Excited to be heading off to Ireland for a conference on World Rural Health where I’ll be presenting but will also get to have a bit of a look around. This is my first overseas trip since covid struck. I was booked to speak at this same conference but in Bangladesh and then on to a conference in Canada in April 2020 but we all know what happened there. Another trip was booked and also had to be cancelled. So this is it – heading off overseas with a pandemic still going on, a war involving some of the world’s superpowers raging in Ukraine, and going without my gorgeous husband Ron which is sad. I travel a lot for work by myself but when there is a bit of fun involved it feels weird to not share it with the most important person in your life.

In addition without the extra hands to help with luggage etc the idea of travelling light is even more important and I am determined to do this trip with carry on baggage only- which will also be wise with all the tales I’ve been hearing of airport chaos and lost baggage in this ‘post covid’ period. Travelling light is just so much less stressful. So this is all I have- main bag 10kg, small bag 2kg (2kg under the allowance for international carry on)- for conference and short holiday in a place much colder than I’m used to but with opportunities to swim and hike so need to pack for all kinds of things- even have my laptop! Let’s see how I go with this!