UK and Europe - Solo

  I’m a budget traveller. You know that, right? But I wasn’t one today . Far from it. I planned to use public transport to get into Victoria Coach Station to catch the bus I’d booked to Chesterfield. When I arrived last night, my host said he could book me a private car to make it easy for me. I must have looked a sight after my nightmare at Heathrow Airport. He obtained a firm quote and pickup time and all I had to do was say ‘Yes’. Money well spent I say. The bus from London to Chesterfield was £5.50 and the private car was almost ten times that!  The trip into the Victoria Coach Terminal took an hour and 10 minutes mostly on the freeway but then  winding through back streets to avoid the traffic. There is no drop off spot so we had to drive around a huge block with no left hand turn streets all the time getting further and further from the terminal. I as starting to get panicky but my driver was determined to get me as close as humanly possible to the terminal. I had...

 At Oakwood Bed & Breakfast Here’s the full English breakfast. After the shemozzle at Heathrow last night , it was lovely to be welcomed to my accommodation. My chatty taxi driver as well as the owner Tom carried my luggage in. I was knackered. Tom showed me some of the little eccentricities of the house and left me to have a cup of tea and shower in peace. I couldn’t wait to stretch out on the bed. It was calling my name but I was disgustingly dirty and sweaty and I couldn’t do anything without cleaning my body and teeth! Ah, that shower was pure bliss. I enjoyed it boiling hot to kill all the germs from travelling for more than a day. (I mostly have cold showers at home.) And lay on top of the bed. I know I’m jet lagged but I could swear I was lying on clouds in heaven. Too hot for pyjamas, I turned the massive TV on and watched something for a few seconds before falling asleep. My dreamy bed. I woke at 3am local time and didn’t go back to sleep. Watched half a ...

  I’ve never had a single good experience here. I’ve flown in and out of Heathrow multiple times over the past few years. Apart from my home airport of Brisbane, it’s the one I’ve visited the most often even though I’ve done my utmost to avoid it. Tonight is no exception. I started my flight from Brisbane International in a wheelchair. At the airport, I was taken care of by Cathay Pacific staff. I was informed what was going to happen. I arrived very early so was taken to a lounge area where I could lay down. My flight was 55 minutes after midnight. I scored the best seat in economy class so I slept most of the 8 hour flight to Hong Kong. At Hong Kong, I was collected at the plane with a wheelchair and taken all the way through to my departure gate. It was exhausting for my lovely Chinese carer aka pusher so she sat down beside me to catch her breath. We sat mostly in silence apart from me showing my appreciation with “shay shay” the only Cantonese I know. She was re...

At the last minute I decided not to bring my CPAP Machine. It’s just too much for me to carry. On and off trains. So I have my suitcase, and two backpacks. One is filled with all of my medication. I’m starting to think why am I doing this to myself? Lexi dropped me off and hugged me and told me she loved me. That’s a first (or maybe a second. She’s not demonstrative like Keeley.) She doesn’t like flying so she’s concerned for me. Keep wiggling your toes is her advice. It’s 11pm and Caelin refuses to sleep, Keeley texts me. She wrote a story that had me blubbering. After a long wait upstairs for someone to push me, I breezed through security and passport control. I didn’t have to take anything out at all. No liquids or batteries or injections or laptop. Winning! All I had to remove was my hat to check my passport photo. As I expected, the plane passengers were mostly from Hong Kong or China as it is now. And there were lots of babies. We needn’t worry about decreasing po...