This was supposed to be a big family trip with my boyfriends family - 6 adults and 2 kids. Unfortunately, everyone else cancelled the trip as my mother in law had been diagnosed with cancer and would not be able to travel due to treatments and insurance not covering her. We were asked to join them on the trip after they had already booked the holiday - so luckily we had booked our own flights/ hotel and car hire separately from them. As usual, I was overly excited about the trip. My first long haul flight and my first time to America. I was already making lists and making sure that I had everything I needed. My bag was already packed months before hand - but I kept checking and changing the contents. I have OCD and I am a nervous traveller - as in I like to make sure that I havent forgotten anything. We were in Florida for a week - and I apologise if I forget a few things/ places we visited as a lot has happened since but I will do my best to remember.
flight, I got up early and treated myself to a McDonalds breakfast, did final checks on my luggage and my carry on backpack to make sure I had all my documents, money, charger and of course a book or 2. I even managed to get an extra set of clothing into my carry on, which was probably a saving grace for me on this trip. The flight was due to leave at 12.30pm from Heathrow Airport. Luckily my friend gave me a lift to Cockfosters Underground station in North London. This is on the Piccadilly Line - one train journey all the way to Heathrow Terminal 2. The good thing is, that the train is empty at Cockfosters as it is a terminus, plus not many people get on it. in handy when you have a large suitcase and a backpack to lug around and up and down numerous flights of stairs and escalators. The tube journey is about 2 hours long, so I defiantly taking a book and headphones to listen to music - or at least to drown out the noise. The tube gets extremely busy when it hits Finsbury Park onwards into Central London
as people change to the Piccadilly Line from the Victoria Line if they travel via the as Seven Sisters is the 1st underground station on the train line from Enfield Town to London Liverpool Street. Word of warning: make sure you check the destination of the train as there are 2 options. First option goes to Terminals 2 and 3 first then onto other Terminal 5. The other option is that the train stops at Terminal 4 first and there is a wait of around 20 minutes while the drivers change over, so if you are in a rush to make it to your flight - please check the train destination. Also - at the time of writing this blog, the new Elizabeth Line has just opened with services to all Heathrow Terminals - again there are 2 different destinations to choose as you will need to change at the Terminal 2&3 station for either Terminal 4 or 5.
The ride to Heathrow went without any issues, however when I got off at the Terminal station, I went to the wrong terminal as it had been a while since I went there last plus the signs
were very confusing - thankfully I wasnt the only one who when the wrong way. So, after backtracking and getting into the right terminal, I found by boyfriend waiting for me and we promptly got ourselves and bags dropped off and made our way to the departure lounge. It was around 10am and so we had a couple of hours to kill, and like everyone does at an airport - we walked around all the stores, got some drinks and snacks and I had to go check out the books in WH Smith. I love the departure lounge at Terminal 2. Huge windows where you can watch the planes and land and watching people rush to get to their gates.
