Advance preparation

Carl has awarded me the title of WGHO (World’s Greatest Holiday Organiser). Thanks to Covid there hasn’t been much chance recently to advance my claim to that title. Apart from a weekend away in Galway last August, we haven’t been out of Dublin since September 2019. At long last, we’re heading off to Portugal tomorrow, so I’ve been honing my holiday-prep skills big time.

Printouts ready to be produced as needed include confirmation of booking of reduced-mobility assistance (for me, not Carl), our booking for the Terminal 1 Lounge at Dublin Airport to while away the hours after going through security, our Passenger Locator Form for entry into Portugal and our tickets for the high-speed train between Porto and Lisbon.

A new touch for this trip is a more compact system for organising my medication. The zip-lock bags are labelled for the different times of day at which I take various tablets. I’m convinced these will take up much less space in the suitcase than bringing the boxes along.

Other helpful bits and pieces are stored digitally on our phones, including public transport maps for both cities, recommendations for things to do and places to see and places to eat and drink and a detailed itinerary which includes addresses, phone numbers and such.

After all the prep, the acid test will hopefully be a stress- and trouble-free couple of weeks away. Watch out Portugal!