Having arrived in Vienna on a flight from Kiev, I had a couple of hours before my onward flight with Austrian back to London. After letting the chaos of disembarkation happen around me, I was one of the last of the aircraft, however I quickly made my way through the transfers process and was back in the departure lounge about 10 minutes after alighting.

After a fascinating time in the Ukrainian capital, it was time to head to the airport for my flight home. Having flown to Kiev with Lufthansa, I opted to fly home with another of the Lufthansa Group subsidiaries, and fellow Star Alliance member, Austrian Airlines. Austrian are one of the mid-sized European flag carriers with a fleet of 82 aircraft (compared to the 300 of its parent) and, from its Vienna hub, offers flights to a range of destinations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America.

After having finally arrived at Frankfurt following my delayed flight from London, I followed the connections signs for the first time and wondered what laid ahead of me. Speaking to friends before travelling, I’d mentioned my booked 45-minute connection and had been wished luck as Frankfurt was supposedly a horrendous airport to transfer through. Having missed my original flight out of the German city, I was under a lot less pressure with 3 hours to kill and so was a lot more relaxed about the whole process.

Since arriving back from Madrid in September, I had been yearning for an adventure and whilst my day trips have been great, the 2-night trip to the Ukrainian capital is what I’d really been looking forward to. Most of my trips have an element of similarity, be it the destination, airline or some other aspect. This trip to Kiev would be a dive into the complete unknown for me with a new country, new airlines and my first time using connecting flights.

After a soggy but interesting day exploring Oslo, I headed back to the Oslo S to catch the train north to the airport.

On a cold and foggy morning in November, I woke to a 4AM alarm at Heathrow Terminal 4’s Premier Inn. Despite staying near Terminal 4, I was flying with British Airways (BA) and so headed downstairs to get a bus round to BA’s home at Terminal 5.