I started the Artist's Way in the summer, and one of the tasks that came up time and again was what is something you'd do, if it wasn't such a crazy thing to do. I'm not good with lists like that, if I want to do something, I do it, if I don't I don't, but something I kept coming back to, was how I have built a home so deep into my comfort zone that I rarely do things for the plot anymore, and while a steady and predictable life is a balm to me, kids need turbulence and novelty and adventure and my kids don't get much of that.

In July I'd never been on a plane before, having spent all of my almost 40 years with my feet on the ground, a fact that's always just been a truth about myself I didn't give as much weight to as the people I told it to. But in the summer I mentioned it to a friend who was planning a trip with her daughter to Edinburgh, and who offered that I grab Rory and go along with them. So I said yes. I knew I'd hate the airport, it's one of the main reasons I've never travelled that way, and not knowing how I'd feel on the plane was unsettling, but being able to experience that with my daughter, and for her to see that it's okay to be afraid and to ask for support and then do the damn thing anyway, was the biggest take away for me.

We spent 2 days roaming the city, exploring museums and doing as many touristy things we we could. Edinburgh is a beautiful city and for someone who doesn't like the heat it was the perfect destination, the flight was brief but great, the company even better. Have I caught the travel bug? I don't think so, not in the way some people do, but would I do it again? Absolutely.

Next time with my boys.