5. on countdown....

Gosh it’s getting so close! I’m about to leave home ahead of the trip. I’ll stay with my mother for a few days and then we leave from Brissie on Sunday. Hair and nails to be done in between - I can’t look anything but coiffed and soignée if I’m going to be your tour leader.

I had intended to send you an updated itinerary but the few additions I’ve made don’t warrant an update really. And there will be some nice surprises, for both you and for me I hope.

I’ve packed my bags. Instead of 3 tops I have 9. Instead of 2 jackets I have 5. Instead of 2 pairs of shoes I have 3. Instead of one scarf I have 5. I know. I’ll just let it percolate in my brain until Saturday and then I’ll repack.

Thought I’d tell you how I try to avoid jet lag. On the day of departure, I try to put my mind into the time-space of the place I’m going - for example if I leave Brisbane in the afternoon but it’s actually breakfast time where I’m going, I think of my next meal as breakfast, and I try to stay up until it’s night time at the destination. I constantly remind myself what time it is there. Being in an aircraft and airports makes it easier to tell yourself it’s night when it’s actually day. What's your technique? (forgot to say I take a mother's little helper on the aircraft to make sure I sleep - that's a big help) And when I get there I always stay up till it's bedtime there.

I’m playing bridge this morning with my partner John (not husband John, who hates cards. This is another John who is the best partner - he doesn’t care if we win, but he’s competitive). It will be a long time between drinks before we play again. We came second the week before last, and 4th from the bottom last week. Rooster to feather duster. That’s one thing about bridge. It’s humbling. And today my mind is stuffed with other things.

This is probably the last post (not militarily speaking) until I write to you from Istanbul. EEEEEK. So take care, be good, and see you there. I had a dream last night that I actually had all of you in Istanbul in person, and you were on a dock. I was trying to round you up to get you on a boat, and you were scattering like a mob of bad sheep and me a frazzled sheep dog. Whew. it was a relief to wake up!

Ciao babies!

ps photo by @profesyonelfotograf of the Galata Tower near our hotel.