Leg 1

After two rather stressful days of packing and preparing, during which Dave was an absolute hero, providing constant advice and emotional support, I said my tearful goodbyes to home and the boy himself and headed down to Heathrow on 15th with Ma and Pa, where we met Gertie at the hotel. I will readily admit to feeling pretty daunted and upset by the whole situation, but a Bloody Mary and a couple of glasses of red calmed my nerves somewhat. And having seen the menu, which charged £17 for a portion of shepherd´s pie, I was encouraged that leaving the country might have its benefits! Plus, the few days of English sunshine had once more resorted to torrential rain, so my imminent departure was looking up.

The following morning seemed to fly by, and all too soon I was shedding yet more tears outside departures. The delights of British Airways ensured that I had a good few hours extra to pull myself together though, and four hours late I was finally in the air on the way to Miami. In between snatched minutes of sleep, and a great viewing of Blades of Glory, I got chatting to Simon, the greatest air steward ever, who had studied Spanish in Antigua about 20 years ago and enthused about it so much I couldn´t help but get quite excited. He also introduced me to another girl on the plain who was returning to Guatemala City (her home town) after a year studying in Madrid, so she and I had a good chat and agreed that after our late departure, making the connection in Miami was going to be a challenge.....

London, United Kingdom