Back to Sheffield – 17th to 19th September

Louisa and I had a good flight from LA to Heathrow on Thursday 17th September. Luckily, there were no disasters on this return journey and we landed around 3pm. After collecting Louisa’s case we headed to the bus station to wait for our Flixbus. I was very tired as I had not slept on the plane and I had to keep going for walks around to stop my eyes from closing. I messaged Captain Caveman to say I was back on home turf, he was still suffering with a sprained ankle but was off to Aldi after work to get some provisions in for us. I’d been lacking in fruit and vegetables this week so I was looking forward to getting some healthy food. We were also invited to our friend’s in Leicester this weekend where I was really looking forward to a good curry!
Our Flixbus was at 5pm and arrived in to Sheffield at 10.55pm. The journey was ok, I nodded off a bit but I was so tired and found it irritating that people don’t use earphones for their phones anymore. It was also very cold!
The bus was meant to drop Louisa off at Meadowhall first but it did the city centre drop off for me first. I said bye to Louisa and thanked her for the last 3 weeks of being my holiday buddy. She was looking forward to getting home to her other half and her dog. I was very lucky to have had the chance to visit Las Vegas and if it hadn’t been for Louisa I probably wouldn’t have made it. I was also very grateful that I’d had the chance to meet up with friends who live in the USA. I was meant to meet Captain Caveman in the Sheffield Tap but, as the bus was a little delayed, I went straight home and was back in Kelham Island not long after midnight, completely exhausted.
This last trip had left me with more questions than answers, though, as I’d started to feel like I really craved some serious rest. I was super exhausted, I felt like shit and I was more broke than ever. The rest of this month was certainly going to be interesting.

Gratitude List
1. Watching films on the flight back, I don’t recall which ones
2. Getting back to Sheffield
3. Seeing Captain Caveman again.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel great on Friday 18th September. I’d not slept well and I couldn’t work out what time it was. I’d been invited to spend the weekend with friends in Leicester but had to cancel. Captain Caveman couldn’t walk so he wasn’t fit for anything and I was just broken from lack of sleep.
I managed to move one of the pieces of furniture in to the living room to use for my desk and I did a tiny bit of work. Captain Caveman made me a beef brisket with vegetables for dinner and it tasted great. I spent most of the time in bed trying to get warm and go to sleep but failing at both.

Gratitude List
1. Having the ‘borrowed’ Virgin Airlines blanket for extra warmth
2. A new desk for me to use
3. A healthy dinner.

I was in the wide awake club before 7am on Saturday 19th September and I felt like I’d done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson – my body ached so much! I managed to walk to the nearby bakery to get some sourdough but then I got back into bed. Captain Caveman didn’t get to the supermarket as he’d planned in the last 2 days so he decided to go to Bridge in the afternoon and call at Aldi on his way back.

Here’s what he bought with prices in pounds:

Indian Seasoning 0.79
5 bananas 0.80
Soft cheese 0.89
3 Casserole sachets 1.05
Deodorant 1.09
3 packets of stuffing 1.35
Orange Juice 1.59
Fish fingers 1.65
Honey 2.09
Raspberries 2.65
Cumberland Sausages 3.29
Peanut Butter 3.99
1 bottle of Merlot 3.99
900g Chicken thighs 5.39
Total spent £30.61

Captain Caveman made us a meal of beef brisket with onions, peppers and melted cheese on sourdough which was delicious. I ate that, managed to unpack a few items from my Vegas trip – including my wig! I didn’t manage any wine and went back to bed determined to shake off what we thought must just be jetlag.

Gratitude List
1. Sourdough
2. Captain Caveman doing everything while I tried to rest
3. Good food.

Leaving Las Vegas – 16th September

Jamie came over to the Excalibur hotel at 10am on Wednesday 16th September to say bye and bring an extra hand luggage bag/case for Louisa. I’d left her packing but it was looking like she might struggle to get all her shopping in. At the last minute she managed it and didn’t need the bags from Jamie. I’d packed my bags and done a bit of work, my customer was all set for her cruise to leave this afternoon while I was flying to Los Angeles. Jamie came up to the room and we gave her a small bag of things that Louisa and Briony had left plus the leftover spiced rum. Thành was kindly taking us to the airport later and I had agreed that Louisa and I would be outside in the taxi drop off area at 3pm. Before she left, Jamie helped us out by going to the reception to ask about the charges on Louisa’s credit card and what they were for. Once that was all sorted, it was time for us to say bye, check-out and get ready to go back home. Our flight wasn’t until 5.37pm tonight and we were due to land in Heathrow airport tomorrow at 3pm.
It was sad saying bye to Jamie, especially as there were no set plans as to when I might see her and the family again. I hoped we would meet one day back in Vietnam or even in Turkey.

Louisa decided rather than take our luggage to the bar with us, we should leave them with the concierge. Obviously we had to give a tip just to drop the bags off and I assumed they would want one on collection too – I was not a fan of this overzealous tipping. We sat in the bar for a bit and I did some work on a 2 week cruise and stay holiday to Japan and Korea in March 2027 for just over £3,000 per person. It was a bargain.
I also totted up my spending for this Las Vegas trip and it was close to £900 in total. If Briony hadn’t given me $100 and Louisa not bought me a meal and some drinks it would have been over £1000 for a week. My budget including the hotel and fees had been £615 so I was way over and I had less than £50 left on my credit card to last me until the middle of October when I next got paid.

We had not eaten today yet so with less than 2 hours to go until we needed to head back to get picked up by Thành, Louisa suggested we go for food, to finish off our holiday. We walked over towards Mandalay Bay and where there was a Johnny Rockets – it’s like a more expensive and slightly slower Macdonald’s. Louisa had a chicken burger with Tater Tots (like mini hash browns). I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger and fries which was listed on the menu at $23.95 but with the obligatory taxes and tip I paid £30 in total and that didn’t include a drink. On the plus side, I took my lactase tablets and it did stay in, which I was surprised about. It was my first time trying a Johnny Rockets burger and I wouldn’t recommend them, not just because they are more expensive than a MacDonald’s, but the patty was pretty thin and the bun was very sweet – the chips were good.
On our way back to the Excalibur, Louisa was milling over whether to buy a new suitcase after all, she was worried her very tightly stuffed belongings might cause the case to burst open if it got knocked about a bit. At the last minute she saw a decent hand luggage case in a souvenir shop and bought it, rushed back to pick up the original bags and do a quick repack before legging it to an already waiting Thành.
At the airport I said thank you and goodbye to Thành and hoped to see him if he could come to Turkey.

Our return internal flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles was delayed and not due to land until 7.26pm, our connecting international flight was at 8.35pm. Again, we had a very tight timeframe to get across the airport and it was all a bit of a blur.
Once on the next plane and settled in to seat 65C, it was time to watch films, catch up on some blogging and try to have a little snooze – we would be on this flight for just over 11 hours.

Gratitude List
1. Getting to say bye to Jamie & Thành before we left Las Vegas
2. A lift to the airport with Thành
3. Our International flight to Heathrow being on time.

Las Vegas – 15th September

On Tuesday 15th September Briony and Louisa were keen to have breakfast because Briony was flying back home to Indiana that afternoon. For once, I wasn’t hungry as I’d eaten so much yesterday, but I was happy to go along. I took my laptop as I had a customer getting on a train in Toronto at 8.30am, and I wanted to check all was going smoothly for their arrival into Quebec tonight, in readiness for a cruise tomorrow.
At Avenue Cafe in the MGM Grand, I just had tea and toast while the girls ordered a couple of egg based breakfast dishes to share. The breakfast classic dishes were priced at $25, the French toast was $17 and the portions were substantial. We had spent 6 nights at Excalibur Hotel & Casino and tonight there would just be Louisa and I left, as we were flying back to the UK tomorrow. It had been great to see Briony after such a long time and I was grateful that her and Louisa had got on so well and had a lot in common/liked the same sort of activities. I did feel a little bad that my priorities and money status were massively different to when I used to hang around with Briony and that I’d been in no position to even attempt to spend as much as they could. I was still fighting back tears that I’d spent over £100 on unnecessary taxis in less than 1 week – something I very rarely spend money on if I can help it!
We went back to the room and I watched with amusement at Briony’s packing of her various cases – the only thing she’d not got in there was the kitchen sink!
Louisa and I walked Briony to the valet area to get her taxi and said bye, not knowing when we might see each other again – perhaps back in England in 2027. It felt more emotional to say bye than it should’ve and I blamed the menopause.

Louisa and I spent the next 4+ hours sightseeing, wandering round the strip and me watching her shop for souvenirs. This time we took the monorail and it only cost £18.45 for 2 of us to do 2 journeys, all the way to the Venetian and back – a bargain compared to taxis and it had good views. I was surprised at how small the Venetian was for the gondola rides and we nipped in to the Tipsy Robot where Louisa bought us a cocktail, using the 2 for 1 discount card again.

The M&M shop was an eye-opener for me as M&Ms are pretty cheap in Dalyan and are one of the chocolates you can readily get. I don’t eat them as they aren’t good for my stomach but Louisa is a massive fan and got lots of souvenirs, so much so that she hoped it would all fit in her suitcase for the return journey.

Back at the Excalibur we still had loads of spiced rum left so we had a couple. The room looked half empty without Briony and all her tranklements.
For dinner, Louisa kindly treated us both to a Chinese meal at Chin Chin in the New York New York Hotel. We shared a prawn toast ($15) and an orange chicken with steamed rice ($28). I made the mistake of telling them of my allergies and it turned into a bit of over attentive service as I think they thought I’d sue them over a spoonful of oyster sauce if I collapsed. The food was good and I really enjoyed it. Louisa had a little flutter in the Excalibur casino on the way back to the room, just using up some $1 notes then it was off to bed for our last night. I got the whole bed to myself, the first time not sharing a bed since I left Dalyan 75 days ago and it felt lovely.

Gratitude List
1. Using the monorail
2. Sightseeing with Louisa
3. A good meal at Chin Chin with Louisa.

Las Vegas – 14th September

I had a fuzzy head when I woke up early on Monday 14th September. I’d shared 6 bottles of the Margarita Soju and then drank half a bottle of red wine last night. Louisa had replied just after midnight to ask what time I would be back this morning as it was Briony’s last day and we needed to make plans for what we were all doing.
Jamie, Thành and the 2 kids were up and about getting ready for school and 7am felt like it was a bit too early for me today. I do like to see how local life is in a place so I reluctantly got up. Jamie had done all my washing too and there was pho for breakfast – I was happy as I love Pho and Thành had added extra meat which he had killed himself! We were invited to join the school drop off and see the girls’ school which I was interested in and I was going to have a lift back to my hotel after.
The school visit was interesting and it was a very nice school, we met the teachers and even went in to the classrooms. Jamie had a work commitment so her and Janet went off one way and Thành drove me back to the hotel with a stop off to visit Jamie’s sister’s home. The houses Jamie and Shawn live in are really lovely with gardens and lots of space for the animals.
I was back at the hotel before 9am, the girls were up and ready and I didn’t have time for a shower before we all headed off to the Mob Museum. As it was Briony’s last day, I put my out of office on and would check my emails later tonight. Louisa and Briony were off to see Ka, a Cirque de Soleil show, at 6pm and I was going to Jamie & Thành’s to join the family dinner.
It was my turn to pay the taxi to the Mob Museum which was all the way over to Fremont and cost £33 including tip! The Mob Museum was £37 and actually one of the best value attractions I spent money on this trip. Briony was tired of me moaning about having no money and had kindly given me $100 so today’s outing was on her. The Mob Museum was pretty impressive and we were in there from 10am until almost 3pm. It was freezing in there as the AC was on icy so we stopped at the cafe for a hot drink and so that the girls could eat something for breakfast. I just had an earl grey tea for £2.67 to warm me up. We did a very interesting Crime Lab experience there and the girls got to shoot guns – I’m anti gun so I just watched but Louisa was a perfect shot and Briony was pretty nifty too.

We came out and decided to eat at the nearest place, even though it was a little late for lunch.
At the Triple George Grill the staff thought we were mental to want to sit outside in the sun to eat. They brought us free water constantly and were very attentive, I think they were expecting one of us to collapse with heatstroke at any time – I sat under an umbrella but it was very warm. I saw the house burger on the menu for $18 and ordered that with a Budweiser – when in Vegas! I was conscious that I didn’t have my lactase tablets with me so when it came I took the cheese off. The food was ok and big portions so I had to leave some, which I don’t like doing. My total bill with tip, tax and bread and oil to share was £31.
We got a taxi back around 4pm, the girls were now in a bit of a rush because they both needed to shower and get ready to be at the MGM before 6pm. I didn’t make it to the hotel room before needing the toilet as my stomach was bad from my lunch!
I went to the family dinner without a shower as there wasn’t time for all 3 of us to use the bathroom but no one noticed if I smelled.

At Jamie’s, Thành was already being the chef, the kids were running about, Shawn had her cute little baby and an older kid with her. Janet was trying to open or pour some wine and I was getting reacquainted with Jamie’s Mom and Chubby the dog. I’d known Chubby from about 12 years ago when they first got her, tiny and covered in ticks, she didn’t recognise me now though and the other dog, Rosie, was still too shy. The house was chaos but it was fun and the food was delicious. I had so many portions of the tofu and fried rice that I lost count and I loved having veggies. We remembered stories from when we were all in Vietnam and how their uncle Gary is still called Jungle Chicken.
After a lovely family dinner I said my farewells and Jamie drove me back to the hotel, where I finally got a shower, did a little bit of work and got in bed for an early night.
When Briony and Louisa got back, before 10pm, they had really enjoyed the show and were up for going downstairs for a bit of gambling. I joined them and just watched as I’d already spent over £115 today, but it was interesting to see how fast those machines can take that cash.

Gratitude List
1. The Mob Museum with Briony and Louisa
2. Home cooked Vietnamese food with Jamie, Thanh and their family
3. Seeing Chubby again.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Juliana.

Las Vegas – 13th September

I got up early on Sunday 13th September and crept out of the hotel room so that I didn’t wake up my room mates. I’d not heard from Captain Caveman since I’d arrived and wanted to try to get hold of him. I also had a couple of holiday quotes I needed to do, chase up some balance payments and a couple of urgent queries. I’d found an area near the exit to a car park and a Starbucks where I could quickly log on but it soon got very busy with guests and the music was just too loud. I decided to walk over to one of the connecting hotels and I did find a couple of nice spots to put my headphones on and get absorbed in my to do list. I had missed a call with Captain Caveman so didn’t get to speak to him and had to wait a few hours. When I did, he had finally taken himself to A&E after being in agony for so long. It turned out he had sprained his ankle and had not realised it so he was now back home with crutches and was pretty down. We think he did it on the cobblestones in either Poland or Belgium but had soldiered on thinking it was his gout. Being such an active person he really struggles if he’s at all unable to move about.
There wasn’t much help I could be while living it up in Vegas and he still had to work so he had strapped it up and was taking the ibuprofen. I came off the phone feeling a bit rubbish to a message from Louisa asking where I was. It was already 11.30am and the girls had been waiting for me as they thought we were all going to the Venetian today, so that we could be back before being picked up for Karaoke at 4.15pm. I’m not sure if it was my menopause brain or my hearing but I didn’t recall making this plan. I’d misunderstood as I knew Jamie had just booked the karaoke room in China Town for 2 hours so that it didn’t interfere with any evening plans we may have had. I apologised and said to go without me and I’d see them later. Instead, I finished everything but the trainings from my to do list and felt a bit better for almost getting on top of things. I’d not eaten breakfast yet, which I still wasn’t used to missing, but nothing appealed and I felt like I wanted to go back to bed as I was tired – I didn’t. In the afternoon I got a bit peckish and ended up buying a pretzel and a water, for £12, more for the convenience and cost than because they were good.
I dropped my stuff back at the room and caught up on some prescheduled social media content. I was really looking forward to a karaoke night as it reminded me of times in Vietnam with Louisa & Jamie and Sheffield Singstar nights with Briony. I sent the girls a reminder message before 3pm as Jamie would be swinging by at 4.15pm to pick us up from the valet parking.

At 4.10pm I bought a couple of $3 margaritas from the bar and I noticed the free pour of tequila seemed rather generous so I gave the bar tender $10 and said to keep the change. Jamie was bang on time and in the front seat was Janet, Jamie’s aunty from England. I passed her a margarita and we were introduced. Jamie had said for me to bring any washing any of us wanted doing so I brought mine. I apologised that it was just me and that I wasn’t sure if the others were coming or not. Ideally tonight, after karaoke, Jamie had offered to drive us all to the Vegas sign for a photo but we weren’t sure if they would make it. Jamie sent Briony the location in case they wanted to come over afterwards and we drove out to China Town to Q Karaoke. I got introduced to Jamie’s friend, Angela, who was joining us as she also loves a good karaoke session. Janet and I ordered soju drinks to share, and Jamie accidentally ordered a cocktail and then had to leave her car. The karaoke was just like being back in Vietnam and we sang anything and everything. Jamie ordered spicy Korean snacks and syrup coated fruit, both of which I didn’t have but I did have some other nibbles which were tasty. More drinks were ordered and I was getting a bit tipsy – on a school night too! After the time was up we weren’t sure if we should check if we could extend. Jamie’s sister and her husband had popped in and agreed to be the sober ones to take the car so that Jamie didn’t have to leave it in the car park, which was nice.
We got an update from Louisa and Briony that they had not seen my message until 6pm and had lost complete track of time while out sightseeing. They were having fun and were going on the High Roller and I was pleased that the 2 of them were getting on really well. We decided to have one more hour of karaoke and moved rooms. We were now a little merry and forced the sister and brother-in-law to sing a duet. It was a great 3 hours of karaoke which Janet and I thoroughly bonded over – getting excited at each song that we knew.
Around 8pm I was going to get the bus back to the hotel, or even try to get a taxi but Janet and Jamie suggested I might be better off going home with them than travelling alone. I’d done it before on Friday and had not felt it was unsafe to do that but when Janet said she had a bottle of wine that needed sharing, I decided to say yes. Angela had not been knocking the alcohol back like we had so that she could concentrate on some fab rock ballads so she offered to give us a lift. Her family had requested she pick up In-N-Out Burgers for dinner. I tried to pay towards the karaoke and Jamie was having none of it which was very kind of her and we passed on the takeaway. At Jamie’s we sat in the garden and drank wine and this was the first time I’d seen Thành, Jamie’s husband, since I’d arrived. He was still the same as when I last saw him in Phong Nha and it was good to see him again. He invited all 3 of us over for a traditional Vietnamese family dinner tomorrow night which I thought would be amazing – I was so desperate for some home cooked food and Vietnamese food is one of my favourites. I was sure the girls would love it too as they both like spicy food. Louisa, in particular, loves Asian food and met Thành on her first visit to Vietnam. I loved being in the fresh air and away from the noise of the strip for a bit and the 2 kids had grown a lot since I last saw them at the Duck Stop in the Bong Lai Valley! That night, Janet insisted that I share her bed and Jamie got me something to sleep in and a spare toothbrush. I sent a text to let the girls back at the Excalibur know that I was staying out, so they didn’t worry, and then fell straight to sleep.

Gratitude List
1. Getting enough work done
2. Karaoke with friends old and new
3. Spending only £20 today.

Las Vegas – 12th September

I had a little bit of housekeeping work to do on Saturday 12th September as one of my customers was leaving the UK today for New York to start a special cruise and stay holiday. It was also the same day that Martin Garrix was DJing at Tao Beach in Las Vegas from 11am. I’d asked Captain Caveman if he could perhaps get us on the guest list but, as we hadn’t planned it in advance, it was too late. It didn’t matter, as I don’t think we would have got there for 11am anyway and I didn’t relish the intense afternoon heat that much.
Instead, we headed out on foot to have lunch for our first meal of the day. We hadn’t planned it but we found a really nice diner which was clean, cool and had great service. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company had a very extensive seafood menu and I was finally getting to eat some pork! I was just going to stick with tap water but when the others ordered alcohol I thought, why not – I had a day off today so a Coronarita (a margarita with a Corona beer in) for $17 (£12.64) seemed like a great choice because you got to keep the blue shaker it came in. Louisa had a Watermelon Coronarita and Briony a Sangria. Kitti, our server, was extremely attentive and efficient. Briony ordered a Clam Chowder soup and a Shrimpers Heaven (a basket of different battered seafood bites), Louisa and I both had pork ribs with shrimp.
Here’s what we had with the prices in dollars;
1 Sangria 8.50
2 Coronitas 34.00
1 Clam Chowder cup 7.99
1 Shrimpers Heaven 28.99
2 Ribs & Shrimp 73.98
1 cheesecake 11.99
Tax 13.86
Tip 36.00
Total spent $215.31 (£159.58)

The food was good and I enjoyed it but I couldn’t manage a dessert. The girls shared a strawberry cheesecake for afters and then we took a few photos before heading out on to the sunny Las Vegas strip. I was still having issues with understanding the tipping system as the total bill came to $165.45 but there was additional $13.86 tax on top plus a 22% tip! I didn’t understand why we were paying the tax on top even when Briony explained it and I felt like it was big companies ripping people off.
As I didn’t have any actual dollars I paid £106.52 on card and Louisa gave me some cash for hers – it was like an episode of the fast show but I worked out my meal and tip, with tax, had cost me the equivalent of £65.52. I’d enjoyed it but I wouldn’t say it was worth that price and, of course, I had blown the budget for today already. We got a new shaker to take home as a souvenir and I thought it would come in handy for a gift for Captain Caveman for when he gets his new flat.

We went to the Coca Cola shop next, where the girls had been shopping yesterday. It was absolutely rammed packed and I was fascinated at the amount of stuff they sold, which people were lapping up. I’m not a shopper myself so I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing. We went to get water and were heading to an ABC store but I lost the girls who had gone to Target. I bought a bottle of water for £2.67 and waited for my friends to reappear. We went back to the hotel and got ready for our night out.

Purple Reign was on at the V Theater in the Miracle Mile area. We’d paid $55 (£41) each for the ticket and arrived early to collect them. The whole area is inside but has a roof designed to look like the sky which feels like you’re in The Truman show, I found it unnerving and a bit confusing – maybe it was just the menopause. Once inside, we couldn’t find a bar so just sat without drinks and an usher moved us in to ‘better’ seats which we didn’t like so we moved back.
The show was good but started late and could’ve lasted longer for the price. We had an entertaining night and the music was good.

Afterwards, we went to PF Chang’s for dinner. I wasn’t massively hungry so, while the others had the 3 course $39.99 special I just ordered a couple of starters and a pot of tea – it was 11pm so I didn’t want to have a bad stomach during the night. The steamed gyoza and edamame were really good, the green tea great, and my meal came to £31 ($42) in total – it made better sense to order the bigger special but I hate wasting things and knew I wouldn’t eat it all! When it came to dessert, which was included for my fellow diners, they had to take it back to the hotel as they were full. I didn’t pay for any taxis tonight, which helped with my quickly disappearing budget and I was really starting to feel awkward that I didn’t have the means to spend like the others could. It was coming up for 12 years since I was in a full time, decently paid job where I used to be quick to get the rounds in. Now I was nowhere near in the same league as Louisa and Briony who didn’t need to consider the price like I did. I was officially now the tight-arsed friend that people started to pity or dislike – and it didn’t feel good!
We were in bed by midnight and Jamie had booked the karaoke in for tomorrow night. I planned to get up early and get work done, as well as checking my customers had arrived in Toronto at 7.15am. I didn’t set an alarm as I didn’t want to disturb Briony and Louisa when they are on holiday but I knew I would wake up for a pee anyway.

Gratitude List
1. A nice lunch with Briony and Louisa at Bubba Gump
2. Seeing a show with the girls
3. Edamame beans – a favourite of mine.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa.

Las Vegas – 11th September

On Friday 11th September Briony and Louisa had arranged to do 2 nearby attractions; Bodies, The Exhibition and The Titanic Museum. The combined ticket price was $53 per person and it wasn’t something I was bothered about seeing (I’d seen Bodies in Germany a few years ago) so I was able to spend the morning catching up on work. I was finding it difficult to be on holiday and working at the same time because of the time difference and being so tired still. The lack of internet in the hotel room was a bit disappointing as there was a decent desk and chair I could’ve used there.

Instead, I tried various spots around Excalibur, the Luxor and the MGM but even the quiet spots, weren’t. There was a massage place which I really fancied just so I could feel more relaxed but at $50 for a 20 minute foot or back massage, I decided it wasn’t worth it for me. I didn’t have time for a proper meal so I grabbed a salted Pretzel from Aunty Anne’s for £8.50 and, while not at all healthy, it filled me up and didn’t give me a bad stomach! I also familiarised myself with the free shuttle, the paid monorail and where the bus stops were for later. I’d researched that taxis were expensive but public transport was cheap and reliable in Vegas to get about the strip – which is a long way to walk when it’s this hot. A Deuce bus ticket for 24 hours is $8 which isn’t bad if you’re going to be out and back more than once per day.
Tonight, Jamie had invited the 3 of us to her friend’s birthday party over in a hotel suite on Fremont Street. I’d seen that the Mob Museum was in that area and thought it might be a good idea to do that first then join Jamie and her friends. We didn’t do that as I think the girls had already had quite a busy day of attractions and shopping, so instead we had some drinks in the room. I had been paid today so I transferred £300 to Louisa for my share of the accommodation and a show. Louisa had spotted something that all 3 of us were interested in, a Prince tribute act at the V Theatre tomorrow, so she booked us tickets. I had a couple of wines and the girls had a couple of rum and cokes and I finally started to feel a bit more relaxed and had put my out of office on for tomorrow. The girls got ready in their lovely outfits and I wore my festival dress with good pockets. Rather than get buses the girls preferred to get a taxi straight to Fremont and I paid £38 including tip for the one-way journey.

We met Jamie, the theme for the birthday celebrations was wigs so we all popped them on. I thought Briony and Louisa looked stunning with the colours they had and we even suggested it would suit that colour on their real hair. I thought I looked more like my sister with a fringe! I had my wine bought for me, as I’d got the taxi so I wasn’t sure of the price but I know the size was large and it tasted pretty good – but all drinks are served in plastic cups!
Next we headed over to the party in a hotel room and it felt a bit like being in a film as we went up, following the noise.
Luckily, there was food on as I’d not eaten since the pretzel and I was getting drunk. I had a couple of slices of the Costco pizza and it was the best thing I’d had to eat so far! There were birthday buns which I avoided so that I didn’t get poorly but Louisa took one for the team. What looked like icing or butter cream was milk (which didn’t sit well) and she had to leave it – I was so glad I’d not had one as they looked so delicious but I would probably have been in a predicament. We all got given a little gift of a fan in the shape of a fruit which I thought was nice and then we went to watch some free live music. I loved this part and we all got right in to it, dancing up near the front to rock band Alter Ego. It was hot and by midnight Jamie had gone home and I was properly flagging! Louisa and Briony being considerably younger than me and definitely less of a lightweight than me, didn’t want to go back to the hotel yet and wanted to explore more of what Fremont Street had to offer. I asked one of the party people where to get a taxi and they didn’t know so I went back in to the hotel to ask. The guy working there told me to walk for about 10 minutes down the street then take a right to a taxi line. I did and found it ok, considering I was quite merry. It only cost me £30 with a tip to get back and I’d had a great night out but was so shattered. Total spend today was £377 (including hotel) proving that it was definitely impossible to do Vegas on a budget if you get taxis. I don’t recall the girls coming back as I was fast asleep.

Gratitude List
1. Getting caught up on urgent tasks
2. A night out on Fremont Street with great friends
3. Dancing to live rock music.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Jamie.

Las Vegas – 10th September

I was awake at 7am on Thursday 10th September, having had over 8 hours of sleep for the first time since Saturday! I really fancied a day of doing nothing but I also had work to do and in the UK it was already the afternoon and in Turkey it was already gone 5pm.
Briony was also awake and we didn’t want to disturb Louisa so we decided to go downstairs to the casino. We crept out in our pyjamas (me in a t-shirt as I didn’t have any) and it was the first time I’d taken in the Excalibur properly. It was huge, noisy and very bright. I was also surprised that smoking is allowed indoors. Briony got settled at a Craps machine while I logged on to my laptop to realise I’d already missed 4 more cruise training sessions and the Resort Experts’ team meeting. Briony showed me the rules of Craps, and I still didn’t really get it yet. She put $100 in to play with and then got stuck on the machine without it letting her cash out – she had to call her husband (an avid gambler) to get help. I still didn’t know if I would allow myself to ‘waste’ any money on gambling while I was in Vegas. I know it’s something everyone has to try once but, being in a situation where I didn’t have money to splurge, I could only think of all the other things I would prefer to spend the money on, but we would see.
I also needed to speak to Captain Caveman who had been to his mortgage appointment yesterday to look at buying the flat we’d seen. I’d not known the outcome yet so I was trying my best to speak to him. It was very hard to find a quiet corner and WiFi signal so I ended up leaning on a wall next to the ladies toilets. His appointment had gone well and he told me he was thinking he would put an offer in, if all went well he could be in a new home for Christmas. Louisa messaged to see where we were as we had woke her when the door closed and she thought it was just the bathroom door. She came down to join us and had to navigate the casino which is quite easy to get lost in.
Jamie, a friend I met in Phong Nha Vietnam, drove over to meet us at 9.30am so we could all discuss our plans for the coming week and decide when she could join us. I brought my copy of The Handy Travel Planner with me as it already had a few Must Dos, Sees and Eats that I had noted down, mainly from the internet and a friend back home. We went through my list crossing off stuff which wasn’t worth doing and adding in any other recommendations. Jamie already had in her diary that she would see us after work tonight, we were all joining her and her friends on a night out in Fremont Street tomorrow and there was talk of karaoke, ideally at the weekend. I fancied an all you can eat buffet and had noted the prices in this hotel, but it didn’t get great reviews. Briony was up for a buffet somewhere but it wasn’t on Louisa’s list. Briony fancied the Ice bar and a show, but Louisa and I didn’t fancy an ice bar, Louisa was perhaps up for a show. Jamie gave some recommendations for food places and also said she and her eldest child would join Louisa doing the rollercoasters, which neither Briony nor I are a fan of. All of us wanted to go out to the Vegas sign for a photo, see the fountains at the Bellagio and go to Caesar’s Palace and the Venetian. Briony and Louisa were keen to experience more of the casinos too. We still had 5 full days and nights together so there was plenty of time.
It was only 10.30am when Jamie got a round in at the bar of the hotel. It was on my list to sample the $3 (£2.24) margaritas so that’s what I ordered, Jamie had a Coke and Louisa had her Coke with a rum in. Briony had already brought a coffee with her. I’d checked the drinks menus to see that a spirit was about $10-20 per shot so I was going to avoid them and stick to the perfectly fine margaritas. I’d set my spending limit at £50 per day, although I was hoping I could do it in less as I’d not been paid yet. The margarita was strong, had a salty rim and ice but was served in a plastic cup with a plastic straw – something I really don’t like.
We decided today that it would be a relaxing day by the pool and we went to check it out. It was very hot and no shade so I figured I’d last about 10 minutes with my factor 50 on before I needed the shade. We all went to the bar and I offered to get the first round in. I ordered another $3 (£2.24) margarita and the girls decided to order the frozen raspberry daiquiris which comes with a refillable plastic cup with a lid and is massive. They are very sugary and probably have about 4 alcohol shots in almost a litre (32oz) of drink so I definitely didn’t fancy one. When I went to pay, I nearly fainted – the round was just over $103 (£77)in total!
Ironically I needed to stay fairly sober as I had to speak to one of the owners of Resort Experts about my pay this month. I know we were meant to be on holiday but I could not get over the price of the drinks, and I’d just spent 2 days of budget already!
I went to the room to get my swimmers on after my phone call and had a little swim, the girls had another drink and all was well at 12.30pm. I’m not a sunbathing person so I popped in to the hotel for a couple of hours, leaving the girls enjoying the delights of the pool scene. It’s certainly a sign I’m getting older as I didn’t want to spoil tonight’s plans to meet up with Jamie and see some sights. At 3pm I came back to have another $3 margarita. Louisa had to leave the pool and go for a lay down and Briony had turned down free tickets to a show from some big fella in the pool. No one had eaten anything so Briony suggested she order a pizza and chips from the hotel bar. I took my pills and managed a slice but it was just too stodgy for me, the chips were good though. At just after 4pm I decided to go check on Louisa and take her some food, while Briony carried on with her drink and got back in the pool, saying she would be up shortly. Jamie was meeting us in the bar at 5pm so there was still time for everyone to be ready for some sightseeing. Louisa was breathing but was out for the count so I left the pizza on the desk and I went to meet Jamie as arranged. Briony and Louisa didn’t make it to the bar – those daiquiris were not to be sniffed at! Jamie and I waited to see if anyone would come as Jamie had kindly offered to drive us and show us some of the famous places. Louisa messaged to ask where we were but then fell back asleep, then when she surfaced Briony was in bed asleep.

By 7pm, having waited 2 hours, I took the liberty to leave without them and off we went. I did message to say we were heading to the Venetian and if they wanted, they could meet us there. Jamie had given her contact details to Briony earlier so she could get in touch when they had rested up a bit.
By 8.30pm we had seen the fancy hotels including the fountains and decided to go for a drink at one of the places I had on my list.

The Tipsy Robot is a bit gimmicky as a robot makes your drink – you still need to get up from your seat and collect it though. We got a 2 for 1 discount and they let us keep the discount card to give to our friends, so I paid just £19 for this round of drinks.

We had still not heard from Louisa or Briony so we decided to go for some food. We chose Tacotarian which is a vegetarian taco cafe (do you see what they did there?) and ordered 4 tacos between us. It was great food and only £19 (again) so it is possible to get decent and healthy food in Vegas if you know where to look.
By 9.20pm I was flagging and needed sleep and Jamie needed to get back to the family – we both had a lot to do tomorrow. I took a couple of photos of places we might book for bottomless brunch this weekend and then Jamie drove me back to the hotel. I was in bed before 9.45pm but my roommates weren’t there, from the evidence in the room they had got ready and gone out. I updated my budget tracker, having spent a total of £115 today and was disappointed with myself for not being prepared. I got a message from Louisa 10 minutes later asking where I was as they were now at the Bellagio.

Gratitude List
1. $3 Margaritas
2. Cooling off in the hotel swimming pool
3. Surviving Day 1 of Las Vegas.

Heathrow to Las Vegas – 9th September

At 1.30am on Wednesday 9th September I had walked to most parts of Terminal 3 at Heathrow airport, during the Air Traffic Control outage. At 3am I decided to see what was happening at the check-in desks – nothing. There were just so many people sleeping on floors and I even saw a man wrapped in a foil blanket!
At 5.30am they opened the bag drop and Louisa was able to get rid of her suitcase and then it was a bit like groundhog day.

We were in Slim Chickens by 5.50am and this time we both ate. We decided to share 7 chicken tenders (Louisa insisted I have the spare one!) and 2 hash browns, an orange juice for Louisa and a tea for me. After not much sleep for Louisa and none for me, I was so happy to see they had Yorkshire tea! I was less impressed with having to fork out £23 for a fried chicken breakfast but they do have very good tables with booths and it was impressively clean.
Unfortunately, my stomach swelled up and I started to feel ill, that’s when I realised that the chicken is cooked with milk and my 2 lactase tablets had not been enough to stop me having a reaction.
I did some work on my laptop, knowing that we were scheduled to depart at 9.55am so I would not be available for the rest of today. Louisa had a lay down under her Virgin blanket and tried to have a nap.

Our seats on the plane this time were not as good but we were just glad to be going even if it was almost a day later. We were sat in a bulk head row, me in the middle, Louisa on my left in an aisle seat and a big bloke on my right. He also had one of those eye masks which velcros to the seat, the same as Louisa. Because of the time difference between UK and USA we were due to land at 1.10pm but the flight was about 11 hours. We then had exactly 2 hours until our flight departed to Las Vegas and would need to go through immigration, collect Louisa’s suitcase and recheck in, then go through security. We were due to arrive in Las Vegas at 4.30pm.
After 2 hours of being on our way, we got a meal and I quite enjoyed my veggie pasta and cheese and crackers. I didn’t finish the chocolate mousse as it was a bit sickly sweet but Louisa gave me her cheese and I ordered a red wine. It was served in a cold can which was a bit weird but it tasted ok, and didn’t stop me having more. I managed to watch 3 films, including one about Michael Jackson and one with Jason Statham in. I kept nodding off but I didn’t really get much sleep. I was a bit jealous of the eye masks my neighbours had as they barely moved.

When we arrived in Los Angeles it was a bit of a rush and Louisa was concerned if she’d have enough time to collect the suitcase and do what she needed to do. Once at the immigration desks, we agreed for her not to wait for me and to go get her case. I got asked about my return journey, as is normal, but as I’d not booked the flight I didn’t have a return ticket to show on my phone. Eventually the officer let me through and I caught Louisa up who had got her case and was stood waiting for me. We rushed to the check-in desks and dropped the bag, then through security where I had to take my laptop out of my bag.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Louisa walk so fast! We made it to our connection but we were knackered. Due to lack of sleep I had started to get a feeling like sea sickness. Our next flight with Delta was only 1 hour and 15 minutes so there was no refreshments on board and we finally landed in Vegas at 4.30pm. In the UK it was already 12.30am on Thursday and we had set off at 2.30am on Tuesday – I definitely needed a shower and a bed now!

We got a taxi from Harry Reid airport to the Excalibur Hotel & Casino, Louisa paid around $21 and it was a short journey. The hotel room had cost £489 (£163 each) and then there would be resort fees on top of that at $408.16 (about £100 each). Louisa had already paid for the room and I said I’d pay for the resort fees. Briony was bringing dollars to pay her share to both of us. I’d already set up a Facebook group chat and put the amounts in there so we could sort it out once we were able to.
When we arrived at room 243, Briony had already settled in and she was patiently waiting for us to arrive. The room had a fridge, air con and there were 2 Queen beds. Louisa and I had already agreed she could have one bed to herself and I would share with Briony. Louisa and Briony do know each other but it made sense as I’d been good friends with her since the Aviva days.
Briony was hungry as she had been waiting for us to arrive all day. Our friend Jamie, who lives in Vegas, was also on standby to come over once she had the kids in bed. That sleep both Louisa and I were so desperately wanting didn’t happen immediately, despite us having now been on the go for 48 hours.

We had showers and went out in search of food, I cancelled on Jamie until tomorrow morning. Luckily, Briony, who moved form the UK to America about 10 years ago, is a frequent visitor to Vegas so she knew her way about a bit. I was barely functioning at this point and just remember being at an Irish pub which I think was called Nine Fine Irish Men and is located at New York New York. We sat outside and waited to be served but no one came for ages. Eventually we got served and Briony ordered a Clam Chowder, Louisa had a Chicken Burger with fries and I had some chicken wings. The service was slow and the food was ok, Briony enjoyed hers but my chicken wings, although a big portion, had far too much BBQ sauce on and I paid £20 for a starter. Briony walked us to Target so I could buy a bottle of water and a bottle of wine for the room, it was surprisingly good value at £8 but I didn’t have any ID with me so I had to get Briony over to provide her’s at the till. At the ripe old age of 53 it felt very strange to be asked for ID for a bottle of wine. I was so tired that we just went back to the room after and I’m sure Briony was disappointed that we weren’t out out. I was begging for mercy so much and only realised when we got back to the room that the internet didn’t really work. I was meant to have added a USA package to my GiffGaff but had not got round to it and now it was too late as I didn’t have the app.
I finally got in bed and I don’t even think I said goodnight. I didn’t set an alarm for tomorrow as I didn’t even know what time it was.

Gratitude List
1. Having a new flight so we could still get to Vegas
2. Making it to Las Vegas at last and seeing Briony
3. Pillows and a duvet.

Sheffield to Heathrow – 8th September

After just 4 hours of sleep, the alarm went off at 2am on Tuesday 8th September. I was off on a trip to Las Vegas with the girls! Captain Caveman had agreed to accompany me to the Sheffield bus station to get my Flixbus at 3am. I had to be there at 2.45am and the plan had been to walk the 20 minutes with Captain Caveman carrying one of my bags, however, he was still very much in pain and had to drive me. He dropped me off and it was so cold, I don’t have a coat in the UK so I had made do with a hoodie. The bus was punctual and there were no issues with putting Pauline, my petite pink underseat suitcase, in the bottom of the bus and taking my rucksack (with my food and water in) on with me. The flixbus had cost just £27 return and allowed 2 pieces of luggage; 1 hold of 20kg and 1 hand at 7kg – I’d booked row 2 seats.
Louisa got on at Meadowhall, about 15 minutes later, and we got settled for a long journey. We’d took the decision to get the earlier bus as the later one only arrived 2 hours before the flight departure. So, although our flight was at 2.30pm, we were due to arrive at Heathrow airport at 8.40am. I didn’t mind so much as it meant I could attempt a good morning’s work if I could find somewhere quiet enough. The bus ride was ok but there was no WiFi as advertised and the first driver had the temperature on at 18°C so I had to ask for it to be made warmer. The second driver had it back down to 21°C and drove quite erratically. There were no stops at a services, as I had experienced before, so no chance for anyone who hadn’t brought food and drink to get anything until we reached the destination.
Once at Heathrow airport and the Virgin check-in area, we were able to print off a boarding pass at the machines and I sat near the door while Louisa dropped off her case. We had so much time to spare so I tried to catch up on some work. I still had 6 cruise training webinars to complete, emails to respond to and a hotel in Georgia with a query. It was extremely busy in the airport and we went through security with just me having to have my bag checked. At Duty Free we had a browse and decided to pick up a bottle of spiced rum for our hotel room. I liked this idea as I was going to try my best not to blow my budget on alcohol.
I really needed a place to sit and get my laptop out and Louisa needed something to eat so she spotted a place called Slim Chickens. I’d already had some of my food from home and needed to work so I didn’t have any food. I’d never heard of the place before but it did chicken (as you’d expect) and other fried fast food.
We’d already had changes to the flight prior to our journey, which Louisa wasn’t particularly happy with, and meant she’d felt forced to splash out on a hotel in Los Angeles because of an extended layover that wasn’t planned for, when Virgin or Delta wouldn’t accommodate her complaint. The hotel in Vegas was already booked from today so we had let them know we were checking in early tomorrow and had arranged to meet our friend, Briony, at Vegas airport at 8.45am tomorrow morning. We knew today would be a long day but we were prepared and were even looking forward to watching some films on the plane. I rarely take any time to watch a film or read a book these days so that was a real treat for me. Louisa had also bought a pretty cool eye mask that secures your head to the headrest of the seat so she was hoping to get some sleep too.
We boarded at 1.30pm and we both had an aisle seat across from each other, towards the back of the plane. It was probably one of the nicest airlines I’d been on for a while so I was happy with my seat. There was also a spare middle seat between me and the man in the window seat – bonus.
What we didn’t know was that an hour earlier something had happend with the Air Traffic Control systems and the airport was about to come to a standstill. After 5.5 hours on the plane and a couple of films watched, we were told by the pilot that the flight was cancelled and we were the 57th plane in line to disembark. Virgin were unable to offer any idea of when we would be flying and they said there would not be any hotel accommodation available. All flights today were cancelled and they didn’t have an ETA or reason. Louisa and I tried to contact our other half’s and get on the internet to find out what was going on but the phone lines were down.
We got off the plane and were told to go find any hold luggage and a member of staff would give us instructions on what to do. It was complete chaos; the cases were all in the airport next to the luggage belts and in no obvious order, there were no compensation for food/drink and people had been told to leave the airport if they could. While Louisa found her suitcase I started to think of all the people I knew who lived in London and if we might be able to ask them to take us in for the night.
The airport was very crowded but we did find a couple of seats, we’d taken the blankets from the plane and I was so grateful for that as it got very cold. Louisa managed to get us rebooked on a flight tomorrow morning so we just had to work out what we were going to do tonight. Louisa went to get something from M&S and when she got back she said the shelves were getting empty. When I went, there was nothing left that I could eat but I did still have more snacks in my bag. I walked to the hotel at the end and asked about rooms, of course there were none available and people were apparently paying £3,000 per night. If we were going to stay with a friend we would need to get the underground or train and Louisa pointed out that this would not be easy for her with a suitcase and we could check in again tomorrow around 6am so it wasn’t worth leaving the airport.
I did a bit of blog writing and Louisa had a bit of a nod off but I was weirdly still not able to sleep so around midnight I took myself off for a walk, just to keep warm. Passengers were sleeping on the floor and I felt very sorry for the elderly, families and less mobile – there was nothing we could do, though.

Gratitude List
1. Cheap buses
2. Watching a couple of films
3. Taking my own food.

Manchester to Sheffield – 7th September

Monday 7th September was quite hectic and stressful for me and it didn’t go as planned. Neither Captain Caveman nor I could remember what caused the argument last night, it was probably because of his pain and me being hangry! I had a face on that he needed food to take ibuprofen but we didn’t eat anything after 1pm so he was in more pain than he needed be. In my world I would have gone to a doctor or A&E today but, of course, Captain Caveman would not consider that as an option. I had a very busy schedule as well as a Boot Camp of training sessions to dial in to today and a train journey back to Sheffield to get ready for my next holiday which started tomorrow. It was cold and wet in Manchester as Captain Caveman and I walked to his van, I walked to Cafe Nero and ordered 2 croissants for our breakfast while Captain Caveman limped to the car park. I couldn’t pay for the croissants as I had forgotten I’d bent my bank card yesterday and had put it between my diary and The Handy Travel Planner to straighten it out, so it was still in the hotel room. This really cheesed me off as I didn’t have time to go back for it and had to just get my clothes and shoes from the van, and give Captain Caveman anything I didn’t need, to drive back with later this afternoon. It also meant he couldn’t take his morning tablets before work because he also hadn’t eaten any breakfast.
We said goodbye and I walked back to The Tribe hotel in the rain. Once in the room I logged on to the first cruise training session and tried to forget how hungry I was. The first session was just the intro then there was a further 5 to attend throughout the day. I wrote a quick to do list of all things I had to make sure I’d done before I went to sleep tonight, plus a few tasks I would like to get done if I could. I rushed off for my train to Sheffield and had to change in Manchester Piccadilly where I paid £3 for a croissant and I took my tablets so I didn’t get a belly ache – result!

Back in Sheffield I had things I needed to get done in the town but I had a heavy bag with all the laundry in so I hadn’t time to go then. I got the tram to Captain Caveman’s flat for £2.50 and put the washing on straight away. I needed to wash and dry it ready to repack it – the joy of travelling light meant I didn’t have many other clothes in England. I’d done another cruise training session before lunch but missed the P&O one, even though I had a customer who had just been on a 2 week P&O cruise.
I was pegging the washing out when Vanessa arrived to see me before her 60th birthday cruise and she was really excited to be setting off on her special trip. We would both be in the same time zone so I’d assured her that I would still be available while on my next holiday, should she need anything. I’d turned my phone on to silent because of all the stuff I needed to concentrate on and, when Captain Caveman came home earlier than planned, he was not impressed that I’d not answered my phone. I was still with Vanessa and he’d needed help carrying the Aldi shop upstairs, which is why he had called. He’d driven back from Manchester after his work meeting and called at Aldi in his lunch hour. Here’s what he had bought, with prices in pounds;

Ibuprofen 0.35
Paracetamol 0.35
Moroccan seasoning 0.55
Spring onions 0.69
Bleach 0.69
Lettuce 0.75
2 Garlic 0.78
Carrots 0.79
Ketchup 0.87
Red cabbage 0.89
Mouthwash 0.89
BBQ sauce 0.89
2 Cannelloni beans 0.90
6 Bananas 0.96
Wholemeal loaf 0.99
1 cucumber 0.99
Brown Sauce 0.99
Lactose free milk 0.99
3 packet mixes 1.05
2 packs muffins 1.30
2 avocado 1.39
4 Baked beans 1.49
120g sliced ham 1.49
Orange Juice 1.59
2 Pesto 1.88
2 packs of wraps 1.98
2 packs of crackers 1.98
Mozzarella cheese 1.99
Toothpaste 2.09
6 Red peppers 2.10
2 packs of zip lock bags 2.30
Tomatoes 2.49
2t0g raspberries 2.65
500g Butter 2.70
Parmesan cheese 2.85
12 eggs 2.89
6 onions 2.98
Frozen berries 2.99
Mini Cheddars 3.19
Pork & leek sausages 3.29
2 packs Fish fingers 3.30
900g chicken thighs 5.39
Duck & pancakes 6.49
750g Lean Beef mince 7.09
1kg Beef Brisket 13.35
Total spent £99.49

We ate bacon muffins and then I got a lift with Vanessa in to town.
I missed the Marella & Celestyal Cruise training as I was busy with important errands. I would catch up on them tomorrow in the airport. I spent a massive £32.23 in Holland & Barrett stocking up on very much needed 3 for 2 Lactase pills for me and Black Cherry extract for Captain Caveman. I also treated myself to 2 cherry Bakewell flapjacks to take with me on the flight, just in case I needed a bit of sustenance. Captain Caveman needed more coffee so he asked me to get some from Marks & Spencer’s which I did for £3.75 and then I picked up some new potatoes for £1.85 and one of my favourite salads for £3, which I could eat at the airport.

I rushed back to finish off my work stuff, check-in for my flight, try but fail to finish off the internal pages of The Handy Travel Diary 2027 and then repack my bags.
This time I was taking Pauline, my petite pink underseat case, as well as my waterproof rucksack as a cabin bag. I didn’t have a suitcase to check in, though, as we didn’t have one in England and I didn’t have enough stuff to fill a case anyway. Captain Caveman was cooking us the crispy duck he’d bought at Aldi when he spotted online that someone nearby was getting rid of some free furniture. I was trying to get all my jobs done but of course, Captain Caveman couldn’t walk quickly, so he sent me. I really could’ve done without that but I met a man in a lockup with a climbing wall, where we acquired 4 pieces of furniture; a small desk, a shoe rack, a cupboard with a drawer and a book shelf. Captain Caveman came with the van and then we had to carry them to the lift and along to his flat. I was a sweaty mess and it was very hard work, he struggled with some of it too. We left it in the spare room and rescued the crispy duck from the oven.
It was already 7.30pm and I’d hoped to have everything finished and be getting some rest. The alarm was set for 2am tomorrow morning and I already knew I was going to be knackered. With hindsight, it would have been so much easier for me to have gone straight from Manchester airport to London, instead of coming back to Sheffield just to do the washing, but it had all been arranged and paid for.

Gratitude List
1. Free cruise training
2. Seeing Vanessa before we both went away
3. Free furniture for Captain Caveman’s (new?) flat.

Brussels to Manchester – 6th September

There were waffles for breakfast in The Sprouts’ home on Sunday 6th September so Captain Caveman tucked in. I just had a cup of tea and decided not to risk waffles – we were flying back to Manchester later today and I didn’t need to be turnstile hopping in the loos again! We’d been having such a lovely time that I’d not taken many photos. The family one on the patio had to be taken with some still in dressing gowns. Captain Caveman was in pain and I could tell all he wanted to do was to lay on a sofa and play Bridge on his phone but there was no resting for us today. Instead, we decided to navigate the bus replacement service on a Sunday to go in to town to see the last of the Beer Festival celebrations – a parade or something at midday, and to say farewell to Louisa. I messaged Louisa with our proposed plan and to see if she wanted to leave her luggage at the hotel and meet us at noon, when she checked out. Louisa didn’t want to risk leaving an unlocked case at the hotel and preferred to have her luggage with her so said she would meet us after the procession for some lunch. She had found a restaurant she fancied for her last meal in Brussels with a memorable name.

Our buses and trams took ages and we had to change then walk a fair bit so we ended up missing any of the festival frivolities and went straight to meet Louisa at Fanny Thai. Captain Caveman wasn’t hungry, as he’d had waffles for breakfast, and I was reluctant to eat much in case I was ill (again). While Louisa ordered a starter and a main, Captain Caveman and I decided to share a couple of Vietnamese style starters; spring rolls and dim sum, both £8.28 each and tasted nice. I had a Hoegaarden for £4.60 and Captain Caveman had a Coke for £3.26. Louisa had a lovely looking chicken stir-fry with steamed rice and a Coke. The whole meal came to around £50 total and, when we tried to get separate bills, the waitress was told she wasn’t allowed to do that. She went and checked at our insistence as we wanted to pay separately and she said the owners wouldn’t allow it, which was strange.

Louisa still had an hour to kill before she needed to set off to get her bus to Charleroi airport so we went to an Irish pub nearby and sat in the sun. Captain Caveman must’ve been in agony as he ordered a very pricey alcohol free Guinness. Here’s what we had for our final farewell drinks:

O’Reilly’s Irish pub
1 Coke 4.00
1 white wine Spritzer 6.50
1 Alcohol free Guinness 9.00
Total €19.50 (£16.31)

I said farewell to our friend and would see her again very early on Tuesday morning for our next holiday. Captain Caveman went with Louisa to the underground to show her which way to go to get her bus while I finished my drink and I had a little rest with my feet up.

We went back to the vintage shop for Captain Caveman to buy the football top but it didn’t fit and then it took us ages to get back home because of the Sunday replacement buses. This meant we didn’t have much time to spend with The Sprouts before rushing to the bus stop again. We did squeeze a little bit of time having some photos with Felix, the youngest nephew, who was sad that his uncle was leaving. Simon and Anna walked us to the bus stop and we all hugged goodbye, I’d really enjoyed the Brussels weekend and felt like I would have liked it to have been longer with more time to relax. Our transport today cost more than we’d been spending on the train and I spent £14.57 on just my buses.

At Brussels airport it seemed to take us a long time to get through passport control and Captain Caveman was now really struggling to walk, so much so that he told me to go to the gate without him. I bent down to fasten my bag and accidentally bent my bank card with my big stomach, which was not ideal. Captain Caveman made it in time to board and this time we were seated together on Brussels Airlines, flying out at 9.30pm.
Captain Caveman slept for most of the flight, I rarely sleep on a plane so I caught up with editing my blog which I’d not had time to do this last week. We arrived in to Manchester just before 10pm and we went straight to The Tribe hotel. Captain Caveman was working in Manchester the next day so it didn’t make any sense for him to go back to Sheffield to have to set off early and not have had much sleep so we had paid £60 for a double room. When we got to the hotel Captain Caveman was in lots more pain and in a terrible mood. I went to the bar to get him some ice and propped his foot up on all the pillows and did more blogging. I’d only eaten the small meal at lunch and was hungry but there was nowhere to get any food by this time. We finished the day having spent about £56 which was more than we probably should have. Our spending, not including the flights had cost £220 (£55 per day) for both Captain Caveman and I for the 4 days. I personally had spent less than £60 per day over the last 9 days of holiday for both of us. I knew I could’ve been more frugal but we had consumed a lot of alcohol on this trip. We were both very tired and had very busy Mondays planned so we did what any couple would do in a hotel on the last night of a holiday – had an argument and went to sleep, both in a mood!

Gratitude List
1. Eating less so that my stomach remained fine (all day)
2. Getting to spend time with Captain Caveman, Louisa and family in Brussels
3. Having a hotel at Manchester airport to get to bed earlier.

Brussels – 5th September

On Saturday 5th September Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and was a bit reluctant to go anywhere that involved walking, but that didn’t work out that well for him. I said I would go in to Brussels to meet Louisa for lunch so he made the effort to come. The journey turned into a bit of a fiasco as the transport company had decided to do some maintenance and had put replacement buses on so it took us ages to get into town, as well as more walking for Captain Caveman than he’d expected. We met at Wolf Food Market where Captain Caveman and I had been before. He chose it because it’s a bit like Cambridge Street Collective and Cutlery Works which has lots of different food outlets from around the world which means there’s lots of choice and everyone can have something different if they want. The tables were busy but we managed to find a seat and it’s one of those places where you order via a QR code, pick up your drinks and a buzzer at the bar then wait for the buzz to then find the appropriate outlet and pick up your food. It’s not really my thing as it’s a bit of a faff but the dim sum I had was tasty. Captain Caveman and Louisa had something spicy like tacos, if I remember correctly. Captain Caveman paid for for ours as he knew how to work the online payment, whereas I don’t use virtual card payments on my phone. It filled a hole and then we did a bit of shopping. I bought a t-shirt from Uniqlo for £6.81 in the sale, an ideal top for travelling back in I thought. Louisa bought a nice jumper and Captain Caveman looked for a bag but didn’t find one. I knew Captain Caveman liked pistachio ice-cream and I thought Louisa might fancy one too so I suggested they might want to find a place for ice-cream. I can’t eat it because of my stomach so we strolled about but then both said they didn’t want any ice-cream when we got to a shop so I must’ve misunderstood. We went in to a Belgian chocolate shop where I took my Lactase pills to be able to sample some – it was so good. We bought some to take back for The Sprouts (aptly named as they are the family from Brussels). That’s when we realised we were going to be late for the rugby match so we had to rush off. Louisa had politely declined Anna’s kind offer to join the family BBQ as she’d have to get a taxi or public transport back afterwards so she was going to continue having a look round Brussels. She was hoping to get a bit more sleep tonight as the hotel hadn’t been quiet last night.

We rushed off to get numerous trams and buses to the rugby pitch and were late but luckily hadn’t missed the eldest nephew coming on to the pitch. It was a lovely sunny day by this point and I made friends with a very cute dog who gave me kisses. William played very well and we were impressed at the level – I even enjoyed the sporting event more than I thought I would. I got a message from Louisa with a photo of her ice-cream which looked very impressive, so I was pleased she had found a good one.

The Sprouts went back home by car and we got the bus to the big supermarket, Delhaize. We had said we would get the BBQ shop in as a thank you for letting us stay so we did that and Simon picked us up. By this time it was obvious to me that Captain Caveman was in a lot more pain and he had to push the trolley just to be able to walk better. He still insisted that he didn’t think it was the beer. I found it very interesting to compare prices of groceries and wine to both the UK and Türkiye and there was some really good wine for decent prices.
Captain Caveman paid for the shopping and here’s what we paid in Euros;

Red peppers 1.44
Potatoes 1.99
Apples 2.19
Burger buns 2.58
700g tomatoes 4.49
Cheese slices 4.61
Charcoal 4.69
1 bottle white wine 7.99
1 bottle rosé wine 8.99
500g Halloumi 9.18
3 litres of apple juice 9.85
Chicken 14.54
Burgers 19.80
Total spent €92.34 (£77.28)

I think it compared favourably with the UK and we got everything on the list, which would not have happened in Dalyan.

While Anna kept the wine flowing and Simon cooked the meat, we had a few games of sticks where Captain Caveman managed to teach his youngest nephew, Felix, the art of not winning every time. I confessed to William and Thomas about me having to jump the toilet barrier in Poland which we all had a laugh about.
The BBQ was an absolute triumph and Captain Caveman snaffled down far more than his fair share of the burgers. It was really good to have another family meal and my stomach was fine all day and night!
Tomorrow would be our last day as we were heading back to Manchester, I felt like the weekend had gone far too fast and we hadn’t managed to fit as much in as we could have.

Gratitude List
1. A new top from Uniqlo
2. More family time in Brussels
3. A better stomach!

Brussels – 4th September

Friday 4th September was all about the Belgian Beer Festival in Brussels – one of the main reasons for our trip. Captain Caveman and I have been several times and we always enjoy it, this year Louisa was joining us too and she’d not been before. I woke up early and made sure I’d posted some social media content for the weekend and checked yesterday’s spending which was under budget by a lot, at less than £16. Captain Caveman’s brother, Simon, had invited us to join him for the blessing of the beer at the cathedral first, so we left around 9am and got the train in to town. Louisa was off to the Banksy museum so we arranged to meet her at noon to go for the infamous Lebanese kebabs. I had an unfortunate incident with a water bottle leaking in my bag as I’d not put the top on properly and my waterproof bag was now wet – my 2 phones and power bank got wet so I was a bit stressed incase I’d ruined them. Luckily, they were ok!

The blessing of the beer is a lengthy and historic process but still interesting to witness. It finished around 11.45am and we joined the procession to the Grand Place. Captain Caveman and I headed off to meet Louisa at the building with the golden horse on top. We were the first people in L’Express, the Lebanese kebab place, as it opens at noon. Captain Caveman and I come to this place whenever we are in Brussels as it’s one of our favourite places. I don’t recall what Captain Caveman ordered as he snaffled it that quickly I didn’t see but his was cheaper than mine at £6.90 (including a beer), my chicken kebab came to £10.77 with a beer. I enjoyed it and it wasn’t too garlicky and not too much sauce and grease.

The beer festival opened at 3pm for VIP guests so we took some time to browse some shops first. Captain Caveman and I never go shopping but given that Louisa was with us we thought she might like a walk round. Captain Caveman was in pain and struggling to walk so we didn’t go too far. Usually we would sit drinking beer and eating cheese with sticks in a bar like Poechenellekelder, but instead we walked past it and showed Louisa the Manneken Pis. I bought us a pen each for work. We also went in Trucafrip, a cool vintage shop, where Captain Caveman saw a football shirt he liked but didn’t try it on and said he’d come back another time.
Captain Caveman’s gout was really playing up so he had to buy some voltarol gel and put it on in the street before we went to meet Simon and his colleagues at the beer festival.

By 3.15pm we were in the beer festival drinking our first beer of the day. Less than half an hour later it started to rain. As the rain eased off Captain Caveman’s sister-in-law, Anna, joined us having had to bribe the older boys to babysit. We had a really fun time and I loved trying lots of different beers. At the end of the night we tried a breathalyser machine where it tells you how over the limit you are. It was no surprise that Simon, Anna, Captain Caveman and I were all quite inebriated while Louisa passed the test as she’d only had a couple of fruit beers and one of the coconut beers which comes in a coconut shell. My new favourite of the ones I had was the rosé beer at Brasserie Lefebvre.
It was around 8pm and we were hungry again, I’d got Fin de Siecle on my list of places to go as they do the most amazing pork knuckle. Anna told us a story about a visit there where one of the kids was sick so it didn’t get chosen and we headed back (you guessed it) to the Lebanese kebab place for another kebab. It was very nice (again) and of course a lot cheaper than going out for a ‘proper dinner’. While there, Anna mentioned that they were thinking of having a family BBQ tomorrow as well as watching the eldest son play rugby in his debut game and all 3 of us were invited.

Captain Caveman was struggling a bit to walk so instead of us all walking Louisa back to her hotel, as I thought we were going to, we said bye at the Grand Place. I felt bad as she had to walk back on her own and she’s not used to the city of Brussels. It was only 800m so it wasn’t far enough to get a taxi, which was one of the reasons we chose to stay there before. We had to walk in the opposite direction to the train station and Louisa made it back to her hotel safely, before we’d even got on our train just after 9pm.

When we got off the train in Uccle we still had the hill to face but Simon decided to do a race with Captain Caveman with us 3 taking a short cut up a steeper but shorter hill. I nearly keeled over at the top and Captain Caveman still won – even if he was limping quite badly!
It had been a lovely day and night and I’d really enjoyed seeing Captain Caveman’s family again. The total spend for today had been less than £45 which was pretty reasonable.

Gratitude List

1. The Belgian Beer Festival with family and Louisa
2. Kebabs at L’Express (twice)!
3. Lots of beer and laughs.

Katowice to Brussels – 3rd September

The alarm went off far too early on Thursday 3rd September and I’d had hardly any sleep. Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and I had spent so much time in the bathroom that I’d started seeing faces in the wall and floor tiles.
Our bus to the airport was at about 7am so there was no time for faffing about even though I did have to do a little repack. Our flight wasn’t until 9.55am and we were flying with Ryanair to Charleroi airport in Brussels, ready for the beer festival weekend.
My stomach was still very dodgy and it was evident it was due to chillies, without going in to more detail! We walked to the bus station, all the way I was clenching, sweating and hoping my imodium breakfast would save me. It didn’t and when I got to the bus station I gave my bank card to Captain Caveman to buy the bus tickets while I went off to find the toilets. They were in the train station and they charged to enter but I didn’t have any money or my bank card. I had to jump the barrier and rush in before the need to unpack spare pants became necessary. I was in pain and sweating so took my hoody off, which helped me dodge security on the way back out.
The bus from Katowice to the airport cost just over £2 each and seemed a lot longer than it probably was. I was just relieved I didn’t shit myself on the bus or walking to departures. At the airport Captain Caveman was struggling to walk so I went to get him something to eat with what cash he had left and had to try not to puke at the egg sandwich which cost a whopping £6.60 – I even moved out of the way while he ate it.
Louisa had booked priority boarding so she was in the queue before us and they were checking every single bag so I put most of my stuff in Captain Caveman’s cabin bag just in case they thought mine was too heavy. I wasn’t checked as I went through to the boarding section last and they had already stopped checking by then.
I was assigned a middle seat in row 7 but there were spare seats so I moved to the aisle. Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back and Louisa was nearer the front in a window seat too. There was a small child with a harmonica which he played badly throughout the flight and even noise cancelling headphones could not dim the sound of it. I used the toilet several times and was actually starting to feel a bit better by the time we landed.
On my list of things to do in Brussels I had written on my planner to revisit The Spiders Web restaurant which has the best potato croquettes and steak sandwich. Unfortunately, we didn’t go as Captain Caveman’s foot was hurting and we needed to go somewhere near to the train station instead. I found a nicely reviewed restaurant called Brasserie Hop & Go but, knowing I had to get to Captain Caveman’s family, where we were staying, I decided to order safely.
Captain Caveman ordered a pint of Hoegaarden and a Croque Madame for €20.80, I just had a portion of chips and a camomile tea for €8.20 and Louisa ordered a ham and mushroom pizza with a coke for €18.40. While everyone enjoyed their food, I thought it was pricey at around £40 for the 3 of us as we were used to Poland prices.
It was nearing 2.30pm so we decided to head off to our respective accommodations. We had recommended Louisa stay at an old favourite hotel that we’ve stayed at on previous visits. The Citidines St Catherine hotel is right in the heart of Brussels, walking distance to the Grand Place and one of the more budget friendly options, considering how busy the beer festival weekend gets. Captain Caveman and I had been lucky enough to have been invited to stay with his brother and family. The youngest boy was giving up his bedroom for us and we really appreciated it, plus we hadn’t seen them all for 9 months so we were looking forward to seeing them. We said farewell to Louisa with plans to message later to arrange tomorrow’s plans once I knew them. At the train station, I needed the loo again so I left Captain Caveman looking at watches – this time I took coins and it was 30 cents!
When I got back, Captain Caveman had treated himself to a G Shock watch which was very nice and a bit of a bargain.
We took the train from Brussels Midi to Uccle for less than £5 for the 2 of us and then we had a steep walk up the big hill to Simon & Anna’s house. Captain Caveman was struggling to walk and in a lot of pain while I moaned on that we were turning up empty handed as Captain Caveman had not stopped to pick up any treats or a bottle of wine. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk what would normally be much quicker, but we did have our bags too.
I caught up with the family while Captain Caveman tried to get his new watch working and then I went up to the room to check my emails and pop on my out of office for the weekend.
That evening we had a lovely family dinner and I even managed a glass of wine. My stomach was fine and I enjoyed having home cooked food for a nice change.

Gratitude List
1. Not shitting my pants
2. Staying with Captain Caveman’s family
3. Starting to feel better again.