When we moved back to Australia in December 2019 (after a year of living in the UK), we thought we’d only have to wait 18 months to see friends and family again when they came over for our wedding. Little did we know there’d be a global pandemic postponing those plans, so 2.5 years later along with 6-month-old Ruby, we were ready to make our way back for a whirlwind meet n’ greet.

After our first set of flights was cancelled, we finally booked to visit in April 2022 for three weeks. We wanted to see everyone but also try and fit in a couple of new places so that it felt somewhat like a holiday. Fortunately one of us is a planner because 20 nights of accommodation across 8 places is a Tetris challenge!

We flew with Singapore Airlines and my logic was to choose a night flight for the first leg because surely Ruby would sleep through the entire 8-hour flight? Wrong, she was so wired and disorientated from being woken up at home, and then being out and about in the noise and lights that she thought it was daytime. Lesson learned — take a morning flight next time. We also booked the bassinet seats on every flight so Ruby could sleep in her own space. They’re great in theory but every time I put her down, the plane would go through turbulence and the seatbelt sign would ping, meaning I had to get her back out and she always woke up. Fortunately, we all got some decent sleep on the second leg and arrived in London feeling relatively fresh and jet-lag-free.

4 days in Bromley

First up, it was freezing! Genuinely. I hadn’t packed a jacket in my hand luggage because it was SPRING and I’d be just walking from the airport to the car but it was a completely unexpected 2 degrees. I loved it but also the Brit in me was complaining. The ride over to Bromley (Joe’s hometown) took around 2.5 hours with rush hour traffic so by the time we arrived at our Airbnb, we’d been traveling for over 30 hours.

We almost lost our booking at this Airbnb just a few days before (the only decent accommodation in Bromley at a good price) as I’d messaged the host asking if he had a bassinet we could use and apparently, this unit has a strict no-children policy. After some begging on my side that she is an angel and he wouldn’t hear a peep (the unit is attached to his home) he reluctantly agreed. I needn’t had worried though as his wife welcomed us kindly and was besotted with Ruby. By the end of the visit, the husband had thawed and said we could come back anytime — which we did at the very end of our trip!

On day two we were up nice and early and it was snowing! We headed out for a hot cross bun latte at Costa Coffee and a Wetherspoons full English Breakfast with a friend of Joe’s before Ruby and I split off for a day out in London. We headed over to London Bridge to meet my oldest friend for lunch — she lives in Manchester but was down visiting for work and we couldn’t resist a cheeky hello. Afterward, we travelled over to London Victoria to meet an old work colleague where we wandered the Belgravia district and as we couldn’t feel our fingers and toes, stopped in at Peggy Porschen for a hot drink (rose latte, obviously). Back in 2019 when I visited Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey, I walked past this Instagram cake store then and didn’t have time to pop in so I’m very glad the stars aligned this time.

Over the next three days, we none-stop caught up with Joe’s family and friends (it was so lovely for Ruby to meet her Grandad and London cousins at last) with plenty of trips to Greggs involved, and we even got a night out to watch The Lion King musical.

2 days in the Cotswolds

Next up, we were treated to two days in the Cotswolds which at 2.5 hours away, is the ideal halfway point toward Manchester. After a stay in Winchcombe in 2019, this time we stayed in the golden village of Blockley. It’s a peaceful place with a striking church and a stream winding its way through, as well as plenty of untouched walks to enjoy. While it is extremely quiet here, there are a couple of pubs, a cafe and a small shop to enjoy — what more do you need? Our Airbnb for the stay was at the beautiful Middle Rose Cottage which was super quaint and cosy.

A short 15-minute drive away is the town of Stow-on-the-Wold where we visited for a day trip. It has a large market square surrounded by cute independent stores so it turned into a little shopping trip. We came away with Cotswolds Cream Liquor (delicious), a family Christmas bauble for my growing travel collection, hot sauce, dog treats, fancy chocolate, and a few bits and bobs for Ruby. We even got a prime seating spot in the bay window of Lucy’s Tearoom where Ruby tried her first buttered teacake (a British classic).

Before we left the Cotswolds, there was just enough time to stop in at nearby Bourton-on-the-Water for a pint of cider and a packet of crisps. Known as the Venice of the Cotswolds, the village is based around River Windrush, giving the place a real community buzz. There are plenty of shops and tearooms to explore here too — we will have to stay for longer next time.

5 days in Manchester

Three hours after leaving the Cotswolds, we arrived at my old stomping ground in Cheadle and headed straight for our accommodation at Village Hotel Cheadle. Although the rooms are small, there’s a bar, restaurant, Starbucks, and a swimming pool on site; it’s an easy walk into the village centre, and it’s a close drive to everyone I know so it did the job! It also meant people could visit us at the bar so that worked out nicely too. After a long day, we headed over to my brother’s house for a chippy tea; it was so good to see my nephews again and they were besotted with Ruby, competing with each other to make her laugh — very cute!

The following day, I met another one of my oldest friends in Manchester for a full English Breakfast, a rainy walk into Salford to visit historic Ordsall Hall, and a couple of pornstar martinis at Slug and Lettuce — our perfect day! After not seeing each other for 2.5 years, we ended the day with ‘Okay, I’ll see you in a year then!’ And that was that. True friendship.

We definitely fit a lot in this week, including a pup quiz (I haven’t been out past 9pm in months and I was struggling) a game of bowling (Ruby slept through the entire thing), a scenic dog walk, and a cup of tea at Abney Hall Park, a friend’s baby shower brunch and a Sunday Roast with the family. We also ventured to Liverpool for a day trip to enjoy the ferry ride over, visit the sights, and grab some lunch.

2 days in Cornwall

The big drive we’d been dreading was here — heading down to Cornwall to visit my brother Jason. We used to go to Cornwall every summer as kids and the journey was always horrible with us all squished in the car together. Now I’m living in Australia though, a six-hour drive doesn’t seem so bad anymore (it was closer to 10 hours back then in the height of summer holidays traffic), but it’s probably not one I’d repeat anytime soon with a 6-month-old. To be fair, she was very well-behaved and slept most of the time, but with all the travel, it just meant our nights for most of this holiday were awful as her body clock for feeding and sleeping was completely out of whack.

We had booked to stay at this cosy cabin near the sea in Tintagel. It was exactly what we needed after a very busy week, just us three surrounded by peace and quiet. The cabin was adorable with farm animals and freshly made scones waiting for us. After settling in, we had just enough time to go out for a stroll before the sunset, and we were within walking distance of the beach and Tintagel Castle.

The following day, we drove two hours to St Ives to meet Jason and although he’d warned me how insanely busy it was at that time of year, I persisted and he was right — it was rammed. We finally found a parking spot though, and enjoyed a wander around this beautiful seaside village, stopping for a Cornish pasty and a pint. Albeit busy, I can see why; what a stunning place.

2 days in Brighton and Bexhill-on-Sea

As it turns out, that six-hour drive we did earlier in the week was nothing. Our next stop was Brighton, and what should be around a five-hour drive turned into almost ten hours. Traffic was ridiculous but we did stop for lunch at The Ship Inn in Exeter which was delightful. Finding a park in Brighton is also impossible and we ended up about a 20-minute walk away from the hotel but we made it!

After Joe and I stopped here for a night back in 2019, we loved it so much that we had to show it to Ruby before we headed back to London. Staying at Queens Hotel, we were in an amazing location right at the heart of the promenade. As soon as we’d checked in and dumped our bags, it was around 7pm at this point, but the sun was setting and it all looked so beautiful out there so we bungled Ruby back in the pram and went for a nice long walk with a bag of chips. Bliss. The following morning, we realised it was our first and probably only day on the entire trip where it was just us with no plans, nowhere to be, and no one to see. This will be one of my core memory days. The sun came out — we had bare arms and sunglasses on. There were hot donuts, cold pints of cider, arcade games, lots of walks and we even had a dip in the hotel’s swimming pool. We ended the day with dinner and hearty desserts in a cosy pup.

Waking up on Good Friday, we had one more stop before heading back to Bromley — this time over to Bexhill-on-Sea to visit Joe’s nan and his cousin Dan. It was another beautiful day and very wholesome meeting Dan’s wife and child who was a little bit older than Ruby. They opened Easter eggs together; and we all went out for lunch, followed by a leisurely stroll along the promenade.

That afternoon, we did our final leg back to London, but not without one more challenge to get us through. There was a shortage of petrol and we must have passed close to 10 service stations (with the tank almost empty) before we finally found somewhere to top up. Keeping us on our toes.

4 days in London

Now back at the Airbnb we started our trip in, we had four days left to enjoy the British spring sunshine. One was spent on a day trip to Eastbourne to visit Joe’s other nan (who always makes us amazing food), and another afternoon we spent at the pub with a gorgeous garden area where Ruby met her first horse. She also tasted her first ice cream that day, and on Easter Sunday she had some chocolate crepes that made her whole life (top effort on her side considering she’d only just started baby-led weening days before we left for the UK). Our final night was dinner at Nandos with Joe’s family before a very early alarm clock to get to Heathrow.

We did it. 21 days. 4 long-haul flights. 1454 road trip miles (2340km), what felt like all four seasons in one trip, and the best little traveller along for the ride.