Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The end of our summer holiday back in the UK is drawing to an end and with it brings tearful farewells to loved ones, not knowing exactly when we will see our family and friends again.
Farewells are met with optimistic plans for future visits but saying ‘goodbye’ definitely gets harder each year - so many goodbyes, farewells to lush landscapes and glorious nature, to fresh air and with AC coming solely from open windows and doors.
Farewell to my runs with a view, meandering country lanes and coastal paths. And then, to top it off, the final goodbye in the form of the obligatory dreaded packing.
Each summer we depart Bahrain for our annual UK holiday with as many suitcases our hire car can cram in.
Every year we leave extra room in the suitcases, anticipating returning with the obligatory additional clothes, shoes and mementos but there always ends up additional baggage, and not surprisingly with three children, it never belongs to me.
This year my daughter, insisting on purchasing stationery, the heavy and bulky type, happily declining lightweight versions. My eldest son steely determined to bring back a wooden spice and egg rack he solely-crafted with the use of a grandfather’s workshop den.
Then there is the footwear - the new school shoes, new football boots, new roller blades and shoes that were packed and never worn!
So every year when we pack for the final time we end up sitting on suitcases willfully wishing our bags to shut but then results in us having to have carry-on bags full to the brim with items that won’t fit into our suitcases.
This year was no exception but even exceeded our expectations as no amount of sitting, squeezing and squashing would get everything into our bags, carry-ons or suitcases.
I’m not quite sure how we had come to this conclusion on a busy Bank Holiday Monday, a day before our flight, but this summer I have packed and unpacked suitcases more times than I care to remember and it all became a bit of a blur.
Shopping for a bag this late in the day, on a public holiday, meant even trusted amazon.com couldn’t come to our rescue, but luckily my kind sister met us on the way to the airport with the perfect hold-all. She said she knew how stressed I get over the small things.
I took a deep breath, then packed the last troublesome items, relieved it was for the last time this summer and headed for departures, Bahrain bound.
