One lonely little travel pillow and a pink toweling massage cushion

02 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by KidazzleInk.com in Packing, Time flies when you're globe trotting and river cruising, Transit Hotel, travel, Travel Pillow, Uncategorized

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Asia, Brisbane, Changi International Airport, Germany, Massage, Munich, Singapore, Singapore Changi Airport

The phone rang shrilly echoing in the silent blackness. Startled, we sprang quickly into sitting positions. “What was that?” …..”Where were we?”

The immediate surroundings were strangely dark and unfamiliar.

A lonely little travel pillow and a pink toweling massage cushion

Turning on the light, we quickly looked all over. We could see our many belongings spilling across the room. There were small suit cases, toiletry bags, changes of clothes, jeans, a laptop, mobile phones, my beloved camera and even a couple of heavy overcoats (heavy overcoats in Singapore we must be nuts after all!!) There was a little pink toweling massager just in case one of us happened to suffer a cricked neck on the plane. You know the story…”I had to pack it just in case!”

And lastly there was still one…yes only just one, top-of-the-range, lonely little travel pillow laying on the desk in the room. You see my dearly beloved had already lost his this morning, even before we flew out of Brisbane. It had never been used, not once and it was gone already!!

Needless to say I had a few thoughts of my own about this!! Ah but, better to keep my health and keep them to myself, at least for now, I thought…and until the time is right!

We were still at Changi International Airport, in our amazingly comfortable little transit hotel, where we’d been staying for several hours while on route to our Grand European Sojourn in Europe. In the comfort of this little transit hotel’s peaceful surrounds we had finally been able to take a bit of a nap and had, in fact, dozed rather soundly for more than a couple of hours.

Orchid filled Changi International Airport

But, as always, time marches on. We would be leaving Singapore at around midnight for the last fourteen hour, long-haul part of our journey north-west through to Munich, Germany.

Time now to have a cuppa and then be on our way.

Within fifteen minutes we were off and running, juggling once again, our way too many belongings, plus tickets and passports. It wasn’t long before we were vowing adamantly to travel lighter… we just had so much hand luggage…never ever again!

Packing, transformation, and departure.

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by KidazzleInk.com in Holidays, Packing, Time flies when you're globe trotting and river cruising, Travelling in Europe, Uncategorized

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April, Australia, Austrian Alps, Budapest, Captain, departure, First there is often new luggage to buy. From there it moves on to decision making time....what to Pack and how much to take? The dilemmas of the excited traveller! We were going to be heading into th, God, layers, luggage, Queensland, suitcases, Travel

Yes, there are always things to organize, even when you’re going holidays!

I’ve found the greatest experiences seem to come from careful planning. Thinking ahead can bring it’s just rewards.

Firstly, there’s often new luggage to buy!

Thankfully, for this holiday, we were still suit-cased up from our last little sojourn in Asia…..all telescopic handles, zips, locks and wheels were still miraculously in working order, having survived their previous plane rides.

Nevertheless, there were still a large number of things to be sorted before we could take to the skies and it was certainly decision-making time for us once again….What to pack?…How much to take?…Will there be enough space left over to bring home the souvenirs and gifts for family and friends? These are the usual dilemmas and joys of the excited traveler and so they were for us!

We were going to be heading into the Northern Hemisphere at the very start of the Spring and not long after, what had been, one of the coldest and longest winters in Europe for many years.

Not only that but we had chosen to stay in Europe for close on five glorious, adventure-filled weeks. Should we take more summer gear or more winter gear? What if the weather changed and summer moved in more quickly? What if winter decided to hang on and the temperatures fell to freezing? After all, we knew Budapest in May was likely to be warm (if not sweltering) whereas, the Austrian Alps were more likely to be sub-zero temperatures in the middle of April! Added to all of this we were flying out of sunny Queensland with its balmy, humid, Autumn days.

“Layers“, we kept hearing! “Just make sure you take plenty of basic layers”. So in went the smalls, followed by the T’s; then the polos and the jeans and the cardies and, last but not least, a very warm and snuggly overcoat.. just in case!!

“There’ll be lots of walking and exploring so be sure to take sensible shoes”, was another plea we heard from many friends and neighbours. So in went the joggers and the deck shoes and the flats…. with just one very nice, glittery pair of heels for dining out and going to the Captain’s Dinner on the river cruise. Last but not least, in went the gloves and a very, very warm and furry pair of ankle boots… again just in case the winter had decided to hang around a little longer than it should.

Butterfly on a Queensland Orchid

Finally we were getting prepared for our big transformation from everyday working couple to globe-trotting DINKS and cultural aficionados. We were getting ready to leave “God’s own country“, Queensland, Australia and travel thousands of miles to the other end of the world. The excitement was building and strangely so were some of our little idiosyncratic stress triggers!! We were going to be as free as a butterfly, and while a few little niggles still played out in the background, they were largely diminished by our growing enthusiasm and new-found “joy de verve”.