Here's a wee list of some DOs and DON'Ts I gathered on this last trip...
1. Do not allow yourself just 3.5 hours of sleep on the night before you begin 29 hours in transit, even if you are
having a great time with Barbara and about 200 other people.
2. Do not have strong (and lovely) European coffee and chocolate croissants at every train station or airport along the way
(unless you like the jagged buzz of caffeine and cocoa combined with exhaustion and jet lag.)
3. Do wear your day pack on your front, not your back, while riding the Metro in Madrid (unless, of course, it was your
intention that the innocent looking young girl and her pregnant mother/friend unzip the front pocket. Bonus
Do: be happy you never keep anything important in that pocket.)
4. Do enjoy tapas at every opportunity while in Spain.
5. Do accept the challenge to a flamenco dance-off in order to raise money for 24-7 Prayer.
6. Don't eat salty food right before the longest leg of your journey and then take your shoes off during that flight.
7. Upon discovering at the end of that long flight that your feet are now far too puffy to fit back into your shoes, don't
worry as you limp down the corridor from the plane in your half-on, half-off shoes.
8. Do elevate your feet and drink lots and lots of water during the 4.5 hour wait in Nairobi.
9. Do not be concerned about how dirty the floor at same airport might be. If it looks heavenly because it offers you
a chance to get horizontal, do just lie down.
10. Do celebrate being back with your kids with tea on the porch and syrup waffle cookies from the airport in Holland!
10 comments:
man alive! why am i here again and not having tea with you, my mum i love, in africa?
hmmm...
maybe i should just drop everything and come back out there...
how does the 15th of december sound?
good?
good.
love you mom! happy birthday yet again!
I really enjoyed this post =)
Sounds like a crazy trip!
tips to treasure for sure
tell byron hello, i'll pop by if i can and we can go chasing giraffe!!
eh, eh...I just have to laugh...you are so goofy...and I love it...you forgot to say that beside me and 200 other people you also had Jesse on skype and it was your birthday :-) eh, eh...
also remembered when I got stollen in Madrid...not in the metro, but while sleeping in those walking passages under the roads :-/ eh, eh...funny to remember...
and I do know the shoes-on, shoes-off feeling... soooo, weird :-)...how come our feet swallow in the air :-)
I also got desperate after my 12 hours in a bus trip to Porto...Pfff...so ridiculous...I didn't know how to put my legs anymore on the last hours...
But hey... I would do it again just to see you again...
LOVE YOU MORE !!!
Big hugs to Colin and Heather :-)
baba
Yes, Jesse, the 15th works for me ;-)
Yes, Whitney, it was a little crazy.
Yes, Steve, giraffe chasing would be a fun way to mark TZ time.
Yes, Baba, why our feet swallow air is a good question. I feel very sorry for you having to ride a bus for 12 hours!!
My favorite travel portion of that day was the speed train from Sevilla to Madrid. I was listening to nice music and watching the Spanish countryside rushing by my window :-)
the feet bit is easy, obviously they just use a different means to talk to you..no mouth you see...swollen feet is like a kid holding its breath when it doesn't want to do something...i shan't..etc etc, you see, feet like people once relaxed are impossible to move again...
:o)
Welcome home lisa! (and Byron too!) Its good to know you are back in Tanzania!
Your list is quite wonderful. I would massage your tired feet and bring you tea, if I could.
This post made me smile all over! How I miss travelling with all its "dos and don'ts"!! Thanks for bringing fresh memories to mind and sharing yours! :)
can i just say that the dancing was fantastic? Seriously! =)
and about the dirty airport floors: Krister and i always try and take our travel blanket. that way we claim a small square of all the airports we frequent as ours for that hour or day or whatever. and blankets are useful things. =)
what a great list!
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