We decided to base ourselves in Dambulla for three nights, a town with a good range of mid-price options and easy access to the sites. We stayed at the Thilanka Resort and Spa which has large grounds, including a lovely swimming pool, cricket ground and even a tennis court. We were lucky to get rooms in a standalone villa. Molly completely fell in love with the buffet!

A major highlight was an afternoon visit to Minneriya National Park where we discovered new animals whilst on a safari. Spending nearly an hour at close quarters to a family of female and baby elephants was so special – and intriguing too to see a trail of male elephants heading towards a female in heat in the opposite direction!

We certainly learnt the hard way what elephant musk smells like… Thanks to our trusty driver and spotter Vijay, we learnt many of their names and ages. We also saw plenty of peacocks, monkeys, deer, land monitors and countless birds. The girls were also good at spotting termite holes, not surprising considering the size of them!

Despite many herds being at the neighbouring Kaudulla National Park, it was good that the park was not overcrowded with tourist jeeps.

The next day we also planned an afternoon activity, climbing Pidurangala rock which faces the more famous Sigiriya. The hike begins at a temple so knees and shoulders must be covered and shoes removed for the first part of the walk. The climb is not for the faint hearted with lots of tricky rocks to clamber over but MoJo did brilliantly, only a little set back by the windy summit! Molly went to bed that night saying she wanted to climb all the time…

Every time we have been to Sri Lanka before, we have started in Colombo and explored Wattala and Negombo, before going down the coast to a beach spot, often Bentota to the lovely Amal Villa or further south to Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna or Mirissa past Galle. The first time we came in 2008 we climbed Adam’s Peak and in 2012 we did a half-day safari to Yalla National Park.

But what everyone had always said was – try the east coast….and this time, we finally did. Thanks to our trusty driver, brother-in-law Pieter (the best driver we know!) we were picked up in the middle of the night from Colombo airport and taken straight to Trinco with a couple of stops along the way to pick up some delicious rambutans before having breakfast at the Dutch Bank Cafe. We stayed at the spacious, affordable beachside 3-bedroom apartment condo the Blue Beach House, right in the centre of Nilaveli beach, the longest beach in Sri Lanka, a beautiful, peaceful spot.

We ran along the beach most days and up through the village to collect supplies for dinner. One morning we went on a boat trip to nearby Pigeon Island to snorkel, Molly and Joanna’s first experience of seeing ocean life – a magical moment for them.

Of course we had some technology teething problems, such as the go-pro running out of battery before we arrived….but we were still smiling, especially having seen turtles, black tip reef sharks and a whole rainbow range of fish! And our first spot of rain in the boat on the way back to the mainland…

Despite mostly self-catering, we managed to visit several of the nearby hotels for dinner such as the Nilaveli Beach Hotel and met up with previous volunteers from Prithi at Trinco Blu by Cinnamon at nearby lively Upuvali. In general resorts were far quieter than usual due to the events of April. Hopefully tourism will return to this special place.

A highlight of the week for us all (especially MoJo!) was seeing hundreds of dolphins after a very bumpy boat trip – very much worth it, wonderful to see them in their natural habitat.

Tom also managed to get his first taste of being back in a kitchen, spending a morning at Memo’s cafe preparing delicious Sri Lankan crab, prawn and aubergine curries for us to have for dinner in the restaurant. Thanks to Vasanti, the boss of the kitchen, for sharing her traditional east coast recipes.

On our last afternoon, we visited Koneswaram Temple at Trincomalee, a dramatic Hindu temple compound overlooking one of the world’s largest natural harbours (the British admiral Horatio Nelson called it the finest habour in the world).

We then drove further north up the coast, discovering even more remote beaches and communities, finally watching a stunning sunset from Jungle Beach by Uga Escapes.

Thank you Katherine and Pieter de Kretser for being such brilliant companions and tour guides!

Some people say – why not sail around the world? Or travel by camper the whole way, or perhaps tuk tuk? Nope, sad to say the only way we could go where we wanted to go was on numerous flights….sorry carbon footprint. We looked into buying round the world packages but they were too restrictive for what we had planned, so single flights all the way was the best thing, mostly on budget airlines. Flying in and out of different countries, making a holiday out of the internal journeys of each place, that’s been the general idea.

Everyone joked when they saw our picture of all the bags we had with us at Grosvenor House – we had intentionally booked a big baggage allowance (40 kg each, so 160kg in total) for our first flight to Sri Lanka, as we had a lot of things to donate to Prithipura Infant Home. It meant we could bring car seats for the girls to use for the first two weeks as well as towels, snorkels and a few other bits and bobs we would need to leave behind before getting our next flight. For the rest of the trip we had three check in bags between us.

Leaving Dubai from Terminal 2 felt a little strange, thanks for the lift Danny C, but we were welcomed by the Fly Dubai team (mainly because of our team Egerton World Tour t-shirts!) and even managed to grab a coffee and crisps.

Watching the sun set from the tarmac as we boarded the plane, taking the 18.55 flight to Colombo. One chapter was closing and our adventure was beginning. Excited, nervous and contemplative, we were finally ready.

T minus 2 days till we take our first flight. So we haven’t gone far, probably less than 2 kilometres but it feels like another planet. Seeing Grosvenor House from the other side – as guests for our final two nights in Dubai is amazing and just what we need. Thank you to Pam and the team for everything!

So far we’ve tuned into Wimbledon (come on Nadal!!) and the Tour de France, played a few rounds of uno and come to the pool….definitely in holiday mode after a few busy days sorting packing and clearing ‘Hotel Egerton’.

Bring on some final meals and final goodbyes to friends who have become family.

We have had a bit of time to reflect on our time in Dubai. Never ones to make plans, Laura arrived in Dubai on 13 November 2006 for a long weekend, ostensibly for the first press conference for Art Dubai. It was increasingly important to have a team based in Dubai, and when Gary Rhodes told Tom he was opening a restaurant there it seemed as if fate was taking us to the Gulf. Friends and colleagues from those early days are still our closest buddies, being an expat means that friends grow into the role that family often play in your home country. We were lucky enough to meet fantastic people who have mostly stayed – so the last goodbyes were with those who we affectionately call ‘our Dubai originals’. It’s not really goodbye with plans to meet up with a lot of friends during our travels and plenty more back in the UK.

Leaving was an excuse for a run of excellent parties – thanks to all who came to celebrate with us at our leaving bash at Toro Toro, Grosvenor House. It was also so special to have an evening at Rhodes W1, Grosvenor House where so many clever, thoughtful elements made it clear that ‘Chef Tom’ would be much missed!

Thanks to Sonia and Sven of SVENM who hosted a leaving ladies breakfast for Laura’s art world colleagues and buddies at Alserkal Avenue.

Sport became an important part of Tom and Laura’s life in Dubai, initially running the 10K in fancy dress each January building up to both of them running the full Marathon in 2017 and 2018. Team sports were where life-long friends and many medals and achievements were made. Tom’s Tuesday morning GH ride will continue after his departure, his final ride bringing together one of the biggest groups of cyclists on this ride yet, despite the intense July heat.

Dragon boating started as a just-married hobby in 2010, joining the Dubai Flying Dragons and traveling together to compete in Kiev, Penang and Hong Kong for the Club Crew World Championships.

Post kids we switched teams, Tom captaining his corporate team the Marina Monsters and Laura joining the women’s team Dragonfire. It was wonderful for both teams to win gold in many of our final races, including a clean sweep at the last race of the season in Ras Al Khaimah. MoJo were always a wonderful support during hot weekends on the beach cheering both teams on.

We were lucky to find a wonderful nursery for Molly and Joanna in Dubai, Home Grown Children’s Eco Nursery. A better possible start in a child’s learning journey would be hard to find.

Molly went on to attend Horizon English School for two years, which was also terrific, with inspiring teachers and ideologies. For the next two terms we will home school, hoping that all the life lessons picked up on the road will prepare the girls for school back in the UK. They are writing daily diaries recording all the things they have experienced on the trip.

With a few days left until we fly out of Dubai on our round the world adventure, today was time for the shippers to descend. #53 boxes and 8 hours later we are looking around our house (Villa 8, Le Meridien Villas, Al Falak Street, Dubai Media City that we had moved into in July 2011, two years before Molly was born) hoping we aren’t going to find anything important that we forgot to put in a box that we don’t want to take with us….

We used DASA who were very efficient and will keep our boxes in their storage facilities for 6 months or so. Despite busily donating, selling, gifting and recycling a vast amount of things it still felt like our lives were being parcelled and taped up.

Despite missing our belongings dreadfully (how Tom will manage without his road bike is beyond us!) it is quite liberating to think we will be traveling light the next 8 months.

We are happy to think of all the places where our belongings will continue to be loved. A dolls house going to friends Emily and Freya, a scooter to Paul’s Emily and lots of other toys were picked by kids in our shared garden.

Tonight the girls will sleep in a ‘den’ as their bunk beds went today, good practice for all the futons and unusual sleeping setups coming our way on our travels!

Laura donated her art books, magazines and archival material to the American University of Dubai/NYU Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre, Tashkeel, Alserkal Avenue Residents and SVENM. All open access spaces so future generations of art students and enthusiasts can read them.

Now to pack the suitcases, wish us luck!

So two weeks today we leave Dubai after twelve and a half years and start the journey of a lifetime!

Despite very long to-do-lists and intense humidity we are all feeling good about the move.

Dubai has been good to us, we have made the best of friends, worked very hard but enjoyably and brought two happy, healthy children into the world. Now its time to try something new.

10 – 23 July 2019 > Sri Lanka

24 – 13 August > Vietnam

14 August – 3 September > Cambodia

4 – 17 September > China

18 September – 1 October > South Korea

2 – 15 October > Japan

16 – 28 October > Indonesia

29 October – 2 December > Australia

3 December – 7 January 2020 > New Zealand

8 – 22 January > Argentina

23 – 29 January > Peru

30 January – 5 February > Mexico

6 February – 4 March > USA

5 March – ongoing > UK

We are a family of four, Tom and Laura born in the UK, Molly and Joanna (aka MoJo) born in the UAE. 

Laura and Tom met in July 2004 working for The Admirable Crichton in London. Within a month Laura had moved to Venice, initially just for a month which extended gradually to a year and a half. Venice continues to be an important place: travelling there in June 2019 for the Biennale (and last trip with Gaga before the Egerton World Tour) and working from November 2021 for My Art Guides. Tom has even been there for a competition with San Pellegrino, cooking on a sailing boat mid-race!

In January 2007 Laura and Tom relocated to Dubai which they called home until July 2019. Their life in Dubai was pretty full on, working long hours, having fun, meeting people, starting new sports (frisbee, dragon boating, unicycling…) and generally making the most of life.

Tom is a chef, just before the Egerton World Tour he left his post as Executive Chef of the Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai, where he was employed for 12 years. He has cooked for celebrities, on TV and is known affectionately by friends, family and the wider world as ‘Chef Tom’. When not in the kitchen, Tom is often found on his bike or playing his hand pan. 

Laura is an art historian, writer and commentator on the contemporary art world. Part of the initial organising team of the art fair Art Dubai, she has been working within the UAE arts community for 12 years, managing exhibitions, writing for publications, leading guided tours and planning symposiums. When not in Alserkal Avenue she can be found on a dragon boat or sipping a flat white. 

Molly (age 6) is a girl who is finding the balance between being serious and silly, who loves a cheeky selfie, is fearless on rollercoasters, swims like a fish, sings her heart out at any given opportunity and is the best older sister to the Jo in MoJo.

Joanna (age 4) is short of hair but more than makes up for it with her quirky sense of humour and fun-loving personality. Usually found curled up in the corner with a book or painting a picture, she also loves a good dance and trying new types of food (everything is either yummy or yuck).