Setting off...solo

I'm currently sitting at the gate, waiting for boarding to start. It's a weird feeling flying solo - I don't think I've ever done it. 

I was dropped off at the airport just over 3 hours before the flight, and it was the quietest I've ever seen it. 2 people ahead of me at check-in, 1 person ahead of me at security, and then this new weird immigration thing where there was no-one ahead of me, but you didn't actually talk to anyone. 

I had to scan my passport, walk forward and stand on the feet decal, then look at the camera. Then the automated voice told me to take off my glasses. Ok then. That done I got to walk through and place my departing passenger card in a box. 

I think it will be interesting to see what experience Wayne and the kids have next week. Clearly any photo recognition software will not match James' 3 yo face with the photo of an 8 month old on his passport. I did notice a couple of immigration officers (emigration officers when leaving?) off to the side, so I guess people travelling with kids get to see them? 

The gate is starting to fill up now, it has been very peaceful being here so early. I suspect it might not be a totally full flight though. I'm looking forward to my chicken salad dinner that I pre-ordered (another new-to-me travel perk), and then sleep before my short layover at Dubai. 

See you all on the flip side!!!

Oops....

Guess we never finished the last blog did we. Suffice to say, the cruises were AMAZING. So fantastic to see countries all over the world, but also to spend time on what is fast becoming our preferred home away from home.

When we had to leave James wanted to get straight back on again - yes, even after 29 nights he didn't want to get off. (Secretly, neither did Michelle!)

Anyway, just getting this started again to hopefully take some more notes for this trip and keep everyone up-to-date. This is an exciting trip...Charlotte is doing some dance performances and workshops at various places in LA, including Disneyland! Her current dream is to be a musical theatre performer for Disney, so the fact that she's not only getting to dance at Disney, but to participate in an Audition Workshop there is just brilliant.

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you!