Trip recap (plus upcoming trips)

We will be doing a lot of traveling this summer, so I want to revisit what we did well, and not so well, on the last trip.

WHAT WE DID WELL

• We definitely packed everything we needed. I didn’t have to go to Target (or anywhere else) to buy anything once we were there! This may be a first! (It probably helps that my kids are older and simply need fewer things now.)
• We didn’t buy too many groceries! This is a big one because we have been known to leave quite a few items at my uncle’s house (much to his chagrin). This year we only left two things! We ate everything else we bought, and that is because we bought WAY less. I decided that if my kids only got to eat 2-3 things at home for 10 days that was fine. We ate out enough that they didn’t go crazy. And also they need to “broaden their horizons” if they are going to complain about limited menus on trips.
• We (REALLY) relaxed screen time limits, so we could all get some down time. This was especially important at the front and back ends when my husband wasn’t there, and I was tired.
• I worked out five times! This was over 12 days (I count the two travel days). I ran twice and worked out with a video three times. I am quite pleased about this. I hope to do the same in London (a mixture of running and 30 minutes videos. I will be packing my old running shoes just to walk around London, and that is really the hardest part. I can also just pack one or two workout outfits and wash them and leave them to hang dry. The only thing I’d change is I brought a resistance band that wasn’t necessary – I will not be packing that for London.

WHAT WE COULD DO BETTER

• We packed everything we needed but we also packed more than we needed (mostly clothes). This was because laundry and dryers were available to us in two of three places we stayed. I hope to pack less for London (checked bags will not be free on our next flights, and I’ve read it’s not a great tine to let your bags leave your sight), though knowing the laundry/dryer set up at the AirBnB will not be what I’m used to (less capacity and cleaning/drying will take a lot longer) makes this lesson less helpful.
• While I’m glad I relaxes screen time limits, I do think my kids would have been amenable to reading more if I had forced the issue, especially at night. I will definitely make them read some more in the evenings in London.
• We probably ate out too much. I haven’t got back over my credit card bill yet but it’s going to be high. In London I hope we can be a little more strategic about eating out (our AirBnB has a kitchen, so we can cook there).

And now it’s already Friday! Whoops!

I’m going on a rafting trip this weekend, then we leave for London on Monday. The person who planned the rafting trip can’t actually come now, and a bunch of other people bailed too. We couldn’t get our money back, and a few good friends are still going, so I’m still going. It’s been really stressful getting ready for it, and I’ve wondered more than once if it’s a mistake to go, but I’m locked in at this point. Once I finally packed myself for it (Thursday afternoon), I felt better. I’m really sad my friend won’t be there. I haven’t seen him in years and I was very much looking forward to celebrating his birthday, but sadly we’ll have to do that without him there.

I actually packed the kids and myself for London last night. I can’t believe I managed that, but now that I did, I feel much better about everything (especially the rafting trip). Everything is packed in packing cubes, which means we can easily move it all to carry-on bags last minute if we decide that is best (I’m increasingly leaning towards this option, as the articles I’m reading about lost luggage in Europe are freaking me out).

The London trip has been causing a fair amount of stress too. I don’t want to enumerate all the stressors here, because at this point they are either resolved or completely out of our hands, but I have been doubting the trip would even happen. And it still might not, but there is less chance of it being cancelled every day, so I’ll just keep crossing my fingers and hope for the best. I’m looking forward to this trip, but I won’t be devastated if it doesn’t happen. I’m as stressed about it (the length of the flight, the amount of community spread happening in England right now, being the center of the parents-husband-kids-sister wheel of expectations while we’re there) as I am excited about it, so if it’s cancelled it will be as much of a relief as a disappointment. At least that is how it feels right now, and that has helped me manage all the uncertainty this past week.

And now it’s late and I’m tired and I have a lot to do tomorrow before I BART to the East Bay to get picked up for the rafting trip.

Have a great weekend!