So here we are again, or at least I am, the time for this year’s big adventure and ever so strangely so far the run up to this trip has been pretty uneventful (at least for me).....now either that means that after all these years I’ve finally mastered the art of independent travel or clearly I haven’t done anywhere near all of the things I should have done or alternatively I’ve forgotten to pack a whole host of things, ha, we’ll see!!
Although saying uneventful, I actually only decided on the location of this year’s trip at the weekend (for some that would be seriously late planning!) and now here I am, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m onboard a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok and onto Vientiane from there, then sometime over the next five weeks the plan is to see some of Laos then Cambodia then finally Vietnam. Of course in five weeks that could be a little ambitious but there’s always next year right?!
I have no idea where this year’s adventure is going to take me apart from the countries already mentioned of course (!) but I’m sure like any other year it will be a continuous learning curve with some great things to see and do along the way! :-)
When I say so far it’s been uneventful it is only day one of course! Which was actually preceded by me finally going to bed at around 1am, very relaxed I might add for me before a big trip, having spent all of about 20 mins packing! Thing is it was exactly at that point (1am) that I suddenly remembered I had this big idea to dye my roots before I went.
Now perhaps I shouldn’t be admitting to the fact I dye my hair on this very public domain but hey it comes to all of us at some point right?!..... Right?! Just don’t tell Dean! ;-) Thing is historically I don’t actually dye my hair; I have a very nice hairdresser who does it for me far better than I ever could, complete with a cup of tea, great trashy magazines, chat and everything! However, on this occasion I thought I’d savour the experience for when I got home and in the meantime just do the roots. But now it was 1am and Dad and Jen were picking me up at 6.30am and to prove a point that I’m not always late for everything I was determined to be ready on time, after all there was nothing more to do! Mmmmm apart from dye my hair of course! It was then that I thought ok, I’ll just do it in the morning!!!! What?! With my history of ‘love’ of early mornings! Even I could see that wasn’t a good idea.....couldn’t I? Ha, apparently not!
So when the alarm went off this morning at 5.30am instead of jumping energetically out of bed straight into the bathroom to begin the process I opted for the more relaxed ‘Emma’ option and laid in bed for another 15 mins with Milo cuddled up wondering why exactly I was getting up at stupid oclock, heading over to the other side of the world once more, leaving behind Milo, my lovely cosy house and all number of other lovely things ;-) ..... then I remembered it’s all in the name of travel, fabulous people and wonderful life experiences and of course the glorious world of blogging! ;-)
Dad and Jen were due in 30 mins and I had a strange fleeting thought that I would take the hair dye to Laos with me, but caution (for once) overtook and I decided to go for it there and then and the dying of my roots took place at 6am, with Milo looking on waiting for breakfast, with just 5 and a half hours sleep and about five hours before my flight was due to go on this Friday morning from Heathrow with a journey that would be taking place during the great British rush hour!
When I went to New Zealand a couple of years ago somehow I totally miss calculated the time needed to get to the airport and check-in, hence dad and Jen literally booting me out of the car as it drove past the front of the terminal building at high speed. This year I thought I had factored in plenty of time but as I’m milling around the house getting everything sorted in my own little way Jen gives me a look and says ‘are we leaving sometime soon?’ to which I reply ‘but we’ve got plenty of time haven’t we?’, picture the slow shake of the head and the resigned smile!! ;-)
Needless to say (this time) despite the journey taking 2 hours we got there in plenty of time, we even had time for a bite to eat and a cup of tea when we arrived, perfect.
Long or short-haul, once I go through security, I have a set pattern of activities that need to be completed prior to boarding, this tends to comprise of buying any Clinique I need, having a spray of Issey Miyake perfume, buying water for the journey and participating in the Baileys testing experience!
This time, straight through the other side I purchased my Clinique requirements, had a spray or two of perfume and then took a look to see what the flight was doing........at this point nothing! It was then that I decided to review my money situation.
Historically I’ve always been very behind the ATM system abroad, particularly when Nationwide weren’t charging any fees, however now they do. So I had a plan to take out a load of money over the couple of days before my flight and carry it with me, but then I get a text from Mick in Kuala Lumpur saying he’s just been pick pocketed so I half heartedly go off this idea. Not entirely though and once I’ve completed my purchases I head to the Bureau de Change to get some US dollars. Now I have absolutely no idea how this happened, I hadn’t even found the Baileys counter at this point so that’s no excuse, but somehow I managed to get talked into putting my dollars on a pre paid card (!!!) like I don’t have enough of that with the work one (!) and instead of the whole process taking 5 mins like the lady promised, I was at the counter for the next 20 mins having given over £200 and all I got was a bit of plastic to show for it! I think I might need to be a bit more street wise in Asia if I can get talked into something so unnecessary while in Heathrow departures lounge!! Anyway let’s hope it works otherwise that’s another holiday in the making just to use the money on the card.
So after all this time with the Bureau de Change lady I ran out of time to find anything resembling a Bailey’s taster counter and had to head straight for the gate hoping to find a plug socket on the way to charge the stupid iphone which had already managed to run out of charge! I blame Facebook and calls to boyfriends (actually just the one boyfriend ;-)) although not necessarily in that order! ;-)
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