IRELAND HERE WE COME, THE JOURNEY OFFICIALLY STARTED

First flights of many

First day of travelling the world,  and what a day it was indeed. 

🧳 Day 1:The adventure has begun and chaos arrived with a bang at days end ✈️🌍

The good news, with a detour over Munich, we arrived in Dublin, Ireland. BUT read till the END:

Well, the first travel day  officially arrived... and what an emotional  day it turned out to be!

The preparation phase had gone suspiciously well. All visas and homeschooling documents were approved on time, the car was sold, unnecessary contracts cancelled, and even changing our flights was quick and free thanks to the fantastic Star Alliance team. Finnbear had also worked ahead with homeschooling like a champion, making sure we could enjoy more travelling and less studying during the first weeks 📚🌍

At this point, we should have known… things were going too smoothly. The travel gods were clearly preparing something. 😭

After a relaxed breakfast at home, we headed to the airport feeling fully organised. The one and only suitcase was perfectly within the weight limit, and all three backpacks met the size restrictions down to the last gram and centimetre. German-level preparation achieved! 🇩🇪✅

Then reality lightly gave a taste.

The luggage drop machines at the airport decided they deserved a vacation as well. Every bag had to be checked in manually, yes,every bag at the airport and then carried across the airport to the baggage declaration area by each passenger conveniently located on the opposite side of the terminal. Hundreds of people were running in every direction — pure airport chaos. 🎒🤯

Luckily, we arrived with our usual German punctuality, so there was no stress, yet.  Somehow, we survived, got the luggage sorted, and made it back to security.

And surprisingly… security was easy. No queues, no drama.

The Panda Bears immediately celebrated by taking over the airport playground and upgrading to a full DJ dance party. 🐼🎧💃 thanks to Tommorrow land.

Overall, not a bad start at all. So travel gods were still on our side. 😇

Apart from a few challenging moments caused by a one-hour delay, the Panda Bears were the perfect travel companions. Mamabear was beyond proud — especially considering what came next.

We flew through some extremely bumpy weather, and while Mamabear admits she was feeling a little nervous at times, the little Panda Bear decided this was not turbulence… it was a free roller coaster ride! 🎢🐼

With every big bump came a loud and enthusiastic “Huiiiii!” — much to the amusement of the other passengers and even the flight attendants, who couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, this little ball of happiness managed to turn a stressful situation into a moment of joy. 😄

Of course, the weather had its consequences. We arrived in Munich hopelessly late, reaching border control just three minutes before our next flight was scheduled to depart and with an entire terminal still standing between us and the gate. 🏃‍♂️✈️

But then the teamwork kicked in. Thanks to Finnibear’s excellent navigation skills and Nicobear’s determination, we made it — not comfortably, but just time.

Yet enough time for the Panda Bears to make one more important stop: a cockpit visit with the pilots, where they happily chatted away as if this was a completely normal part of every journey. 🐼👨‍✈️

And what a beautiful flight it was! The attendants gave us first-class treatment, making the final part of the journey feel extra special.

Dublin welcomed us with a smooth and efficient border control experience, and suddenly… we had done it.

Day 1 score: 10/10. 🌟

A perfect travel day?

Well… not quite. The  HORROR was yet to come.

🧳 The Travel Gods Changed Their Mind… Worst case scenario arrived 😱✈️

Remember the luggage chaos in Brussels?

Yes, of course you do. And you can probably guess what comes next… Horror 1 had arrived. 👻

After a 30-minute wait at the baggage belt, a lovely little message appeared on the screen:

“This was the last suitcase for this flight.”

Our suitcase?

Yes… you guessed it. Not there. 🧳❌

So off we went to baggage claim. And the answer was confirmed: our suitcase enjoying an extended stay in Brussels without us. 🇧🇪

Luckily, thanks to an amazing farewell gift from some very special friends, we had a high-quality tracker in the suitcase. What seemed like a nice travel gadget suddenly became the most valuable gift ever. It helped us file the missing luggage report and showed exactly where our suitcase was sitting in Brussels.

The big question remained:

Would they actually find it among the Brussels airport chaos and somehow get it to Dublin within the next 36 hours? Before our next flight?

Mama Bear was… let’s say… not overly optimistic. 😅

But we had prepared ourselves emotionally. Deep breath. Stay calm. We can handle this.

And then came Horror 2. 😱

The moment we walked through customs, Mama Bear suddenly felt her purse was suspiciously light.

Something was missing.

THE smartphone. 📱

In a world where everything — boarding passes, banking, communication, travel details — lives online, you can imagine the panic.

We had just connected to the airport WiFi. It had to be somewhere nearby. It simply had to be.

But no.

Three hours followed involving Swissport, airport police, lost and found, and every possible search. At first, we thought it had simply been dropped while searching the luggage.

Then the tracker gave us the answer.

The phone wasn’t lost.

It was stolen.

Thanks to the tracker still being connected to our old phone, we could see the phone moving rapidly away from the airport. A horrible realisation… but strangely also a relief. Knowing exactly what happened gave us the peace of mind to stop searching and accept that, for tonight, both the suitcase and the phone were gone.

After three exhausting hours, there was nothing more we could do.

So we headed to the hotel — tired, emotionally drained, and definitely ready for the day to end.

And yet…

This is where the story becomes beautiful. ❤️

Because despite everything, we were surrounded by kindness. Every Irish person we met, every Lufthansa team member, airport worker, police officer, and hotel employee showed patience, understanding, and genuine helpfulness.

And then there were the little Panda Bears. 🐼🐼

Their incredible attitude, smiles, and pure happiness through this stressful event carried mamabear through a day that could easily have broken our spirits.

So thank you to every wonderful person we met today — and thank you to my beautiful sons.

The day ended as a worst-case travel scenario…

But the people we encountered turned it into something we will remember for very different reasons. ❤️

Stay tuned for what comes next.

Good night from a very tired Mamabear, watching over two peacefully sleeping little Pandas. 🐼💤

🚔 Day 2: When the Holiday Itinerary Takes a Detour

After yesterday's eventful finale, today kicked off a little differently than planned. Instead of exploring castles and scenic landmarks, we embarked on an unexpected "errands tour."

First stop: the police station to file an insurance report.👮‍♂️

Next came the challenge of organising a new phone🤳

And since our luggage was apparently still enjoying an extended holiday of its own, we also had to buy a few new outfits just to keep the adventure going. 👕🛍️

The airline's reassuring "We have located your luggage" message turned out to mean just one thing: they knew where it was... but that didn't necessarily mean it would be reunited with us anytime soon. 😅

The real stars of the day, however, were the Panda Bears. They proved to be excellent  conversationalists, happily chatting with the police officers while all the paperwork was sorted out.

The kindness we experienced was genuinely heartwarming. Later that day, the officers even gave us a personal follow-up call to check that we had received everything we needed for the insurance claim.

What an unexpected gesture!

If this is Irish hospitality, it's already become one of the highlights of the trip. 🇮🇪❤️

Setting up the new phone turned into a mini-adventure of its own. Plenty of head-scratching moments, and enough screen taps to qualify as a workout. Thankfully, persistence paid off, and by the end of the day everything was finally working.

With the practicalities behind us, we still managed to squeeze in a couple of hours exploring Dublin. The Panda Bears with front seats of the top deck of the double-decker bus enjoyed the rides from a true VIP perspective. 🚌🐼

While Irish hospitality has already earned a permanent place in our travel memories, and riding shotgun on the top deck of a Dublin bus was great fun, the Irish capital itself probably won't make our Top 10 travel highlights of the year.

Then again, perhaps that's a little unfair—after all, we spent more time chasing phones, paperwork and missing luggage than chasing Dublin's famous sights. Maybe the city deserves a rematch someday.

✈️ Day 3: Lost and... found?

Today was the day the we 🐼✈️ set off for Iceland 🇮🇸!

If it hadn't been for one tiny question—would our lost suitcase be reunited with us or not?—there probably wouldn't have been much blog-worthy drama. 😅

We woke up on departure day with absolutely no clue where our luggage was. Thankfully, our amazing luggage tracker (a huge thank you to our wonderful friends! ❤️📍)

came to the rescue. Late in the evening, it showed our suitcase sitting on the runway in Frankfurt, and by midnight it had finally made it to Dublin. 🎉

So, with just 45 minutes until check-in, we headed to the airport and decided to try our luck. Could they actually find it?

To spare you the suspense we went through... with only 5 minutes left before check-in closed, our suitcase appeared! 🧳✨ Happy reunion achieved! 🎊

With passports, pandas, and luggage all together again, we were finally ready for the next adventure.

Off we go to our next destination... Iceland! 🇮🇸❄️🐼

🏰 Day 4: A Fairytale Ending in Ireland 🍀✨

Travelling back to Dublin was, surprisingly, rather uneventful. ✈️ While travelling with little panda bears can sometimes be exhausting, it definitely has its perks! Thanks to family lanes and priority boarding, we skipped many of the long queues, making the journey much smoother. And yes... the suitcase arrived as well! 🧳🎉

After a good night's sleep, the panda family woke up to the typical Irish weather—grey skies and plenty of wind. 🌧️💨 Convincing the little panda bears to leave the cosy hotel seemed almost impossible.

But once they did... it turned into one of the best family days of the whole trip! ❤️

The the brave panda bears explored a magnificent castle, bravely slayed dragons 🐉⚔️, searched for fairies in an enchanted forest 🧚🌳, wandered through a magical butterfly house 🦋, and finally took over an epic playground, where the little Panda Bears quickly made a group of new friends. 🛝🐼

Sometimes, the best adventures begin on the days you least expect them. ✨