We loved being in Sydney, hitting up our favourite shops, long walks, treasure hunting and planning for September onwards. As we see news coming in from around the world of extreme everything (flooding, heat, storms… yada yada) we feel that we are looking down the barrel of a gun as summer approaches*. We're the weirdos who actually enjoyed the cool wet summer we spent in Sydney during La Niña - not so keen on being here for her b****** mate, El Niño.

We had a great visit from James's mum who joined us for a week and we had a good time trotting about as tourists - Elizabeth Bay House, Bondi Beach and even had a pizza at the Rocks Market down under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We finally took the opportunity to use a Red Balloon for a lunch at Barangaroo. We also had movie vouchers to use, left over from NSW's 'Dine & Discover' campaign - so off we went to the Entertainment Quarter for the latest Mission Impossible movie and also Barbie - huge fun and wow… since when are all the seats at Hoyts recliners? The staff had to chisel us out and send us home.

Our time in Sydney this time around was fabulous - the last time was Covid and aside from a couple of months in April/May 2021 when life briefly approached normal (and then retreated), just a series of lockdowns and fear before the borders opened and we hit the road. This time and for the first time, we really got to live in our apartment, enjoy our neighbourhood and the city as a whole. Were it not for the impending 'heatwave of doom' summer, we probably would not be rushing off. But it's coming therefore we are going.

The future is clear in places, blurry in others and pitch black in spots, but the general outline of the 'plan' is a) Head to Thailand and use our 16 night 'end of the world' voucher/booking in Khao Lak. Then, tentatively, because we only applied for the visas 3 days before we left Australia and they hadn't come through when we left and, pending housesits and the phase of the moon b) go to Vietnam, inexpensive accommodation and eats and we enjoyed it back in Dec/Jan 2018/19. And whilst Vietnam still needs visas and Thailand limits visitors to 30 days, some parts of Asia are more welcoming and relaxed so provide options to go there at short notice - which is why we bought 100% refundable flights to Malaysia in order to be able to show an 'onward ticket' when we check-in in Sydney. 99% sure we're not going there, but the onward/return ticket is a huge thing these days. (NB - we were asked and happily waved our flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. Honestly. No sense of spontaneity in travel these days.) c) In theory, leave Vietnam mid November, pending finding a good frequent flyer flight, to get us to Porto, Portugal for a 7 week visit until just after Christmas then d) pending other/better offers we have return flights from Lisbon to Marrakech booked using a TAP Portugal voucher in early January 2024. So all up, not particularly planned out. Might end up spending our 3 months in Morocco, though if we don't have to pay for accommodation that would (obviously) be better. Then? From early April onwards, when the heat wave moderates - maybe back to Sydney? or NZ? or, as the most temperate spot in Europe as summer approaches, Ireland? Can't think too far ahead - like playing 3 dimensional chess in the dark. There is a saying 'Man plans, God laughs'. We know that. That's why we utilise frequent flyer miles/points whenever possible - the ability to make flight bookings, cancel them within 24 hours of departure and get the points and taxes back is phenomenal. We also buy and earn points in hotel loyalty programmes, IHG in particular, the ability to cancel up to 4 pm on the day of arrival and get points back is superb.

So eventually it was 'Departure Day minus 2 weeks' (DD-2) and then minus 1 week. For no apparent reason I was nervous. We decided to leave the power on at the apartment this time around - the daily supply charge is a nuisance fee, but by the time we pay a fee to disconnect then reconnect and are trying to accomplish it from outside Australia, it's a nuisance fee we're happy to pay. When we returned from our last trip of 18 months I had to get onto port wifi and buy an e-sim when the cruise ship docked in Tasmania, then, using the new Australian mobile number, sort out a power account and pray that it would be connected by the time we docked in Sydney. Don't want to do that again. We got a Covid booster, just in case, as it had been 6 months and visited the dentist for a final checkup. We resupplied and oversupplied the medical kit. We packed for a cold-ish northern hemisphere winter (but not snow/freezing) and packed for scorching humidity and sun in Asia. I left my UGG boots at home (and my hooded fur coat - all of which contributed to packing anxiety). Nothing to be nervous about, but I was and it was an awfully early start when we flew out on 13 September on very little sleep. But there you have it, Sydney 2023, done and dusted. Thailand, here we come.

*NB - just a couple of days after we flew out of Sydney to Thailand, there was a record breaking heat-streak of three 34 degree days in a row. In Sydney. In September. Lucky we hit the road when we did.