We have tickets!

Well, reservations at least.

Tom and his mom were up late last night searching online. They found a pretty good deal, and today Tom and I drove around to see if we could find something better. We didn't, so he called his mom and she made it all go right to buy four tickets (for me, Tom, his mom and his dad).

Dziekuje, Ola!

We will be flying only to Gatwick (London) on those tickets. Once in London we will have to find a flight to Madrid. The travel agent Tom and I spoke to today said that the flights will be a) cheaper because there are a lot of small companies flying throughout Europe and b) in abundance because Europeans travel a lot throughout Europe so the demand for flights is high.

So, the details:

Our flight leaves Vancouver on August 9th at 10:35 p.m. We'll arrive at Gatwick on August 10th at 5:40 p.m. Estimated flight length: 11 hours and 5 minutes with no stopovers.

We will fly back to Vancouver on August 29th, leaving Gatwick at 6:55 p.m. and arrive in Vancouver on August 29th at 10:50 p.m. Estimated flight length: 11 hours and 55 minutes with no stopovers.

It's a straight flight on a charter plain in economy. The travel agent we talked to this afternoon told us that a charter is a flight that gets you from point A to point B. No more. The seats will be small, the food will be crappy... if there is food. And you have to buy the food.

So I'm thinking we'll be packing:

• a lot of yummy food
• water
  
• books
• cds
• crossword puzzles
• a pillow
• cal-mag to help ease leg cramps
• Valarian to help me sleep

What else should we bring?