It’s just after ten pm and I’m knackered.
I had a disturbed night full of packing dreams, so when I woke up at 4:30 am I decided to just get up and try and get my clothes choices finalised. My early start has taken its toll and I’m ready to go to bed. Unfortunately our flight to Singapore doesn’t board for an hour and a half. I mused out loud about trying to have a wee nap before boarding, but as Simon points out, it’s only midday in Paris, our ultimate destination. Sensible advice from the man who was still fast asleep when I left for work at 11 this morning. I had agreed to cover an afternoon list for a friend before flying out this evening, as my usual surgeon was away, but any unforeseen circumstances would have made things complicated, to say the least. As usual Simon wanted to be at the airport hours before our flight so he was even more stressed than me. Luckily, everything went swimmingly, and I was home in time to get to the airport in plenty of time.
I was pleased with my packing efforts eventually. I don’t know why it causes me so much stress even after all these years. The hard part is choosing what clothes to take. My usual routine is to base the clothes around outfits that work with a small number of shoes. The theory goes that since the shoes are the heaviest items, I should take as few pairs as possible; four or five is generally the best I can do. Then I try on most of my wardrobe trying to find outfits that work with the shoes I’ve chosen. You won’t believe how hard it is, I agonise literally for days. And the worst part is that it doesn’t even work. I realised as I shivered in the car on the way to the airport that I hadn’t packed enough warm clothes, so bought a long beige cardi within minutes of arriving at the airport. It’s lovely and comfortable, and pretty cheap because it’s not particularly good quality – 100% artificial fibres, apparently.
We have a six hour transit in Singapore. We arrive at 6 in the morning, much to Simon’s disappointment because it means he can’t order a negroni at the Singapore air lounge. I have booked a transit hotel that has a pool, which is my idea of the best way to spend the time between flights. From there we fly to Paris, where we will stay at another airport hotel before picking up a hire car for our week long road trip. He has booked an electric car, because we had such a great experience with the Tesla in the UK last year. Let’s see how our Skoda compares.