The grey cliffs of Dover. Day 4 of the Road trip to The Low Countries

We were only 20 minutes or so away from the Irish Ferries terminal at Calais, so we headed across there for 9am.  When I booked the ferry, my daughter offered to pay the upgrade for the premium tickets and so, for just £20 difference, we had priority queuing and boarding, 10% discount on duty frees and access to the private lounge with free food and drink from the buffet.

But first, we had to get past the passport control.  We pulled up at the French post and the guard was passed our two passports.  He asked me ‘How many passports do you have?’ .  I thought I had dropped or lost one and said, ‘Two, you should have them both there’.  ‘Can I see your other one?’.  ‘You have them both there’ I repeated.

‘Which port did you enter into, they did not give your passport an entry stamp?’

By the time I had gone through the potential consequences of this omission by the Dutch guy that took exception to my pronunciation of Gouda, the little French guy had written a paragraph in my passport and signed it off and we trundled over to the British passport hut.

I got in front of the conversation and warned him about the note and the issues in Holland.  Our guy just tutted and said ‘Bloody French Jobsworth’ and waved us past.

So, third car onto the ferry, we made our way to the lounge to settle down.  We reclined on the leather seats and, with a granola yogurt and cup of coffee in hand, we eventually watched the French coast slide away into the distance and the white cliffs of Dover creep up upon us.  This was easily the best ferry trip that I had taken in terms of comfort.

The rest of the day was 355 miles of driving north, with a little break for a McDonalds caffeine hit at Grantham.  The main thoughts that I was having while chomping on the worst fries that I have ever suffered in McDonalds, was around how poor they were compared to what we were used to in Belgium.

I won’t bore you with details of that drive, not a huge amount happened to be honest, but I will give you a feel for where my mind was roaming on the long drive north. Taking time away from work and the same old routine of being at home is always good for the mind.

I always end up thinking about how I want to live a better life and be a better person that looks after himself, and those around him, a little better.

I had a few things that I was going to focus on:

1. Do more and say ‘Yes’ to more.  Live life while you can.
2. Appreciate the simple things like spending time with people and with good friends that you have made over the years.
3. Spend money on things that make you feel great, the first class route home was as cheap as chips but was absolutely worth every penny.
4. Travel more, make more trips and see new things.  The world is, and the people in it are, amazing, way more amazing than my front room, so I really should go and see it.

How long will it last?  Who knows, it’s usually just a few days, but I will try, I promise.