Goodbye Abu Dhabi

Saturday morning saw us at Abu Dhabi airport for the final flight back to Manchester. Luckily we’ve acquired gold and silver Etihad status in the past 12 months so we didn’t have to suffer the indignity of having to pay for excess luggage as I did on the way to Abu Dhabi! As the plane took off, leaving Abu Dhabi behind the tears started to fall and the stewardesses were most concerned at my fear of flying. It seemed a bit wet having to tell them that it was relief at the end of a very difficult adventure and happiness at starting the next chapter. I was also a bit overcome by John turning and thanking me for helping to make it all possible and being strong and supportive – there were so many times when I didn’t feel I had been as helpful as I could have been.
It was certainly an adventure and I wouldn’t have missed the Abu Dhabi experience for the world. I feel like I achieved something I didn’t know I could do – making a life in a new country and a very different culture, creating a home, making friends and finding a job. It has brought J and me so close, having this shared experience with all its ups and downs. However, I am also very glad to be moving on to new things and to start the next stage of the journey.
This new stage is going to need a completely new blog so it’s time to draw this one to a close. I hope you’ll carry on reading about our adventures and our travels at http://jennyandjohnsadultgap.blogspot.com/
It’s been an amazing year – thank you for sharing it.