We’re on our way to the UK! Siobhan and I are sitting in the very Dune-esque Abu Dhabi Airport.

I find the airport a bit claustraphobic - the main room is quite small, packed, and the ceiling is just a bit too low.

The final packing process was extremely unpleasant - too much stuff.

Excess baggage on Etihad Airways was simply exorbitant. Etihad wanted to charge +- R390 per kilogram of excess baggage. So a suitcase and an extra box would have cost us an additional R6,500.

For comparison, I could get a family member to fly out, bringing the luggage with them, for R7,178.00.

R3,478.00 of that amount would be for taxes.