It’s been almost 35 years too late but I’ve finally booked the trip to the United Kingdom, with a focus on an extended stay in Glasgow, the birthplace of my Father. This old country is steeped in my ancestral roots extending through to Ireland through multiple clans and tribes.

The entire flights and insurances were paid for through a travel agency which is the very last time I’ll organise anything that way. The first stop was Melbourne, Australia for a change over then onto Changi Airport, Singapore staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for 12 hours then onto Gatwick Airport London.

Through the grimy window I peered at the A380 Airbus to Singapore, with trepidation at what would be a very long but comfortable trip to Singapore. The Crowne Plaza was everything it was meant to be especially as I paid 340 AUD for a 12 hour stop over.

Changi Airport is surely one of the worlds best airports with everything you could imagine as far as a shopping experience goes, yet the draconian and wacky way of transiting with security cheks and thumb prints is nothing short of George Orwells 1984.

What occurred most for me about exiting Australia is the almost abject fear I had of returning to Glasgow which is at the core root to all of what I endured at the hands of my Father and the sheer terrors of what my Mother painted of the places when I was a child.

Neither of them spoke favourably of the people or the weather, so the entire time I was travelling from Singapore to London all I could do was reflect on the trip that I’d taken with my partner Claire Yates all those years ago in 2005, which was a few nights stop over in London.