On Our Way

It had been 6 long weeks since James left. The day had finally arrived, time to say our last goodbyes and leave the UK for our new life in Dubai. I won’t lie I woke up that morning feeling extremely anxious, even a visit from one of my best friends didn’t alleviate the feeling. I was so ready to go after sleeping on a mattress for over a week and using the emergency garden chairs in the living room, but I was also sad to leave. Aveley Gardens had been our home for nearly 5 years, no major life events happened there, no births or marriages, but it was a great home for us, on a great street.

The morning was a bit of a blur, It all felt very surreal. The hardest part came when we were getting ready to leave, we had a few of the children from the street and beyond turn up to say goodbye to us. As you can see from Sienna’s face it was all a bit too much. Zach found it hard too, they have both made great friends and will miss them so much. Seeing them both go through this was hard, they have been so brave and I am so proud of them.

We got to the airport early as planned with no traffic, we used a local company DJM Travel. Dave has never let us down and this day was no exception. I’d never flown on my own with the children before, or by myself actually, so I was extremely nervous. By this point Sienna was getting upset again and told me she wasn’t ready to leave, my heart sank. Was I ready to leave? Now it was happening? I did everything I could to comfort her (may have promised her a puppy) and by the time we got through to security, she was fine and back to her happy self, ready to see her Daddy. Check-in and security took us about an hour to get through in total, it was fine and well organised but it was hot! It didn’t help that I couldn’t remember what was in the hand luggage and had exceeded my liquid allowance. Chaos ensued duty-free when we lost Sienna’s carry-on case with the Lego and then her boarding pass. I’m not a great flyer but I can honestly say I’ve never been so ready to get on a plane.

Finally, we were ready to board, and what a beautiful night it was. The sky was bright orange. We went on the Emirates A380, it was huge! Flight time was 6 hours 40 minutes in total and the children managed a few hours of sleep before we landed.

I’ve never had my photo taken on a plane before, it’s a nice keepsake though. Masks are mandatory in Dubai, I thought I would struggle to get the children to wear them, but I didn’t, they were superstars the whole flight through. I took pajamas for them to wear as we took the night flight, this made them a bit more comfortable and relaxed.

James’s friend was on our flight so we had help with our luggage once we had landed. Typically, his case was off first and ours last.

Finally, it was time to reunite with James and begin our new lives in the UAE.