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It was spring time. It was cloudy. It was drizzling. But I did not care. It was the first time that I was taking my mother and my child to Paris. Three generations travelling together for the first time. 
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I visited Amsterdam for the first time in my entire life in May. It is a less than 2 hour flight and there are even direct trains that run from London to Amsterdam but surprisingly, I had never visited. I always thought that Amsterdam was for bachelor’s parties/stag do’s. I thought it was a place that you went to get stoned. I based my view on a stereotype, which is unlike me, as I travel a lot and have learnt throughout my travels that people, cities and cultures never match their stereotype. As part of my tribute to Brexit, I decided that Amsterdam would be on my travel list for spring/summer.
During maternity leave, I found it quite difficult second time around as I did not have the same network of new mothers as I did as a first time mum. I spend a lot of my time either at home or at baby events, where it was hard to make new friends. To be fair, both my children were very manageable babies, thanks to Gina Ford’s routine (If you are a new mum, buy her book or get it from the library), but I found my days were slow and monotonous. I decided to travel into Europe with my little one to break the monotony and as a tribute to the impending Brexit.
During my pregnancy, I suffered from gestational diabetes, which meant I was tired a lot more than usual for pregnancy and even sometimes bed-bound as my energy levels were low. I was desperate for an adventure but I knew there was no way I’d be getting on a plane abroad with my condition. I didn’t want to risk raising my blood pressure or getting blood clots so I had to settle for something more practical in the U.K. We decided on the Cotswolds after my mother had been there and had talked endlessly of how she wanted to retire there. For those who don’t know, the Cotswolds is a rural region in south east England covering Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. The area has been preserved since medieval times with stately homes, churches and pubs. There are areas of newer buildings but they tend to be built of the same distinct limestone. Kate Moss famously got married here as it is very picturesque. Other celebrities who live in the area include Prince Harry and Duchess Megan Markle who reportedly rent a thatched cottage, Hugo Grant, Sir Patrick Stewart and my favourite, Damien Hirst.
I have held plenty of parties but over the past weekend, I held an accidental alfresco dinner party and I am feeling ever so grown up - a far cry from a birthday party that had to be shut down by the university security team because the party got too raucous and I had to face the Dean. If they could all see me now. Ha!
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