I entered July mid air on the way back to the UK. It felt weird to be finally coming home after so long away, but I was so excited!
I'm going to tell a boring story about my flight, so feel free to skip to the end.
When I booked, it was really hard to guess which flight was best- what time of day vs price, vs stop over etc. The flight I had chosen had a 7 hour stop over on Bangkok, which, after booking, I had started to regret. I thought I had time to go out and explore, but upon the advice of literally everyone I spoke to, it wasn't enough time. Plan B was to get a nearby hotel room for the time. But that still felt risky with shuttle buses and security. In the end, and after much research, I booked a lounge (Oman air) through sleepinginairports and was the best £20 I'd ever spent. They had a couple of recliner sofa's with curtains round them that I managed to bagsy (arriving at 5am helped too!), complete with fresh blankets and pillows. Plus a shower with all the amenities, and cruically, aircon. I liked it so much, I paid another £40 to stay for another 3 hours. Second best investment. I washed and then had a delightful 3hours sleep, followed by all the free buffet food and drinks, and generally feeling like a boujee Queen. I'm sure this is probably standard fare for some travellers, but I'm clearly just a simple girl, guv. Anyway, after 5 hours, I was spat back out back where I belonged. Good job too because (nerd fact), Bangkok Airport is the largest airport with only one terminal building, meaning you have to walk for literally miles. Particularly if you go to the wrong gate originally like I did.
Anyway, I stepped onto my second flight, ready and refreshed. My aim was to stay awake the whole time, but they insisted in shutting all of the blinds (even though it was daytime!). That and the film selection is rubbish and I was bored rigid. I probably wouldn't fly with Thai again. Unless it was an absolute bargain. One thing I hadn't considered is stopping twice on my journey home. There was a family also heading to London on my first flight, but stopping off twice after Bangkok, but only arriving 90mins later. I suspect their flights were much cheaper and you get the bonus of breaking up a 13 hour flight, so I'd deffo consider it in the future. Anyway, enough plane talk.
It was great to be back in the warm UK. I was able to see lot's of family and friends. I had a packed schedule, but it was worth it. I couldn't see everyone I wanted to, but that was always going to be the catch coming home for such a short period. My cousin Emma and her partner Simon's wedding was so much fun in the beautiful Lake District. And I'll have memories I'll treasure from that weekend.
I arrived back to Melbourne feeling energised and ready for another stint.
I'd used an app (timeshifter) to reduce the effects of jetlag- it told me when to sleep in the lead up to and after flying. I would definitely recommend it and will be using that, or at least one of many websites I discovered, for advice on the future. I still felt quite tired for a week or so afterwards (probs because I didn't stick to it 100%) , but it's nice to have a plan regardless!
I hit the ground running and straight back to work the following morning after landing. Work is going well- my team are lovely and I get to spend most my time editing, designing and motion graphics-ing.
My team have also been great at coming to the pub with me to watch England games. It's the women's world cup here in Australia (and NZ) and I couldn't be more excited. It's also crucially on at the right time of day too. Annoyingly, England won't play in Melbourne. I considered going to Sydney for a game, but that would mean flights plus hostel, and I don't really know anyone from England who would be up for going too. Much better to enjoy it in the pub with pals.
I did however, go to see Germany vs Morocco in Melbourne, which was so good! Tickets were $20, Germany absolutely thumped Morocco, and we were practically pitch side. I even got on the screen just before the Indigenous blessing.
Speaking of getting on the screen, this month marked my first ever AFL game. Melbourne is "footy" mad and everyone is absolutely obssessed. The majority of the AFL teams are here in Melbourne, so there is nearly always a game on the weekend. I decided to go for Melbourne Demons earlier on in the season, as that's who some of Lochie's family (my cousin Sarah's partner) supports, so it seemed as good a choice as any. That and my nearest team, Collingwood, play in black and white stripes, and I'll be having none of that.
Melbourne were playing Brisbane, in a top four tussle. A win for Melbourne would mean overtaking Brisbane for third place. Not that it really means anything because at the end of the season, the top 8 teams go into a knock out style competition and whoever wins that, wins the league. In Victoria, where I live (both physically and metaphorically speaking) everyone gets a day off for the grand final.
Anyway, back to the game. The pitch is huge, there are a million refs and there are 4x 30min quarters. The crowd don't really sing songs, apart from the clubs offiical one for which the lyrics appear on the screen karaoke style. Demons is partially to the tune of Auld Lang Syne- "for the team in the red and the blue".
In one of the breaks, they had a dance cam, and I was bemused to see it pointing at me a couple of times, so I danced politely. What I didn't realise was that it was to win $1k, otherwise I would've absolutely gone for it!
The last 5mins was very exciting, Demons were clawing their way back from a loss abd somehow managed to win the game with 20 seconds to go.
I'll definitely go again if I get the chance!
Another cool thing that happened in July was that my football "team" held a tournament to celebrate the start of the world cup. There were 35 players from all over the world! The competition was very tight, and my team won 3-0 (VC with 3 out 3 assists), then lost our next two matches 1-0, only conceding in the remaining moments. Classic tournament "heartbreak".
I then took to conjoling everyone I know to go to the pub with me for games!
