary upgrade to a superior room, due to the renovation work that everyone keeps mentioning. While we saw a little bit of scaffolding, it in no way affected our stay. Our room was very nice - we had a little table and chairs on a patio outside, overlooking the weir. Yes, we had some mosquitoes, but if you leave the windows open in the summer, what do you expect? There was a warning notice in the room about this - I'm not sure what else Champneys can do!

We had a flat screen TV, DVD player, tea and coffee facilities, hairdryer, Champneys toiletries, a rain mac, a robe and flip-flops (which you can take home). The beds were comfy and the room was clean. If I was trying to be picky, the carpet was a bit old and one of the curtain rods (for closing them) was missing - were we bothered?! The food was delicious and healthy to boot, and we had no problems being seated or brought our drinks - the staff were efficient and friendly. The spa facilities were good; there were a few broken lockers, but we never had problems finding empty ones, and there were plenty of towels. There is a laconium, a steam room, a sauna and a 25m pool (which could have done with being a bit warmer). There are only 5 showers and 2 changing rooms but, again, we never had to wait for these. Despite it being a weekend, we had no problems booking in for classes, of which there were loads to choose from. You have to pay £3 to book in advance, but they are free if you book on the day. We had two treatments each, which were lovely, and a thalassotherapy session, which was good fun. There are plenty of sun beds around the pool, sun loungers outside and some lovely relaxing areas inside, so there are plenty of places to go if you'd just like to chill out for a while. The grounds are beautiful and huge, and there is a nature walk you can do at one end of the grounds. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, and really couldn't do enough for you. We were given a personal tour of the facilities and, when we were seen carrying bags, everybody offered to help, from cleaners to fitness staff and waiters! We had another small problem on checking out, where we were charged for a bottle of wine instead of a glass - again, this was easily fixed, and we ended up getting the glass free! Overall, the only problem we had was that there simply wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted - next time, I'd like at least a week, please!

So many holidays, so little time...

When I started this blog, I was worried I wouldn't have enough to say. Okay, so I go away pretty much every school holiday, but would that really give me enough to write about? I could write a review of the hotel, tell a funny holiday story... but what about the time in between holidays? I clearly needn't have worried. I never finished writing about Benidorm, and I barely started on Jamaica - and I've been away again since then! I still have a whole bunch of videos to add to YouTube and a review to do on Trip Advisor - and I have another holiday to go on in just over a week...! Clearly, regardless of the amount of material I have to write about, the amount of time I have to write it is the bigger issue. Much as I love holidays, writing and combining the two, life gets in the way. School runs, cleaning, washing, cooking, after-school clubs, not to mention work - blogging doesn't get much of a look in! Even when there's a break in the almost never-ending list of things I 'should be doing', I almost feel too guilty to blog, 'cos there's probably something else more 'important' that I 'should be doing' instead. But that is exactly why I like holidays so much! Holidays are the one time that I don't feel guilty for doing something 'unimportant'. On holiday, I don't have to cook, clean, load the dishwasher or tidy up. Childcare is shared between me and my husband - and it's so much easier because we don't have the stresses and pressure of the usual time schedules. We don't have to think about bills, work, appointments and all those other things that shouldn't in theory take that long to take care of but still seem to occupy so much time in your head. We don't have to be anywhere at a certain time - unless you count getting to the restaurant in time for dinner or making sure we don't lie in long enough to waste the day! At home, if I have time off work, I can't relax - if I'm not actually doing chores, I'm thinking about doing them, or thinking about something else I should be doing instead. But on holiday, it's different - I physically can't do anything about work or the house, so I don't think about it. We're all so much happier and more relaxed. I may well come back from a holiday physically exhausted, but mentally I've had a break, and I feel so much better!

Anyway, I'll make it my mission to at least catch up on my last holidays before I go away this summer. With five weeks in Australia to write about when I get back, I'm going to have to make sure I'm up to date first. And all those 'important' things I 'should be doing' may just have to wait!

Near miss

Sat stuck in traffic for an hour on the M25 the other day took me back to an almost-holiday-disaster the first time we went to Jamaica, about ten years ago. We had lunchtime or early afternoon flights - can't remember which but, either way, they were late enough that we didn't think it was worth getting an overnight hotel package. However, airport parking for two weeks was expensive, and not such good value without a hotel, so when friends offered us a lift to the airport, it was the perfect solution. They were already heading in that direction to visit family who lived near Heathrow - we just needed to get the train home. We left plenty of time - they normally advise you to check in three hours ahead of a long-haul flight, and we'd given ourselves more than enough time (or so we thought) for the under-two-hour drive to Heathrow. But then we came to a standstill. It wasn't the crawling kind of jam you get when there's roadworks or just due to the sheer weight of traffic - this was the not-moving-anywhere kind of jam that you know is down to an accident. We later found out that someone had jumped off a bridge - horrible. All we knew at this point, though, was that we had flights to catch, we weren't moving, and I was starting to need the loo. The worst thing about those kind of jams is that you really have no idea how long you're going to be stuck. At least with roadworks, you know you'll get through eventually. With this, on the other hand, we didn't know what had happened, when it had happened or how long before the road was cleared. I remember sitting for a couple of hours on a dual carriageway more recently, when eventually we all had to do U-turns and drive the wrong way to the nearest exit. And I've only just heard about the jam on the M26 last week, when the road was closed for four hours, and people were walking their dogs on the motorway. In the meantime, there we were, not knowing what was happening, panicking about our flights and needing the toilet more and more each second. Of course, this was in the days before iPhones and mobile internet, so we didn't have any way of finding out any information. If I'd known how long we were going to be stuck, I'd have got out of the car and gone for a wee by the side of the road, but the thought of the car driving off while I stood on the hard shoulder with my knickers round my ankles was enough to stop me...! After a while, we started to realise there was a very good chance of us missing our flights. I was reading through all our insurance details, trying to find out if we'd be covered - it didn't look like it. And what would we do? Could we reschedule our holiday? Could we get later flights? Would it be worth it? Just how much money were we going to lose? And how much longer could I last before wetting myself or taking the plunge with the hard shoulder? I could probably have lasted hours if there'd been a toilet nearby but the very fact that I couldn't go made me want it all the more...

I don't know how long we sat there in the end. My distorted memory says at least two hours, but it was probably nowhere near that. Suffice to say, though, that it was too long, and had us convinced we'd missed our flights. We started moving eventually, of course, and when we pulled up at Heathrow, we dragged our cases out of the car and ran, barely having time to say goodbye and thank you (nor thinking about how we'd get home if we had missed the flights). We couldn't fault the airport staff, at least - we weren't familiar with Heathrow, and had no idea where to go to check in, but a nice man saw us panicking and directed us to the right check-in desk. It had to be the first (and only) time we've got to the desk and there's been no queue. But the lovely lady there reassured us that we hadn't missed the flight, and that loads of people had been delayed due to the traffic jam, so we didn't need to worry. Phew! I was nearly in tears by this point, mostly due to my excruciating need for the toilet. I think my bobbing up and down must have given me away, because the check-in lady pointed out the toilets for me and refused to check us in until I'd been!

I can't remember much about the queue for security, once we'd finally checked in. But I do remember the sheer panic when we got through to the departure lounge and the screen told us to proceed immediately to the gate. Unimpeded by our cases, we ran along the moving walkways for the full ten minutes it took us to get to the furthest gate possible. We arrived at the gate to find it was empty. More panic - was everyone on the plane already? Would we have to face the embarrassment of walking through the plane to find our seats while everyone else sits there tutting and looking at their watches? Would we even be allowed to board? Just as we were looking around for someone to ask, another couple walked into the departure gate  - phew, at least we weren't the only ones late. Then another couple, then a family, then more people. Soon, the departure lounge was full up. Basically, we'd got to the departure lounge just as the screen had shown the gate number. We'd probably been the first to see it - add this to our mad run to the departure gate, and we beat everyone else to it. We were actually EARLY.

So what did we learn? Mostly that an airport hotel is always a good idea. Even if the flight isn't until lunchtime or later, driving up the night before takes away any panic about traffic delays. At least if you get stuck in a jam, you have all night to get there!