31 on the 31st

“Dear Dane,

There are some incredibly important people in our lives. People we love. There are also some incredibly important people that we haven’t met in person yet. To be specific, two little girls.

We are going to go and meet them this weekend. We are also going to spend time with two of our favourite people.

We’re spending the weekend in Albania.”

 A short treasure hunt led you to these words and the emotional realisation of our trip away.  That, five years after our last trip, we would see our friends who are like family, we would meet their daughters, and we would visit the country that has a little bit of our hearts.

Keeping this secret from you was difficult. I buried my excitement at home and the second I was away from you it would bubble over and spill out. I talked about our getaway non-stop for a month. 

For the first time in our married lives I managed to surprise you without you working it out. Yes I’ve surprised you with physical gifts before, but a date? You always have your suspicions - which are usually correct. 

The night before we flew of course it started to snow. I don’t think I slept longer than twenty minutes at a time that night. I kept sneaking out to see how deep the snow was, hoping and praying we would be able to get to the airport. Lucky for us I had chosen Gatwick over closer airports and we were still able to fly!

There are many parts of our trip I don’t want to forget. From our first experience of business class, seeing Will Poulter as we were leaving, hugging our friends at the airport, meeting their daughters, wearing the traditional Albanian clothing, the list goes on.

As always, the number one item on my packing list was my camera (and maybe my passport). I love documenting life with you and I knew I wanted to capture this trip.

I realise that next year whatever I do will be a disappointment in comparison to this… I think I might just buy you socks!