Pre-trip
Cast of Characters
Me: 38, a school SLP, Disney nerd, collector (and user) of travel points, creator of torturous trip itineraries
Nick: also 38, hubby, Ford commercial sales guy, professional passenger prince
Laura: 34, my sister, shopaholic, dreams of spending a week on a tropical beach, works for a company that manages airport restaurants
Dad: 70, engineer who (still) designs, manufactures and installs waste water treatment systems primarily for large corporations…Exxon, Chevron, Smithfield pork, Perdue, Waste Management…yeah, he’s cleaning up their processing waste one giant black pipe and aerator at a time. He’s dad to Laura and me
Y’all may have noticed this is not the usual crew I travel with. You would be correct. For…many years…dad has been talking about wanting to do a family trip to Ireland. But…it’s always been just that…talk. A couple years ago, as Nick and I were mapping out the trip line up so that I could make sure I had the right travel points in the right place at the right time, we decided that with dad then approaching his 70th birthday, that we should probably just schedule a trip to Ireland, book plane tickets, and tell dad and Laura when we were going, with the hope that one or both of them would also book the same flights. We did prep them both that we were planning to go to Ireland in August of 2025, so it was on their radars. And then, in October 2024, with a really nice points transfer bonus from Chase to Aer Lingus, I booked flights for Nick and me and then sent the flight itinerary to dad and Laura, who, surprisingly, both also booked plane tickets.
From here, I started putting together an itinerary and sending it out for feedback. Feedback was limited and slow to roll in. Coordinating time to plan this trip was like pulling teeth. Finally in like May, I completely took over, complete with telling dad and Laura exactly what hotels to book when, because…we’re getting a little close to the deadline here. Thankfully, they responded by immediately booking the chosen hotels, so that was a win.
Hotels got booked. Car service got booked. I researched travel pillows for short people and bought the small SNUGL. I finalized itineraries. Laura snagged a great deal to upgrade and join dad up in business class. I spent some time on the phone with Aer Lingus to select seats ahead of the flight (points bookings get seats assigned at check-in, but you can call and select seats earlier. I waited too long and had to pay to upgrade to seats at the front of the plane, but honestly…this was a good thing). Adapters and purse size umbrellas were purchased. UK ETAs were obtained, with much picture taking frustration and eye rolling. Weather forecasts got stalked. Apps for Mobile Passport control, Irish weather, and Aer Lingus got downloaded. I booked tickets to the Irish Whiskey Museum in Dublin. I stressed about whether everyone would be happy with the chosen hotels, knowing full well that choices were limited by the time we booked. Some beverage distributor that frequents the same local dive bar as dad got us tickets to Guinness in Dublin for free. Summer program ended and packing commenced. Final decisions about rental car size were made. And pretty soon, it was time for Laura and my first trip overseas!
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