How it Happened

Our last big trip in 2018 was meant to be literally that – the last. Then I fluked tickets for the 2019 Ashes test at Lord’s and so another trip ensued – the very last this time, without a shadow of doubt. It was a decision we were both comfortable with, as we had done more than our fair share of travelling over the years.

Then Covid struck, and borders closed across the globe. The government wagged its finger and said, Thou Shalt Not Travel.

Now, as any parent knows, the surest way to make a child crave something more than anything else in the world, is to tell them they can’t have it, (Simba and the elephant graveyard in The Lion King being a classic case from recorded history).

So I started planning a big holiday, just for fun, including such outlandish aspirations as a Premier League game at Anfield, and an Ashes test at Edgbaston. A bit of harmless self-indulgent fantasy during lockdown.

Somehow that fantasy became real, and this trip is the result. But it is definitely, definitely the last one this time. (Probably)