Leg 15 was another short one (similar to Leg 13 in 2023), but we still managed to learn a few things during our eight weeks in Europe. Here are my top three lessons to share:

It can pay off to fight the power

The EU has relatively strict airline rules for delayed and cancelled flights that apply to any flight arriving in or departing from the EU. You can read about them here: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm. 

So when British Airways cancelled our flight from Edinburgh to Lyon (or at least our flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow, causing us to miss the flight to Lyon), I was able to easily find online what kind of compensation to expect and how to file for it. I tracked our receipts from our hotel night, meals, and airport transportation for the extra 20 or so hours we were in Edinburgh. 

When we arrived in Lyon a day late, I spent a couple of hours putting everything together, understanding my rights, and filing the claim. I expected to be reimbursed $225 for our last-minute hotel night, $62 for our dinner out (unfortunately I lost our lunch receipt but it was only around $20), and $53 for our taxi to the airport (all filed in pounds but I forget the amounts now), plus an additional 220 British pounds ($280) for each of us for the cancellation.

A few days later, British Airways sent a response that they’d be depositing the equivalent of $340 to our bank to reimburse our expenses but denied our claim for additional compensation, saying the flight was cancelled due to “restrictions imposed by Air Traffic control due to low visibility.” 

This didn’t really add up for me for a flight cancelled more than three hours before its scheduled departure. So I did a little more research and filed an appeal with their arbitration company, CEDR Aviation. This was also fairly time-consuming, but seemed worth it to get the $560 I felt we were entitled to and to try to provide some small financial motivation to British Airways to get their act together (they currently have a terrible reputation for cancellations, delays, and lost baggage). 

Over the next few weeks, I had to jump through a couple of hoops with the appeal, including trying and failing to get British Airways to say their decision was final. However, I sent a plea to the arbitrators to move forward anyway because it seemed unfair that BA could avoid arbitration just by not using the right words, which worked. 

Within a couple weeks I received a response from British Airways saying they’d pay us the full $560 to resolve the issue, though not admitting to lying about the cause of cancellation. Still, I was pleased with the result and that I hadn’t just accepted the initial reimbursement they offered, even though it took me a bit of time and effort to pursue it. I think it was definitely worthwhile to fight in this situation.

We’re truly introverts

We were delighted that we have a friend living in Marseille and that he has a vast network of friends from various countries. However, we quickly discovered that this amount of socializing, especially in groups, was far beyond our introvert-level of social energy. We always had a great time when we went out with him and his friends, but doing so once or twice a month versus a few times a week is more our speed. It just goes to show that this lifestyle where it’s usually just the two of us suits us very well. 

Still, we’re very grateful to have met so many very cool people and for the many fun times we had socializing in Marseille, as well as the exceptional hospitality from our friend and his partner. They are special people and we’re looking forward to hosting them soon when they’re in Missouri visiting family.

Time with family is always precious

We were so pleased to be able to have Chad’s folks join us for part of this leg, meeting them in London after our week in Lyon to travel together through parts of England and Scotland. We visited Windsor Castle, London, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and the Scottish Highlands. Everyone had a great time and we made a lot of memories to cherish. 

I decided not to create blog posts or share photos of this time out of a sense of privacy and because traveling with them is so different from our typical life on the road, but I may try to put together some thoughts or tips about England and Scotland in the future. Chad and I both want to spend more time in both places, especially the Scottish Highlands, which were absolutely stunning. 

We’ll never regret putting family first when needed

We cut the length of this leg from 17 weeks (with a planned departure of July 24) to 8 weeks (departing September 25) when my mom became ill in early July from her most recent cancer treatment. Though we were hopeful she’d recover quickly, it was an easy decision to adjust our plans to stick around a couple extra months while she regained strength. In addition to changing our flight’s date, we changed the destination from Sofia to Lyon and eliminated our month-long stays we’d planned for Bulgaria and Albania.

Unfortunately, my mom was never discharged from her early July hospitalization and died August 5. Because we changed our plans, I was available to help her and my dad throughout her time in the hospital and was with them in her room when she died. 

One of my fears with our life of travel is being halfway around the world when something bad happens to someone I love. That is always a risk, but I don’t want to let it stop us from living the life we want. However, adjusting as needed, especially in the rare times that we know our presence can be helpful, is important. We were glad that we did that in 2023 for my mom’s bone marrow transplant and I’m especially glad we shortened this leg too.

Traveling in the midst of grief is its own lesson, but I’m not really sure what that is yet. Perhaps that life goes on even when you’re sad? Or that even when you’re far from where you spent time with your loved one, you still miss them every day? I’m sure I’ll still be trying to figure this one out throughout our next leg in Asia.