Selectively Juggling

I literally didn’t pause when reading this prompt. There is no contest, zero, zip, zilch. Those two return plane tickets would read Sydney, Australia, to Tromsō, Norway. I would probably take the Syd-Hong Kong-Helsinki-Tromsō as it would have less layover time than going via Tokyo.
The tickets would obviously be first or business class, ok, Premium Economy at worst. The thought of a long-haul cattle class economy elicits a strong visceral response. My body remembers the many cramped long-haul fights over the years, even on my Honeymoon, which was a surprise. I know it is unrelated to today’s prompt, but some will find it interesting. I got married in The Netherlands, complete with a horse-drawn carriage, which saw people wave as we clobbered by, the sounds of crushed cobblestone forever etched in my memory… My dad and I sat in the carriage, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Talk about imposter syndrome. I sat in a glorious wedding gown I had bought from a second-hand (charity shop) and altered it to fit my vision. It was metres and metres of billowing Irish silk and lace. There was no way i could have afforded it brand new, as there was literally $1000’s in material alone. I jumped at the opportunity to buy it when i saw it hanging in the op shop (opportunity shop) for $70. I spent several hundred $$$ having it altered to fit my body and dreams. Luckily, I’d grown up with second-hand clothes, so I had no issue. I am a pragmatic dreamer, so it made perfect sense. As mentioned, I got married in The Netherlands, as my husband is Dutch. We met in tropical Far North Queensland, he was on a gap year travelling around Australia, and I was on a university break. That was it; we’ve been together ever since.

My husband wanted to surprise me with the Honeymoon. I had no idea where we were going; I was simply told to pack clothes for hot and cold climates. After our marriage celebrations ended, we spent the first night in Rotterdam’s Art Deco Hotel New York’s bridal suite. We were flying out from Rotterdam, not Schiphol (Amsterdam). I was a little apprehensive as we arrived at the airport; my eyes darted around all the flight boards. “Where are we going?”. There was still silence. My imagination was on overdrive. Anyway, we boarded a flight to London. We stayed in a swanky part of London for two nights, then onto Dublin for 11 days of self-driving around Ireland, including Castles, Breweries and everything in between. Then back to London for the second part of the Honeymoon. My husband tried to surprise me with the final destination. So we flew from Gatwick to America and had 3 stopovers to change planes. From there, we flew to New Zealand, had a quick stopover again, and then on to Nadi, Fiji. Finally, we boarded a private plane and landed in Vatulele, Fiji. As the plane landed on the unsealed runway, we were met by Fijian locals holding cocktails, “Bulla Bulla.” It was heaven, well worth the 40-plus hours of flying. The icing on the cake was the fact that we were staying at a swanky 5-Star Island resort, yet as we landed, cow manure or cow dung flung up and covered the plane’s windows. It was comical and extremely grounding.

So back to today’s prompt, as mentioned, it would have to be Tromsō, Norway, via Helinski in Finland. Tromsō is far enough North to allow for a great view of the Northern Lights. It would provide a great base to travel deeper into the artic winter-wonderland landscape. The problem is I know that I would need to leave Tromsō and the Artic icy-cold adventures behind and eventually head back home to a life of parenting and adulting. That is why I need a brilliant camera to capture everything. Not to mention I need to make the most of every moment of travel. Those two plane tickets will provide a portal to another world, the world of adventure and travel. Ah, now, where did I put them?