Dallas to Bath

17 Aug – 3 Sep

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MON 17DAL → MCO · first pool afternoon TUE 18Orlando day · evening flight to Gatwick 19 → 1Bath · 14 nights · wash 23 & 28 WED 2Bath → LGW → MCO · short night THU 3MCO → DFW

Everything here assumes laundry in Bath and a Boots run on arrival. That is what keeps this to one small case and leaves the rest of the allowance for the children.

WORN

On the plane

The bulkiest things you own, carried for free — and carry-on is the only free allowance you have on either airline.

Running shoesDoubles as your travel shoe, which is why they cost you nothing
Jeans
Light rain jacketYou are going to the West Country in a river valley. It will rain.

CARRY-ON

Orlando, 32 hours

You land Monday lunchtime and do not leave until Tuesday evening. Keep these out of the checked bag — if it goes missing, you have lost the only reason you stopped.

Swim trunksLined ones double as running shorts. Two pool sessions here, on the 17th and 18th
Spare tee
Travel toothbrush
Deodorant — stickSolid, so it stays out of the liquids bag
Prescriptions
Passports
Phone charger + UK Type G adapterOne multi-port adapter covers the whole family
Plastic bag or shower capFor the trunks on the evening of the 18th, before the Gatwick leg

CASE

Clothes

Four days' worth, washed twice. Fourteen nights changes the laundry rhythm, not the pile.

3tops
1extra bottoms
6pairs underwear
6pairs socksThe extra two are so a delayed wash day is not a crisis
1sleepwear setOr sleep in a tee and save the space
1nicer layerFor dinner out
1packable fleece or jumperBath sits low in a river valley — evenings run cooler than the forecast suggests, and early September drops to around 11°C

CASE

Shoes

Two weeks is long enough that one soaking should not strand you — and Bath is hills and paving, walked far more than driven.

Flat canvas trainersWedge them into the gaps around everything else
Flip-flops or slides

CASE

Running kit

One set. Technical fabric washes in a sink and dries overnight, so it covers a run every few days for the whole trip.

2technical tops
2pairs running socks
1pair shortsSkip if your swim trunks are lined

BOOTS

Buy it there instead

All of it is at your mother's house already, or a short walk into town. This is the single biggest space saving on the list.

shampooconditionerbody washtoothpasterazorshaving creamsunscreenlaundry detergentumbrella

DIARY

Dates that matter

TUE 18

Checkout around 11:00, Norse does not leave until 20:30 — a nine-and-a-half hour gap with children and all the luggage. Sort late checkout or bag storage in advance.

WED 19

Land Gatwick 10:00, then cross-country to Bath. Roughly two and a half to three hours by rail, typically via Reading. This is not a hop — book tickets in advance and expect to be wrecked on arrival.

SUN 23

First wash, day 5. UK machines run smaller than American ones, which is what makes two cycles necessary rather than optional.

FRI 28

Second wash, day 10. Do it Friday — the bank holiday weekend starts the next day, and this load has to last until the flight.

MON 31

Summer bank holiday. Bath fills with day-trippers and the roads out are slow. Not a day to travel anywhere.

WED 2

Bath to Gatwick in the back-to-school crush for a 14:00 departure. Allow four hours door to gate and book early. Land MCO 18:25, hotel by roughly 20:00, up again at 4:15.

THU 3

06:30 departure, so a 4:15 alarm — but your body clock is still on British time, where that is 09:15. The easiest early start you will ever have. You left from Love Field, so sort the ride home from DFW now.

FLIGHTS

The legs

All times local. Separate tickets, so bags do not through-check.

Outbound · Mon 17 Aug