Leavin', on a jet plane....

June 12, 2021

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” Lao Tzu

This is a very good reminder, given the past year.

*** Dmitri: We are effectively homeless right now, which feels odd, and maybe not as bad as I’d thought it would. We’ve been out of our house for a few days, staying with family after the usual tumult of a “move.” Only this move isn’t from one place to another, but from our place to the unknown. The stuff is now all in storage. We’ve cut down massively from prior moves and homes and although we fill a storage unit, it’s not truckloads of things anymore. And now that we are away from said stuff, the test is now “Do we miss it?” Are we fine without all of our things? Well, after. Few days it’s no real test so we’ll need to come back to this. At this early, early date, it still feels like a temporary trip or vacation because of course we’ll be right back, yes? No, we won’t! Maybe my subconscious will update with this knowledge at some point. So far, ignorance is bliss.***

After our final good-byes to Holly and Howard, we head to the airport.

June 13

*Back to Cindy* The first leg of our journey passed seamlessly. Our plane from Los Angeles to Heathrow was only about 15-20% full. Although we sprung for Premium Economy seats, we “downgraded” to economy so we could stretch out and each took an empty row when it came time to sleep. I fared the best, sleeping soon after dinner and waking up as breakfast service started.

There was a slight kerfuffle after switching terminals in Heathrow when we had to go out and then through security again. All of our liquids were in various bags and needed to be gathered into specific airport-provided plastic bags. This took some organizing. They also needed to send my main bag through the scanner a few times and then unpacked it entirely looking for nail scissors. Future note, nail scissors will be packed in my purse for easy access on airport travel days.

In Heathrow, checking out the local yummies.

We finally made it to the Priority lounge and had some food and filled our water bottles.

Then f’ing uber strict Heathrow got us again and made us CHECK our bigger bags. Wtf. Don’t they know the title of our blog???? On the *very first* travel day we have to check a bag seems a little disappointing. But no, they tell us our flight is full and our bags are too big. So, we check them and get on the plane only to find that the flight is not full and our bags would absolutely have fit in the overhead bins. Ah well, at least we got to switch seats again and have a little more room.

One more note about Heathrow. As we were riding the transport bus between terminals, we overheard a supervisor telling all the bus drivers that “due to extreme heat, you may remove your tie and undo the top button of your shirt.” There was some chatter and clarification about how many buttons and the matter was settled. How very British. Security and passport control in both London and Athens was easy and breezy. There really are not a lot of people traveling in Europe just now.

Cindy—It’s around 5 am at home now.

Jack—Mom, we don’t have a home any more.

He’s not wrong. Home is now where the four of us are. It’s a nice, if surreal, feeling.

We arrive at our Airbnb around midnight and settle in. It’s a very cute place and very cheap so we are happy.