London Calling / The travelling Mom

As a working Mom, I used to travel about once a month for work.  As soon as my girls saw my suitcase come out of the closet, they always wanted to "help Mommy pack".  This is a nice thought, but stuffed animals, blankies and books weren't generally items that I needed for a business trip.  As a result I would have to pack in secret, when they were sleeping or when they were otherwise occupied.

I would be gone for about a week or so, always feeling guilty about the travel, but mostly enjoying it at the same time.  I love to go to new places and see new things.  My Dad travelled all over the world for his job when I was growing up.  So much so that my cousins used to say that he was secretly in the CIA or something like that.  He was a Delta 2 million miler when he retired.  I doubt I will ever have THAT many miles, but I have been to some far away places like Turkey, Indonesia, and China. 

Packing and traveling by myself is one thing, but when travelling with kids, it is a whole different ballgame.  Getting them packed and ready for a week at Grandma's house is the equivalent of launching the space shuttle out of my backyard.  In addition to making sure they have enough clothes, underwear and pajammas, we also have to collect and pack video games, dvd players and coloring books for the car ride.  I'm just glad I don't have to carry a diaper bag anymore.

This past week my husband had the opportunity to speak at a conference on private brands in London, England.  I decided to go with him, even though it was over Thanksgiving.  You see, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in London.  So I took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house and we were off.  You can read about the conference on my husband's blog here: http://mypbrand.com/2011/11/27/own-label-meets-private-brand-in-london/#comments

We had a great time.  I have always loved New York City, and London was very much like NYC.  We did a double decker bus tour and saw Wesminster Abbey, the London Eye, and The Tower of London.  We went to a restaurant serving an "American Thanksgiving Dinner" on Thursday, but sadly, it wasn't very good.  But no worries, we will fix our own Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. Interesting trivia tidbit --- did you know that in London they serve baked beans for breakfast?