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Vacation in the British Isles

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We had a really great summer. Technically we have a week and a half left of summer, thanks to the September start of school over here. The first part of our summer was spent sleeping in, the kids reading book after book, sewing, playing with fabric, hanging out with friends. The first part of our vacation was a week of camping. More on that soon! But the second part was a vacation in the British Isles. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can say that is an impressive number of of islands including the UK, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

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We spent a few days in each of Dublin and Belfast, took a ferry over to the UK, and spent just over a week in London, ending with a few days in Paris before heading home. It was all a lot of fun and I thought I’d share some tips.

The biggest thing in any vacation is to plan, plan, plan. Of course planning is the most important when it comes to a trip, and this includes being organized. We’ve been talking about the trip for months now but didn’t really start buying tickets and making reservations until a few months ago.

If you are a little flexible with the dates you are traveling, you can search for the best price for the flight or train you would need to take. We flew over (our only option, I was not interested in riding a ferry for hours) but we were a little flexible in the dates so I picked the cheapest flight. The same goes with the train, check which dates are the cheapest and plan around that. We are a family of five so transportation and hotels were our biggest cost.

Hotels in Europe are different than in the US. The majority of them will not let you have more than two or four people in a hotel room, so for a family of five we would need to get two hotel rooms. There was only one hotel in London that had a deal on the website that offered the first room at regular price and the second at fifty percent of that cost. We went with apartment rentals because it was cheaper in a lot of ways. We stayed in a StayCity apartment, the Malone Lodge and Apartments, and two apartments through AirBNB. This also allowed us to cook food, which is another way you can save when on a trip, and wash clothes without worrying about emptying a hotel washer or dryer.

We are tourists of course and I love doing the big bus tours. We did one in each city and I think these are great deals since you get to see a large part of the city. You can also use the buses for your transportation, building in time since they are a slow way to get around. Check online for things you want to see or do because they will usually offer discounts. The big bus tours offer anywhere from 10-15% off. Other tours offer the same range of discounts. Double check how your tickets to the tours will be delivered and also accepted by the company. We had tickets that we had to print, others that were delivered to a phone via text message, and others that we had to claim at the ticket office.

Leave yourself open to extra tours or experiences. I’m not a spontaneous person, not really. I like to have a plan, at least a broad overview, of what is going on. We had the big bus tours planned in advance but still had other times open, in Belfast that extra time left us to go up the countryside to the Giants Causeway. This was a stunning sight and a trip we were all excited to be able to take.

We Made It – France

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We’ve arrived. Okay, we’ve been here since October. (And I’ve already shared four tips on moving to France). We lived in a hotel and ate out for every meal, negotiating with our landlord and taking the bus and tram to school and work. It has been fairly easy to get settled in, but we have only been in our apartment for just over a month.

downhill

The first few months here have been fun, frustrating, educational, but overall a good time. The food is amazing – I can eat bread here! For a non-gluten eating girl in the United States, moving to France was scary. I wasn’t sure what I would eat because of course all anyone talks about is cheese, wine, and bread. Well no gluten means no bread, and I really don’t drink all that often. I thought maybe something would be different here, maybe the wheat is different, bathed in red wine at night or white wine in the summer, maybe the French are so interested in their long lunches someone forgot to overprocess something. And I reluctantly tried a croissant.

And I had no pain (I do not have celiac disease, I don’t have anything that’s been diagnosed, but once I quit eating anything w/ gluten in it, the odd body aches I had been experiencing for years have disappeared, I’ve read a lot and came up with a non-celiac gluten intolerance). So I tried another croissant. And a sandwich. And a cookie. And I realized that I can eat anything here. This made me very happy because if you can’t eat bread in France, it is hard to eat. I worry for when my Mom comes to visit (she has the same issues, I am watching my daughter to see if this is inherited) but have to wait and see what happens. I will be prepared with salads and soups though.

We don’t live in Paris, we are way out at the end of the world in a small city/town about five hours by train from Paris. We technically have a US address, so I can still order from Amazon but our post office is still a couple of hours away. We did not bring our car (more on that) so we have been getting around by tram or walking, which means we haven’t left the city just yet. It’s confusing for some people because we’ve been here and haven’t gone anywhere for vacation or sightseeing. They forget we just got into our apartment, we haven’t settled in, and we have time. So far, so good. Bread, wine, cheese, tramway, tutor for the kids to help with the French language, very nice Mom’s at the school the boys attend, and good weather.

Four Things to Know Before Moving To France

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1. Leave all of your electrical appliances in the US! This is easier said than done I know. We rely on coffee machines and blow dryers so much. However, after living in a hotel for almost two months and being in our apartment for not quite two weeks, let me say that it is just so much easier to save money and buy what you need (need, not just want!). Of course using converters or transformer converters is an option, but if you run an appliance on something like that for a long while it will end up with some issues.

We were lucky to buy various appliances from another family leaving the area just as we were arriving. We accidentally brought a few things with us, but they’ve been repacked and stored. And I made a huge mistake and plugged my sewing machine into a converter and blew the … well I’m not sure what it is, I suppose the motor. I have yet to find someone to fix it but we are trying the local sewing machine store one more time.

We are far from Paris, which means we are far from a store that has a regular audience of American’s with their American appliances. We are also far from our post office, so ordering from Amazon isn’t as easy as we hoped. We did find the cords we needed for the xbox, wii, desktop, and laptop but it took going to four different stores on three different days to do so.

2. Your hotel may not have a washing machine or dryer. We stayed at a fantastic hotel (more on this soon) but they didn’t have any washers or dryers. The first time we needed to wash clothes, we took them to a service that would wash, dry, and fold for us. It was expensive and wasn’t immediate so we asked the hotel staff where a close laundromat was, and we took our clothes once a week to wash.

The first time was an experience and from that I say this – do not use the largest, industrial dryer. It will be too hot. Anything with lace will be destroyed, like the new tank top sweater set you bought days before leaving the US, and also your underwear. Your baby’s pajamas will lose the softness, probably because the fuzz is burned off from the heat. It’s just not a good idea to use the industrial dryer even if you think it is a good idea because you can dry everything at once.

3. Be flexible. This is a given any time we move, but moving overseas presents a whole new set of stuff to think about. I’m not sure of the rest of France, but where we live most stores open between 9 and 10 AM (a couple, like the grocery store, open at 8) and close between 7 and 8 PM. There is no Target or Walmart, no one stop and you can get everything you need. So there are many small stores and most of them close for lunch, between 12 and 1:30, even the bank closes for lunch. Just about every store is closed on Sunday’s, but there is the odd store that is open on Sunday and closed on Monday. The first Sunday when we realized there was nothing opened and we didn’t have anything to eat, we ate at McDonald’s. Unfortunately we have eaten more at McDonald’s in the past (almost) three months than we have in at least seven years.

4. Have a lot of cash saved for your move. I suppose this is a “duh” thing to say, duh you need money to pay for the hotel and for food. But you will be paying for this for possibly quite a while until you are paid back (this assumes you are a military family and the expense of your hotel will be covered under the permanent change of station move). We paid out of pocked for everything for two months before we were paid back, and admittedly we were shocked when we saw money in our account as ‘fast’ as we did. Two months is a relatively short amount of time to wait for the money, others have told us it would be anywhere from two to nine months, based on their experience. We stayed in a hotel for seven weeks, so that adds up quickly (more on moving expenses soon). When you have no kitchen you also have to constantly eat out and of course that is expensive as well. Save on purpose for the move, you will get paid back.

I do have a couple of “more on that soon” comments and I’ll be quick. We stayed at an amazing hotel – not for the amenities but for the staff – and moving with the military is sometimes easy and often frustrating but if you try to find something positive, it can be an overall good experience.

I am doing a photo a day on instagram if you are interested. 🙂

Hearts Are Broken

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My friend Tishia Lee’s post reminded me I wanted to write about this! I’ve seen a handful of people posting on twitter and on blogs about the coverage Michael Jackson got after he died. People were (and maybe still are frustrated at least) upset the coverage for soldiers dying at war are not getting the same coverage.

One comment I read said something along the lines of (sorry in advance, I can’t remember where I read this!) Jane Doe in England might not know the soldier from Kansas to mourn his death, but she knew Michael Jackson. I feel along the same lines. I think the coverage was excessive, but considering who Michael Jackson was, that’s about the coverage I’d expect!

I think it can be hard for those of us in the military to come to terms with the fact that people in the general population probably are not thinking about the war, the cost of war, the families that are alone, the parents who send their children off to fight and never have them return home, daily like many of us are. In my own family my Grandpa was in the Army and my Uncle in the Marines. My Grandpa was in WWII and my Uncle in Vietnam. My husband is in the Navy and though there are sailors in Iraq and Afghanistan, they aren’t mentioned nearly as much as soldiers (yes, it’s upsetting to me to see the majority of things referring to the soldiers at war, considering it’s more then soldiers, but that’s for another time). My husband isn’t there and he’s been deployed numerous times over the years he’s been in the Navy because that’s just how the Navy works.

I think people in the general population do recognize the lives lost despite not thinking about it daily – for us it is our life, it is what we are a part of, for them – it’s their friends child, their brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, kids they watched growing up, kids who had kids, and more. People watch the news and see the coverage about the war. Entire towns and communities and families hearts are broken over the losses of these people. Their hearts are broken.

Since my husband isn’t directly at war I don’t think about the what if of him not coming home. I don’t have any plans. But I know so many people who do. And my heart hurts for them. To even have to make those plans is a so difficult. To have to think of the possibilities of your loved one not coming home is something I’d rather block out. Sure that doesn’t help the situation, but for me, for right now, it’s the easiest thing to do.

Add to that I’m a person who grieves in private. I’ve always held my emotions close to me. Yes I wrote about my Grandma dying and my son, but that’s it. And sure that is out there online, but I don’t tell people I just met easily. Friends and family know about George, and I ended up telling a few friends when we lived in Texas, but that’s my business, our family business. That’s my kids who think about the brother they never got to know and my husband who didn’t get another son. It’s me having life inside of me and then it was gone. I don’t talk about that because my soul hurts with the loss. I don’t share about the issues in dealing with my Grandma’s Memorial or our plans or lack of plans for more children. Maybe having others know what I’m going through would expand the circle for which I would be able to draw support from, but who I am, I mean, my personality is such that I just don’t share that way.

Grieving for a celebrity is so different then grieving for a family member or someone you knew. Grieving for Michael Jackson is a sign of the loss of a fantastic performer, someone who entertained people for the majority of his life. And then you go about your business. You go to work and do laundry and go to meeting and file papers and play catch with your kids.

When someone you love, someone you watched grow up or gave birth to or so many other scenarios, dies the loss is felt in your soul. It is felt to the core of your body and changes who you are. From that moment forward you are a changed person. Your body aches when you think of them and your tears come easily.

Entire towns, communities and family are aching and how they deal with it is their business. I don’t want anyone I know to have a funeral broadcast over tv and have millions of people grieve for them, because that grief is short lived.

Tricare Issues

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TRICARE
Image via Wikipedia

Tricare is the health insurance we have in the military and so far, in the seven plus years we’ve been married I have had few (as in maybe one) issue with them. I had a great doctor when pregnant with Alice and after she was born, another great doctor with Jake and after he was born. We had an immediate transfer to a specialist when our issues with George first came up and fantastic doctors after that. I’ve had a doctor here or there who didn’t fit with me, which I either complained about (in one case) or didn’t go see again (in the other case).

But this. This is crazy! And it’s not a doctor complaint, but really more like a process complaint.

Chris got a referral for equipment he needs and gave me a phone number to call so they would get our updated address. Since we moved out of housing we do have a forwarding address and so while we will eventually get our mail, that won’t happen for a few weeks. I called the number he gave me three times and left messages, all I wanted to do was verify they got the new address.

I got a call back this morning and the woman I spoke with apologized because she was away due to an emergency – which I completely understand, but why wouldn’t the system offer you a way to get a secretary or someone else in that case?

She was able to give me a copy of his referral and even stayed after the office closed in order to give it to me. I had a couple of other errands to run and figured the medical equipment office would be open until 5 so I could still call them this afternoon.

Then I call the number and it was disconnected. I thought I dialed wrong, but nope, it was disconnected. A call to Google 411 found me the same answer. Okay fine, I’ll drive over quickly and talk to them in person. Except the address on the paperwork was for a local car dealership.

So what do we have – no phone number and no office. Luckily for me, I have a Blackberry. I did a search for the company name and the town – nothing. Then I did a search for the name and neighboring town since that one is bigger and found an office. I called and talked to someone. I was under the impression that we just needed the piece of paper and we could walk into the office, pick up what we needed and walk right out.

Yeah, right. Chris needs an appointment on a day when a clinician can see him. And it will need to be about an hour long appointment. Put that together with 16 hour days and us wanting to leave right when leave starts and you have a frustrated me!

Now I have to make another call at 8AM on Monday, hope that office will fax paperwork quickly, then the medical supply office has to fax something else to the dr after the first office faxes. Then once that is done I have to hope the dr will sign the paper quickly so Chris can get an appointment as soon as possible. He said maybe he’ll be able to take an hour and a half off to get to the dr Tuesday – but he can only go on Tuesday if the paperwork is all complete.

Why did they (medical in this case) make it seem like we just take that paper in and we could walk right out?

And the wrong number and address?! That is just unacceptable. I am going to call on Monday and let them know, maybe they just have the wrong info in the system. Whatever the case is, I knew it needed to be done so I made the calls I had to. I know Chris doesn’t have the patience to deal with figuring it all out. I can’t imagine that others would either.

This is the worst experience we’ve had – which really isn’t anything that bad to have to deal with in the grand scheme of things. And I am so glad she called me back today – if we didn’t get a chance to take care of it until we were gone from TX we would have had to start about half way over.

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