Dads Unauthorised Travel Blog - Words of Wisdom

Airport Goodbyes

Well after months and months of planning the time has come for both my beautiful daughters to head off on their backpacking adventure around Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Meg will be blogging as they travel, so if you want all the official (but I suspect slightly censured) stuff check out Gap Year Guide . I will say at this point that the word year is slightly misleading and it wouldn't surprise me if Meg was still on her gap year well into her thirties. Anyway, I thought I'd do a few alternative and 'unauthorised' blogs - Dad's view of the time they are both away.

Whenever I mention to anyone that the girls have gone travelling, everyone always says "that's fantastic", closely followed by "how long are they away for?", To be honest I've no idea. I have asked the girls and their response is "when the money runs out". Mmmmmm alarm bells start to ring when I hear this, so dads #1 piece of advice is "Girls make sure you save some money for your flight home because dads bank is officially empty".

All my Children

The build up to the travels has been exciting for them but slightly sad for me, as they have both finished their jobs at the White Horse. It was always the perfect excuse for me to just pop across the road to see Ellie and Meg! Even Oscar the Dog got into this routine, I'd come home from work, there would be a little tummy rub (that's Oscar not Mrs Riley) then he'd go and sit by the door, waiting for me. Oscars reward was usually a handful of dog biscuits from behind the bar and I'd manage a pint or two whilst I was catching up with the girls. The opportunity to cause major embarrassment has also now passed, as on Oscar's night time walk I would sometimes just call in to say goodnight in some bizarre concoction of an outfit, coat, pyjama shorts and socks was my favourite, the locals never battered an eye lid, but it always got a great reaction from the girls.  Oh well times move on, and I guess I'm just going to have to face into the reality that I just like going to the pub and drinking real ale!

Things won't quite be the same at home either. Cupboards full to overflowing with empty cups without having to circle round bedrooms to collect cups containing some obscure liquid with mould floating on top. I won't fall over a pile of shoes as I come in through the door and I'm sure heating bills will drop as we will no longer a need to keep the house as warm as a greenhouse in the middle of a heatwave 24 hours a day.

Sydney

As a dad, I of course have some vague awareness of what's happening in my daughters lives, but it usually all happens around me. However I did have responsibility for two areas of my daughters big adventure. The first was mobile phones. Meg has done a lot of travelling in the past, a trip around Europe, Everest Base Camp, but when she went to Turkey, I forgot that Turkey wasn't part of the EU, well I sort of did eventually, but by that time I had a bill of £300 to pay. So with meticulous planning, and various combinations of SiM cards, I've devised a spreadsheet that shows the girls all the options of what they can and cannot use in each country visited. I'm quite chuffed with it, and I reckon I could copy write and market it.  So if you are travelling out of Europe, and just can't be arsed to work it all out, in the best traditions of a Nigerian email, let me, have all your bank acct details, passwords and pin numbers and I'll send you a copy #onlyjoking

Secondly of course I was responsible for getting the girls to the right airport on time, This is not as straightforward as you might think, as we have already had one trip to Stansted for a flight that was departing from East Midlands (I kid you not). But to be honest I think this is more to making sure that they got there, and went through security with no turning back! Job done.

One bonus for the girls and to get them into the spirit whilst on the flight, I created a small Spotify play list for them (I'm a good dad). Unfortunately my musical knowledge of Australian pop culture is limited so the best I could come up with was:

1. China in your hands - T'pau. The flight stopped over at Guangzhou airport in China. It gets better
2. Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport - Rolf Harris. Probably not appropriate, but I thought pretty good
3. My Boomerang Won't Come Back - Charlie Drake. A classic
4. Down Under - Men at Work. Slightly more modern for my younger readers

If you could have done better, let me know and I am struggling for any songs beyond Aus, any thoughts add a comment at the bottom of the blog. I'm sure the girls will appreciate your efforts, if not, it's just good fun anyway.

Of course I worry about their safety whilst they are travelling so, after months of agonising about what words of wisdom a good dad would impart to his daughters I came up with three golden rules, which I suspect were forgotten within seconds of passing through security. I thought I'd share them here, as they may be of use to someone:-

1) Never carry more than you can afford to lose - always split your cash cards and phones, so that if you lose one set you have a back up.
2) Always watch each others bags and drinks - never leave em unattended. Speaks for itself
3) Keep your wits about you, if something doesn't feel right, tread with caution and trust your instinct.

Sydney Roadtrip

When it comes to that goodbye moment in the airport, I should have thought about what I wanted to say. The best I could come up with in a moment of panic was "seize the day". Seize the day! where did that come from? I must have been on too many management training courses, and if someone had said that to me I'd probably have burst out laughing or just chucked up on the spot. Enjoy it, just felt a bit inadequate but was probably all that needed to be said.

Well, they have gone which just leaves me and Mrs Riley, I did sort of mention that now we are back to being a couple without the limpet's, coming and going at all times of day and night, we are clear for several months of unbridled passion ....... however I suspect I've probably misjudged that situation as well.

So thank God for Oscar the Dog. I think he will keep us sane whilst the girls are away, and of course give us something to talk about when we go out for a drink together or if the telly breaks down.

Watch out for the next instalment of my unauthorised travel blog

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