Tag: Heathrow

explaining the travel Jot

On Tuesday, I jotted that it was a long travel day.

Except with a lot more Os in “long.”

We were heading back from London to Newark and hit a few snags.

First, the simple route from our hotel to Heathrow on the Elizabeth line was shut down and the diversion took way longer than we expected. Still, we arrived at Heathrow in plenty of time. Unfortunately, the wheelchair assistance that had worked so well on our flight out was not very efficient with our departure. T and I were literally the last people onto the plane before they closed the doors. Then, our departure was delayed because there was a rare snow shower and the plane needed de-icing.

Still, we made up time, albeit with some turbulance, and arrived just about on time in Newark. The wheelchair assistance there was very good but we ran into trouble getting the van to take us back to where our car was parked, which meant that we started to head for home in the dark during rush hour. While we had hoped to make the 180 mile (290 kilometers) trip home that night, we were too tired and jetlagged to do it, so we crashed at a hotel along the interstate and finally made it home around noon on Wednesday.

Now, we are all trying to get back to Eastern Time. I’m notoriously bad at adjusting to time changes, so it will probably take a while.

This (longer) jot is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/08/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-8th-2026/

travel assistance

My family is travelling for the holidays. Due to our current health status, daughter T and I both qualified to have wheelchair assistance at the airports, which was a huge help, especially because we flew out of one big airport, Newark, and into another, Heathrow. Bonus: we got through security and customs through expidited lines. Second bonus: spouse B got to come along with us so we could move through the whole process together.

I’m very grateful for the help. This experience makes the prospect of future travel much less daunting.

(Photo is from a prior holiday trip to London. We are scheduled to go on a holiday lights bus tour later in the month, so more London lights photos may be forthcoming.)

travels

I am not a seasoned international traveller.

My first two visits to Europe were tours with the Smith College Alumnae Chorus, one to Sicily and one to Slovenia. Everything was organized and arranged in advance, so I didn’t need to think about much of anything, other than a few meals here and there. We had our own charter buses, so we didn’t even need to navigate in the places we visited.

At the moment, I am in London, visiting daughter E, granddaughter ABC, and E’s spouse L and L’s parents, with whom they are living. My spouse B and other daughter T are here, too.

Given that this is my first trip abroad that was not an organized tour, I am finding the nuts and bolts of travel a bit daunting. We flew from Newark to Heathrow, two large and totally unfamiliar airports. We took a train to Paddington Station, where E met us to shepherd us to another train and then a walk to their home. Later in the day, when our hotel check-in time arrived, it took both of L’s family’s cars to get us and the luggage the two-ish miles (3km) to our hotel.

Most of our to-ing and fro-ing has been by bus or train. London has a very comprehensive system of public transit, which is great because it is such a huge city.  Unfortunately, I am a) not used to having public transit available and B) intimidated by large cities, so I am grateful to have family with me to keep me on the right track, at least most of the time.

As in our trip to Slovenia, B is acting as the photographer, so I hope to share some posts with photos in the coming days.

Stay tuned!

(I promise not to be in central London near Parliament on election day, December 12. That could become entirely too exciting for someone like me who isn’t used to raucous crowds.)