We left Hilary Road exactly at 4:00 PM as planned, though there was a slight delay due to unusually heavy traffic in central Taunton. We finally hit the motorway shortly after 4:30 for a smooth, direct journey to the Premier Inn on Bath Road near Heathrow, courtesy of Matt at Taunton Minibus.

There was a bit of confusion over double versus twin rooms, but after some back and forth, everyone ended up with their own bed and towel. Soon, we were tucking into our evening meals—right when I discovered my first mistake. One of my last home routines was to photocopy my credit cards as a backup in case of loss. Guess what? I misplaced the originals. Fortunately, I have one on Apple Pay; now I just need to learn how to use it.

Alarms were set for 5:30 AM for a 6:15 departure. Upon entering the hotel foyer, I found everyone locked, loaded, and ready to roll. I had booked two minibuses from Harry’s Executive Cars Heathrow—a fantastic, efficient, and reasonably priced company. As soon as they saw our pile of luggage, they arranged a third Mercedes to carry the excess weight.

After juggling some bags to meet the weight restrictions, checking in was a breeze—almost entirely automated. We were soon through bookings and security, seated for breakfast, and eventually on our flight to Dubai, where we’ll arrive shortly. Nothing of note to report; everyone behaved perfectly.

It’s a one-and-a-half-hour stopover in Dubai, then off to Cochin, arriving at a rather ungodly hour in the morning.