England Escapade with my Mum

Every year as August 3rd approaches I’m always asked the same impossible-to-answer question, “what do you want for your birthday?”  I often avoid this question because my mind doesn’t usually think in terms of how others can fulfill my wants, but rather how can I achieve them for myself.  But this year was different because I knew exactly what I wanted and I couldn’t accomplish it on my own.

My mom has 9 siblings who she has regularly seen throughout the years, with one exception.  Her oldest brother moved to England at a young age and for the past 40 years, she has only seen him in-person three times.  When you combine this with the fact that I’ve traveled internationally with every family member except my mom, I knew exactly how to answer her.

When she asked, I presented my request, and she tentatively agreed, but then we had to agree on terms.  After months of negotiating, we came to a final agreement that we’d fly to England for a week, I’d drive her wherever she wanted to go, and she wouldn’t be allowed to pay for my travel or lodging.  While these things seem basic, I’ve negotiated easier agreements with corporate lawyers at Fortune 500 companies.  But unbeknownst to her, after we agreed on terms, I quietly snuck two amendments into the contract.

The first amendment was that she needed to get TSA PreCheck.  This year, I’ve flown to eight different destinations and I’ve seen that having airport pre-clearance has made every trip easier and quicker.  So after I booked our tickets to England, I quietly signed her up for TSA PreCheck and sent her a mysterious text message saying, “meet me at 9:15 on Thursday to get your photo taken.”  Clearly she trusts me because she showed up on-time without asking any further questions.

The second amendment was that if either of us got an upgrade on the plane, the upgrade would be hers. On the day of our flight, I quietly upgraded my seat to Business Class and informed her of her new seat assignment, which took her almost an hour to accept.  When we boarded the plane, the flight attendants did a cabin check and found that I was sitting in a seat assigned to “Mary.” I explained my seat-swapping scheme to them and in-turn, they gave me a better seat where I had an entire row for myself.  On top of that, they kept bringing extra snacks and they’d jokingly call me Mary. I basically got a first class experience in coach.  This trip was off to a wonderful start!

One red-eye flight and seven hours later, we landed in England and immediately hit the ground running.  First we took the tube to Buckingham Palace in hopes of seeing the changing of the guards.  After two trains and about 20 blocks of walking, we were able to catch the ceremony as it began.  When it was complete, we walked around the area and saw all of the other touristy attractions including Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, The National Gallery, and Piccadilly Circus.  At this point, we walked over 18,000 steps for the day and my feet and sleep-deprived body were screaming for a break.  My mom, as someone who goes to the gym five days a week, was hardly tired and ready to walk another 20,000 steps.  I needed to step my game up.

We went to the hotel to see our home for the next six days, but nothing could have prepared me for where we stayed.  I’ve always found it funny how Kanye West lived in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in 2021 while making the album, “Donda.”  Well, the joke was on me because I was about to do the same.  Clearly, I didn’t read the TripAdvisor details closely enough because our hotel room was in the stadium.  Literally—we were going to live in a stadium.  At the hotel, my Hilton Honors Super-Duper Platinum status scored us a free upgrade to the most premium room that they had available, which is one that overlooked the field where the MK Dons played football (soccer).  At first it was odd, but then it became the coolest experience to look at the stadium throughout the day to see what was going on.  It was basically like watching ultra-high-definition reality TV.

The remaining days of our trip went great as we quickly settled into a routine that worked well for both of us. We’d wake up each day, shower, get dressed, and go to the hotel’s restaurant to have a classic English Breakfast together. While at breakfast, we’d discuss our plans for the day and then we’d return to the room to get ready to start the day. Some days we spent the entire day together, like the day when we went to the RH Aynho Park castle-turned-showroom that I visited two years ago. On other days, she spent the day with her brother and I used the opportunity to take a meeting with the factory that produces Peculiar PPL phone cases, or I’d explore more of London. It was shocking how easily we fell into a groove, despite not living in the same house for over a decade.

After six days abroad, my birthday celebration came to an end and we headed back to life in the US. When we returned, I quickly missed the daily English Breakfast and the soccer team playing outside my bedroom window. I would never have imagined that it would be more of an adjustment to be re-acclimated back to the US than it was to adjust to the UK way of living.

This trip proved to be the best agreement that I’ve negotiated thus far this year because it led to fun times, a peaceful getaway, and, best of all, the first and best trip that I’ve ever taken with my mom.

Maybe the question “what do you want for your birthday” isn’t so bad after all.