In May, we managed to get the time off work to return to the UK. The children I teach had all their exams in April, so it was a good time for them to have a bit of a break, and Sammy had a load of holiday days to use, so we made the most of the opportunity. Flight prices had hiked up again, meaning our flights back were even worse this year than the one before. We had huge layovers, meaning our travel time was around fifty hours each way. Unfortunately this meant, despite our trip being only two weeks long with our friends and family, we had to take three weeks off of work because the extra five days spent flying is an entire working week. It happens. It can’t be helped, but I look forward to a future when paying for better flights doesn’t feel out of reach.
If coordinating sixty people, over eighty meetups, birthday plans, accommodation and transport (etc) wasn’t enough of a challenge, we moved house the day before flying back to the UK. Of course in an ideal situation we would have waited until after our trip, but the way things worked out with the old landlord and new landlord and visa applications and things, meant that we were better off moving beforehand. So we rose to the task, the way we always do, hired a van and got it done. It was exhausting, and having it be Sammy’s first time driving a van, driving an automatic and driving in Japan upped the ante even more. Getting on that first flight, we practically dropped into our seats. Sacks of potatoes. At least it helped up sleep.
The trip itself was so wonderful that it was more than worth the horrible flight times. It was exceptionally busy, I’d even go as far as to say constant, but it means we got to do everything we’d hoped and then some. Over the course of two weeks we travelled over one thousand miles. To summarise as briefly as possible, our plans were as follows:
Arrive at heathrow
Travel back to Scunthorpe, see parents that night and sleep over,
Lincoln in the morning to pick up our rental car,
Head to Woodhall spa for my Uncle’s wedding (was literally the best day ever – huge congratulations again Mr and Mrs Tiffen!),
Spend the night at the venue,
Head to a log cabin and actual spa for the next couple of days to celebrate my birthday, also have a day on Mablethorpe beach whilst over there and see the Lincolnshire Wolds,
Back to Scunthorpe that weekend,
Family meal the first evening,
Take nieces and nephews to the zoo the next day,
Head to Menston/Ilkley/Leeds to stay with friends, have a bbq and a catch up,
Stay with other friends the following three nights, have large friend meet-up at a local brewery, a work-friend catch up over dinner, eat at our favourite places in Leeds and then a little LAN party,
Back to Scunthorpe for the weekend, priority on spending time with nieces and nephews in their homes, seeing their toys etc,
Take dad out to a Dubliners show,
Take grandparents out for food, coffee, shopping and things like that,
Try catch up with friends we had not yet seen, drop off gifts for those we couldn’t see due to illness etc,
Head to Cheshire on Sunday night,
Spend the next couple of nights with my sister and brother-in-law,
Walks and catch ups,
Head back to Scunthorpe the penultimate day, say proper goodbye to nieces and nephews,
Go back to Lincoln to swap the rent-a-car on the way back down to Heathrow,
Stay at a hotel that night before flying out early the next day.
Like I said, it was chaotic in the best way, without even a moment to spare to go shopping for souvenirs or treats ha. We just felt so grateful for all the love and people in our lives. I’ll drop below all the pictures we got, most of which are now decorating our new apartment. We love you all so much! We’re sad it’ll be our last trip home for a few years, probably until 2027, but we are grateful we got opportunities this year and last year; we never dreamed we’d get that when we first moved, so we’re trying to focus on those positives. Can’t wait until our next reunion though, of course. Love you all millions!
