Even after nine months, the big journeys were something to be endured not enjoyed.  We became more efficient, possibly, and we learnt to always take snacks, but it never got any better.  Airports at midnight are horrible, no matter how many times you do it.

But you do it, so you can get there.  And in our case, the there was often magnificent.

The best long-haul destinations for 2012

Where can you find the best long-distance holiday? Well, that’s a pretty tough question, given the size of the earth compared to the likely ground you’ll manage to cover in a two-week trip. But we do live on an amazing planet, and taking a long-haul flight to a far-away destination is wonderfully disorientating and magical, because you can be instantly transported out of the dull British winter weather to a completely different reality. It would be hard to surpass the images that a real ‘holiday of a lifetime’ will etch in your memory.

And if it seems feasible to fit it into a February half-term then why wait? Here are some ideas for some great experiences you can have this time of year:

Northern India is benefiting from improved infrastructure and is a perfect place to visit in February. If you’re looking for a different land, then India’s contrasts and colours will hit you as soon as you step off the plane. Try a tiger safari, negotiate the bustling streets of Delhi, and explore the blooming valleys of Sikkim.

Or you could choose South East Asia, which has lost none of its appeal.  The pound still remains relatively strong compared to some far flung currencies, with pretty favourable currency exchange rates in Thailand and Vietnam, so you can be sure of good value while you’re there – especially if you steer clear of large tourist areas. Head to the national parks in Northern Thailand and simply relax on its southern beaches.

Plus, as Burma opens up to tourism it’s promising to be a travel trend for 2012, if you prefer somewhere further off the beaten track. Its impressive temples, fishing villages and famous rivers allow your navigation of the country to be a unique experience in itself.

Air fares to the other side of the world tend to cool down a little after Christmas, but the weather holds out a little longer, so Australia and New Zealand are definitely worth checking out. Don’t miss the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers on the New Zealand’s South Island, or the opportunity to spot sperm whales off the coast from the small town of Kaikoura.

In Australia, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, with its glittering night parades and dancing, runs throughout the whole month. And of course, the beaches, the Great Barrier Reef and trips to Kangaroo Island offer unforgettable experiences and plenty of photo opportunities.

Many memorable moments are on offer in Latin America as 2012 gets started. Disregard the nonsense over Mayan predictions about the end of the world in December, speak to the locals and climb Machu Picchu in Peru. You’ll never forget being in an Incan urban wonder – and breathless in tropical mountain forest 2,430m above sea level.

Further south on the continent, you can spot stars from the Atacama Desert, learn the tango in Buenos Aires, see the best views in the world at Bariloche, or head further south to see penguins, and eventually the great white continent of Antarctica.

Always make sure that whatever far flung destination you choose, you’re fully covered by your travel insurance and shop around in advance for your travel money to get the best rates. If you’re taking holidays more often, you may like to think about multi trip annual travel insurance.

Although we are planted firmly in Southwest London for the foreseeable, the nice people at Lonely Planet have sent us some review copies.  There are two kinds of book, city guides – we have London and Rome, and a bumper book of facts about every country on the planet (possibly).

The Not for Parents Travel Book covers a country per page and includes the usual currency and population type facts and figures alongside more child friendly information.  This includes, but is no way limited to, what the Queen ate when she visited Belize (rat), the world’s loudest animal (Tiger Pistol Shrimp) and where in the world it’s illegal to leave the house without wearing pants (Thailand).  It covers pretty much anywhere you are likely to go and plenty of places you aren’t, and has been pored over for many an hour.

The city guides are not at all like adult travel guides, and are much the better for it.  Each page looks at either an attraction, an aspect of the city’s culture or its history, tells you all sorts of things that are interesting to children and suggests activities relating to the topic.  In the London guide for instance, you can find out how to look like a punk, make jellied eels and avoid catching the plague.  All useful information, I’m sure you’ll agree.  The guides not at all dumbed down and are actually rather fascinating for adults too.  And instead of wasting space on opening times and prices, there’s simply a link to the relevant website.  There aren’t many cities included yet, but I’m assuming if they’re a success they’ll publish more.

We like.

Not that I’d have wanted it to be.  I will never regret staying with a family in a Borneo village with access only by boat.  Or driving for a whole day through the desert, to camp for a single night on the beach in an Australian national park.  And I’d far rather squeeze five to a small room in a tower block in Waikiki than not visit Waikiki at all.

Now that we’re home, the mossie bites have stopped itching, and we’ve got a bed each and an embarrassment of bathrooms and bookshelves, it’s much easier to laugh about the hard bits. To realise their importance in the grand scheme of things.  And we’re left with a plethora of happy memories, jostling for space in our heads.  I think that maybe that’s the point.

But I couldn’t sleep. I was filled with nervous anticipation, sick with worry about the following day. Because on the first of November, we left London for Los Angeles, and ports beyond.

It’s been quite a year.

Harajuku in Tokyo, is where teenagers go and hang out on Sundays.  It’s a heaving mass of crispy hairspray, dayglo netting, skinny ties and precarious stack heels.  The narrow lanes sell every kind of clothing from manga maid outfits in gothic colours to glasses with no glass in them and pastel cartoon character wigs.  It’s very Tokyo.

First up, Eve, who actually did some school work when we were away. The odd half hour every couple of days, sometimes less, sometimes more. This clearly paid off, as her teacher said that he wouldn’t know she hadn’t been at school last year.  He praised her maturity and said her writing and imagination are excellent.  I like to think that some of that is down to our influence and the fantastic experiences she’s had.

Ned did very little school work, some maths during the first three months or so, the odd postcard, the tiniest bit of reading.  As a result, he’s quite behind and is having extra help in maths and literacy.  The good news is, that he’s catching up quickly and his biggest problem is a lack of confidence in his abilities, particularly when it comes to reading and writing.  When we told him that his teacher had said very nice things about him, he said “I didn’t know she was a liar.”  He’s picking up new maths topics easily and his teacher is going to start recording his stories because his vocabulary and ideas far exceed his writing abilities, for now.

Dickon did absolutely no school work at all apart from a half hearted attempt in the first weeks in Hawaii, when he insisted on being bribed with Oreos for every question answered correctly.  As a result, he’s basically starting school from scratch in Year 1.  He’s very behind is peers, which is compounded by him being the youngest in his class.  So lots of his problems are age related, such as dodgy fine motor skills, rather than travelling related, but it’s nothing terminal and he’s also getting lots of extra help.  The good news is that he is one of the best behaved children in class, a fact that will astonish anyone who’s met him, with excellent listening skills and a great attitude to learning.  I actually laughed out loud when his teacher told me that, every time I asked him to do some work last year he yelled “No!” and ran away.

All three children have settled in well and have either slotted back into their old friendship groups, or made new ones.  They all seem happy and are enjoying telling their classes about our trip.  One of my biggest worries was that taking them out of school and doing something so different, would make it hard for them to fit back in.  Their fantastic school and lovely friends have meant that my worries were unfounded.  Ned’s teacher said as we were leaving, “It was a good decision.”

Dickon getting help up the hill on the way home from school

The other night, after the X Factor results, I flicked over Planet Word with Stephen Fry.  He was somewhere in Thailand, with a hill tribe.  He was talking about the fact that they didn’t have a written language.  I realised that it was the Akha tribe he was talking about.  The same Akha tribe that we stayed with in Northern Thailand.  When I say stayed with, I mean we stayed in a guest house in an Akha village, run by Akha tribespeople.  That’s when it hit me.  Quite how much cool stuff we did.  We stayed in a place that Stephen Fry made a documentary about.  That’s actually pretty amazing.

We arrived in a bumpy pick up truck from the northern town of Chiang Rai, up the dusty winding track through the jungle, the truck straining noisily to make it up the steepest hills.  The village clung precariously to the edge of the steepest hill, a raggedy collection of bamboo houses on stilts with stunning views of lush green jungle, fishing ponds and lychee orchards.

Our home for the few days we were there, was a small hut with it’s own, slightly rickety, bamboo deck and an outdoor bathroom.  As in a bath, outdoors.  We will forever remember the tokay lizard that lived in the roof space, so called because of the earsplitting TOK KAY sound it made, shocking us into wakefulness at regular intervals throughout the night.  We tried yelling at it, but it was unmoved.

We loved listening to the guesthouse manager, Tao, and his stories of Akha life in Burma and Thailand.  We learnt about the Akha language, that was written on a buffalo skin which got left out in the rain and thus lost.  And how it has no past or future tense, but it does have a word which means ‘to hold the hand of a dying person’.

We swam in the local waterfall, visited the local school and bought birthday candles for Steve at the local shop.

We talked insects and practised our French with a French entomologist who was searching for a new species of stag beetle.  If he found one, he was going to name it after his long-suffering wife, who spent every single holiday searching for bugs.

We hired guides and went for a long walk in the jungle.  They taught us how to cook Akha omelettes in a bamboo tube on the fire, and how to dam the river to trap tiny prawns.  They made the children bamboo machetes and fed them bush tucker.

It was a fantastic four days in a beautiful, fascinating, friendly place.  We were sad to leave, apart from the lizard.

And do you know what?  I could say that about most of the places we visited.  We did some very cool stuff.