Some days my family and I barely leave the house. Other days, like yesterday, we travel 4,000 miles across seas and borders…
One of the realities of marrying a girl from a different continent has been regular long-haul flights to see family and friends in a different time zone. As our family has grown, the challenges of travel have changed. This was our biggest trip yet. Now our youngest son is two, we paid (pretty much) full price for everyone and it seems the quantity of ‘stuff’ required to support our growing family only squeezed into four suitcases through a Christmas miracle.
Our flight was broken up with a 6 hour layover in Philadelphia – we knew it would be tough when we booked it but the price made the decision for us. Now, I’ve seen all the Rocky movies but my Apollo Creed quotes were never going to keep us all entertained for long. So we explored all four terminals, found the gate five hours before our plane even arrived, bought some novelty neck pillows and managed to make friends from all around the world in the kids’ playzone.
By the time we got on our second plane of the day, the boys had already been up for several days (I think). Much to the our relief (and that of all the people around us), the boys slept for the last 3000 miles of our journey, which gave me plenty of time to watch an in-flight movie through incredibly uncomfortable headphones. A few hours later we emerged in a new day back in England – exhausted, sweaty, and thankful that we only do it once a year.
