New adventure loading

International travel is calling. My passport is dusted off after spending the last two years tucked away in the lock box.  ESTAs have been sought, apps have been downloaded, flights have been booked, trains and buses are locked in, tickets have been bought, and tours have been paid for.

Here I am in London again (I can never get enough of this city), but I don’t want to talk too much about what I have planned until I’m living in the midst of it all.  Just know that there will be a blog, there will be photos and I just can’t wait to explore some new countries that I have never been to before.

So…first day is always a travel day.  How lucky that we live in Australia, but how unlucky that it takes forever to get anywhere that isn’t Australia.

I booked my tickets last year when my friend from work (how many of you heard that in Thor’s voice), Jyai mentioned she was going to Lisbon for the International Conference of Midwives.  Me, never wanting to miss an opportunity to travel agreed to meet her there.  Now for those who know me, I’m all about a bargain, and to fly direct to Lisbon was significantly more expensive than flying to London then taking a shorter flight across to Portugal, so of course, after inviting myself along on her holiday, I started looking for the best flights. 

The last time few times I’ve flown to London, I’ve flown Etihad and Emirates.  Their flights were quite expensive when I was searching, so I started looking for other alternatives.  Singapore Airlines was a stand out - $500 cheaper than any other airline for a return trip, so I snapped it up. Locked and ready to fly. 

And then the world went to shit, the US went to war and suddenly flying via Singapore instead of the UAE was an excellent move as flights were delayed, cancelled or rerouted (two colleagues are flying over 30 hours to get to Lisbon), along with the increased threat of an intensified world reaction.  Flights that had cost $2500 return were now $6k.  Thank goodness I had booked early.

I can’t remember if I’ve ever flown Singapore Airlines before, but what a great experience I’ve had.  I joined their Kris Members Club, and got lots of little perks along the way, like free onboard wi-fi and bonus travel miles for shopping at the airport.

The first leg of the flight, Brisbane to Singapore went off without a hitch, although disappointed that the seat that was vacant the day before my departure was taken up on the day, so no chance to spread out the gear and stretch the legs.  I had a very quiet seat mate who did not get up once during the 8 hours onboard.  I envy anyone who does not have to pee on a long-haul flight, or perhaps I worry that that could also signal kidney problems.  

Flying out at 23.50 meant that I may have gotten some sleep on the flight, however I wouldn’t recommend packing your travel pillow in your checked baggage as it is no use to you in there once onboard.  I know, I can’t believe I made such a stupid error either, especially because I packed and re-packed at least a dozen times in the last 2 weeks.  I’m not sure how much sleep I got, but I’m sure I did, however it didn’t feel like it as when disembarking I felt like I’d had a night on the turps and was a little seedy and nauseated.

3 hours stopover at Changi Airport is easy to fill in, as the terminals are huge and have just about every shop you can think of trading.  Still couldn’t face the idea of food, so just did an hour of walking around the stores and then onto the Singapore to London long-haul.  It’s always interesting listening to people complaining about a 14 hour flight, because a flight to the US for us is usually 16 hours, so I love that this one is 2 hours shorter (even if I’ve just had an 8 hour flight three hours ago!)

Huge bang as we were climbing from takeoff, but didn’t think much of it as I was at the back of the plane and a lot of the machinations from the landing gear make bumps and thumps as we take off.  However a few minutes after we reached cruising altitude that captain came on and told us not to worry, that “although it isn’t something that happens a lot” we had in fact taken a lightning strike directly to the plane, but there was nothing to worry about and we would be just fine.  

Now I’m going to give you all a piece of advice that you can take or leave.  But if you are ever flying with me and you pull out a bottle of nail polish to do your nails while we are in a tiny pressurised cabin with 600 other people, I will smother you with one of the complimentary airline pillows.  Someone did this during our flight and it was so over-powering and that smell lingered in the cabin for hours.  Just don’t do it people - it’s the height of idiocy and rudeness.

Oh and a bonus advice for later - lay off the perfume too.  You don’t need to bathe in it, and you can just pop it on when you get off the plane if you need.  Someone sprayed aerosol at one point that had the cabin coughing and spluttering.  Think twice and just don’t!

But I digress - this flight, I had two spare seats next to me, so was able to recline for some of the flight and get some sleep.  I know I slept because I dreamt, and I rarely sleep that well on flights.  Landed at Heathrow, really quick passport control (10 minutes tops), and off to the carousel to get my luggage.  I think the best thing ever invented was the AirTag (or any kind of tracker really).  Because when we landed, I could see that the bag was in fact on the tarmac right near me, so wasn’t concerned it had been left behind.  No panic waiting at the carousel - I just stood back and waited til I saw my bag and then followed the signs down to the Tube Station to catch the tube to my accommodation for the next 5 nights.

Oh wait, I forgot the glitch that I found at Singapore Airport.  Thought I’d quickly check emails while waiting for the flight.  See an email from my hotel confirming the cancellation of my booking but that they couldn’t release the cancellation until I cancelled through my third party booking.  What?  I hadn’t cancelled my booking, but Booking.com had had a serious security breach a few weeks back where client booking data (non financial) was released.  Thus ensued a flurry of emails and phone calls to confirm that I was indeed still planning to stay there and please can you make sure I don’t arrive to find myself homeless after a long day of flying.  All confirmed, so onto the Piccadilly tube line to travel to Russell Square.

No before you judge me, I booked an apartment on this line, specifically for its close proximity to King’s Cross Station and St Pancras as there is a bit of domestic and international travel in my plans while I’m here.  The Piccadilly line (yes it’s also the cheapest) gets me directly there without having to transfer, which is fantastic when travelling solo and dragging all of your luggage around on the train.  It may be an hour and a quarter ride, but the convenience of a short walk from the station is worth the extra time.

So here I’m sat after a Sainsbury’s Premium Meal Deal (main, snack and drink for $14), a good 7 hours of sleep, and a recharge of all my devices, planning out my first day.  Mind, it’s only a top of 22 today, so feels more like a Queensland winter than an London summer, and my bright summer clothes will certainly stand out against the drab London colours, but there’s plenty to see and I’ll look forward to giving you an update.