I am going to write as much as I can about my trip to the UK because I don’t want to forget anything and I hope one day my children can read about the places they’ve been to even though they can’t remember anything.

I love travelling. I love travelling alone, I love travelling with my friends, with my family and I love travelling with Joe. This trip was different from the rest because it was long distance, far away from home and there were many of us.

Handling a baby, an elderly couple, handful of people that have been to London before and someone who has never been there before is quite the challenge. Everyone had ideas on where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do. In anticipation of this ‘challenge’, my dad, Joe and I drafted an itinerary for out 2 week trip because we wanted to make sure that everyone got what they wanted without feeling left out. Our goal was to please everybody.

To be honest, it wasn’t easy. I somehow felt responsible most of the time in regards to the activities and logistics arrangements during the trip. I knew I would feel guilty if my cousin, grandparents and Joe didn’t get to see or do the things they had their heart set for the trip. It got to the point that I forgot to enjoy myself and started to stress out if things didn’t go as planned.

Until one day I got so fed up that everyone was moving so slowly, somewhere on the way to Covent Garden that I just walked ahead while pushing the pram and left everyone behind. In my mind, the sooner we got there, the sooner we can move on to other places. As I was pacing my steps, for the 3rd time my husband stopped me and this time his voice tone was different.

‘Walk with me la sayang’ he said sadly, with an even sadder look on his face.

Instant regret. I had been so foolish.

It was silly of me to think that this holiday would have been happier and fulfilling based on the number of places we get to visit. Hearing Joe’s plea and seeing his face made me realise that it’s okay if we don’t get to cover everything as long as we get to enjoy whatever we can together.

Since that day we didn’t really stick to an itinerary. If we had the time, we’d do what we want for however long we want. If there wasn’t any time left, it didn’t matter. There’s always next time, and next time can always be better.