Got into a fairly regular sleep schedule on day 3 which was a welcome change. Temps started to rise and the Airbnb had no AC like most places in the area which was a new sleep challenge.

Great for traveling light during the days without worry of rain but holy moly the air is stale most everywhere other than outside. So anything inside most tubes, buses or pubs is a hot situation when the temps outside are 80+.

Thursday: visit to Buckingham palace and an uber boat along the Thames to explore Greenwich.

Friday: splash fountain and picnic lunch in Hyde Park. Peppa pig tea tour and British museum.

Saturday:

Regent’s park playground, lunch with my cousin to say goodbye and a London evening show.

Packed up on Sunday for a mid-day train ride to York. A stopover for one night then renting a car and settling in for 5 days in Keswick to explore the Lakes district. Complete change of weather coming up with some rain and highs in the 60s.

We had a comfortable and ontime flight from JFK to London Heathrow on Monday morning. the kids did well on the trip and glad we chose the morning flight instead of the red eye options. We took the overnight with Charlie years ago to Barcelona and recalled it being challenging from not sleeping on the plane.

Family of 4 on a month long trip with just a single checked bag didn’t seem that extreme to us but complimented by others at every stop so far.

Jet lag and 11pm arrival at the Airbnb in Kensington had us starting slow on Tuesday. Lesson learned would have been to set an alarm to get on track with the sun but we woke up around 11am. Basement level stay with minimal natural light didn’t help either.

Sunny and 70s was great weather to start the trip!

Tons of things to see and do in London but like we normally do it was a limited set of plans each day.

Tuesday: lunch meetup with a former Degreed coworkers. Afternoon exploration of Holland Park with focus on the adventure playground. Finished with a delicious Szechuan dinner on the way home.

Wednesday: natural history museum, Kensington palace and evening meetup with family residing nearby.

We spent two nights in NYC between Chicago and London.

Spent 5 days visiting family in Chicago and had a blast! Then onto our next flight leg into JFK to spend a couple nights in NYC before our London flight on July 7th.

Packed in a bunch of stuff in June since we head overseas in early July.

Summer camps for the kids the first couple weeks of the month, fishing trips on the boat, trip planning and preparations and seeing friends.

Chris wrapped up 7 years at Degreed this month and decided it was time to embark on another career break timed with extending a family summer trip.

We’re rebooting the travel blog to capture our thoughts and pictures as we explore a new area of the world. We will be spending a month meandering around the UK and Ireland which we have never visited.

Our fantastic weather continued for an inaugural visit to Acadia National Park.

Onward from Portland was our next stop at an Airbnb near Boothbay.

Smooth travel day on July 3rd into Manchester, NH and a short drive over to Portland to spend a couple nights.

Looking forward to a 2-week family trip exploring some areas of the northeast which we have never visited. Planning on a few areas of Maine plus a border crossing into Canada bound for Prince Edward Island.