Final Fiddling and Fond Farewells

So here we go with the final blog before our latest US adventure.

Judging by the glacial pace of last week, I am hopeful our two weeks in the States will feel like about seven, but I suspect not.  One more long, long week to navigate at work before the fun begins.

Louise has finished now, and has all of next week to do all my packing.  She is having a day off on Tuesday though to take the girls to Alton Towers for a pre-holiday theme park warm up.  It’s fine, I’ll just go to work.

This weekend, I have checked and double checked all our documents, confirming for the one hundredth time that our passports are still valid.  I have checked our seating on the various flights and even tweaked them on one leg.  This is the final fiddling of a man desperate for the holiday to start.  There is additional final fiddling that I shall keep secret just for now too.

As I mentioned last week, always at the back of my mind is the worry around the journey.  I don’t think (like Louise) that we are nailed on to plummet to a fiery death somewhere over the Atlantic.  My fears are more mundane and revolve around us missing a connection and it eating into valuable holiday time.  It has happened before, and will no doubt happen again as long as we travel indirect, and that shall be the case until we do not need to fly at peak holiday times where direct flight prices seem to involve you actually buying your seat forever, rather than simply renting for around nine hours each way.

I am telling myself that should such things happen, they are outside of my control and I should not be upset or stressed about it.  What do you think the chances are?  Should we end up spending a night in Chicago, well that is all part of the adventure isn’t it, and should be treated as such.  We’ll see.

I often feel, after months of waiting and counting down, a sense of panic that I have not only forgotten something, but have not planned enough to make the most of the holiday.  It is silly I know, as we’ve not had a bad one yet, but such is the thought process for a planning Type A control freak such as myself.

This time next week we shall be in and around Chicago, about to undertake the final leg of our journey down to Orlando.  This throws up the age-old question of when does your holiday start?  Every year I tell myself to relax and enjoy the journey as much as possible.  This is a life lesson I would do well to heed in general, as even though the long journey can be arduous, tiring and stressful, it is better than any other day when we are not heading for Florida!

I love the child like excitement and anticipation of the airport on departure day.  It smells of bright white trainers, too much perfume, childhood memories and raw adrenaline.  In Louise’s case the latter is pretty much all from her as she still finds flying a major challenge. The enormous breakfast, the visit to WH Smiths and in more recent years Starbucks are all part of the pre-flight routine that confirm that we are heading off for fun and sunshine.

Here comes the annual offer of in holiday updates should you wish to follow any or all of us.  There are the links you need –

Me – @Mkingdon

Louise – @MrsMkingdon

Emily – @elmooose

Rebecca – @becky_willie

The advent of in park WiFi has changed things forever in my view.  Travelling to the States just a few short years ago meant leaving your phone and/or laptop at home, and being blissfully disconnected for the majority of your time away.  Now, you can get online all over the place, and this makes it much easier to taunt those stuck at home with photos and updates galore.

We will be pretty active on twitter I would imagine, but the trick is to remember to put the phone away (are you listening Emily?) and enjoy things in the old-fashioned way.

Jet lag dependent the next scheduled blog will be September 1st, but I make no guarantees.  I may not be able to see the laptop over my enormous stomach for a start.

As ever it does not feel real that we shall be back home in a few short days, dining in our favourite places, and doing our favourite things, but I shall do my best to adjust to the idea over the next week, readying my body for the onslaught of calories, heat and Disney.

For those we may encounter over there, I look forward to meeting you, and I hope my sack does not disappoint.

See you on the other side.

Till the next time…..