🐰 Buddy’s Journey – Day 5: Team Millie Has Made It to Benidorm! 🌴💜

Four years later, we're back where so many precious memories were made.

WE DID IT! 🥹💜🐰

After five days, hundreds of miles, early mornings, long hours in the car, beautiful scenery, emotional moments, laughter, tears and more than a few tired faces…

Team Millie has officially made it to Benidorm! 🌴

There is something incredibly special about finally arriving at a destination after such a long journey.

But for us, arriving in Benidorm wasn't simply about reaching the end of another day's driving.

It felt like arriving somewhere that holds a huge piece of our hearts.

Because we've been here before.

And more importantly…

Millie has been here before. 💜

🌴 Back to somewhere special

After another very early start, we packed ourselves back into the car and set off for the final part of our journey towards Benidorm.

By this point, we were tired.

Really tired. 😂

Five days of travelling takes its toll, especially when you're driving long distances every day and trying to take in everything around you at the same time.

There were plenty of stops along the way, plenty of snacks, plenty of conversations and definitely moments where we were all wondering how much longer we had left!

But eventually, we saw those familiar sights.

And then...

Benidorm. 🌴

We had made it.

After everything we'd been through to get here, that moment was huge.

But then we arrived at our accommodation.

And that's when the emotions really hit.

🥹 We're staying in the same apartments

We're staying in the exact same apartments where we stayed during our 2022 road trip with Millie.

Four years ago, she was here.

Our beautiful, happy, bubbly girl.

She was making memories.

Having adventures.

Exploring.

Laughing.

Enjoying herself.

Just being Millie. 💜

And now, four years later, we're standing in the same place.

But everything is different.

The rooms are the same.

The surroundings are familiar.

The streets haven't changed that much.

But our family has changed forever.

Because this time, Millie isn't physically here with us.

Instead, we have Buddy. 🐰💜

And safely inside Buddy is a little part of our beautiful girl.

So although it hurts more than words can explain to be back here without her, it also brings a strange sense of comfort knowing that we're bringing her with us.

We're walking the same streets.

Seeing the same places.

And remembering the little girl who experienced them with us four years ago.

💭 Four years ago...

I keep thinking about what life was like when we came here in 2022.

Millie was here.

She was making memories that, at the time, we never imagined would become some of the memories we'd hold onto so tightly one day.

That's the difficult thing about memories.

When you're living them, you don't know how precious they're going to become.

You don't know that one day you'll look back at a photograph and wish you could step straight back into that moment.

You don't know that the silly little things you might not have thought twice about at the time will eventually become treasures.

But that's exactly what has happened.

Now, every memory of Millie is precious.

Every photograph.

Every place.

Every laugh.

Every little moment.

And being back here brings so many of them flooding back.

🐰 Buddy is back too

There's something incredibly fitting about having Buddy with us here.

Buddy travelled with Millie on so many adventures.

She went to places with Millie that became part of her childhood memories.

And now Buddy is retracing some of those journeys.

Only this time, she's doing it in Millie's memory.

She has travelled all the way from home, through France, over the mountains, into Spain and now to Benidorm.

And she's sitting here in the very same place where she was with Millie four years ago.

It's almost like two journeys have come together.

Millie's 2022 adventure.

And Buddy's 2026 journey.

Two chapters of the same story.

🌹 Remembering Millie's favourite places

Over the next few days, we're going to revisit many of the places we took Millie during our 2022 trip.

Places she saw.

Places she enjoyed.

Places where she laughed.

Places where she made memories.

And places that now hold a very special place in our hearts.

We're not going to rush.

We're not going to try to pack everything into one day.

We're going to take our time.

We're going to remember her.

We're going to talk about her.

We're going to laugh at the memories.

We're going to cry when we need to.

And we're going to allow ourselves to feel whatever comes.

Because this isn't about pretending that everything is okay.

It's about allowing ourselves to be close to our girl in the places where she once was.

❤️ Missing her every step of the way

There is obviously a huge sadness attached to being here.

Because every beautiful view comes with the thought:

"Millie should be here."

Every familiar place reminds us that she was here before.

And every memory reminds us how much we wish we could make more of them with her.

I would give absolutely anything to have Millie walking through these places with us again.

To hear her laugh.

To hear her singing.

To hear her telling us what she wanted to do next.

To watch her get excited about being somewhere new.

To see her face when she realised where we were going.

Those are the things I miss.

The ordinary things.

The little things.

The things that I never realised I would one day wish I could experience just one more time.

✈️ A change of plans

Our journey has also had a little unexpected change.

Unfortunately, Grandad Bill has hurt his back, which means we've had to make some adjustments to our plans for the journey home.

So Nanna Kaz has flown out to Benidorm to join us and help with the drive back. ✈️❤️

It's not quite how we'd originally imagined things working out, but sometimes you simply have to adapt and make the best of whatever happens.

And now we have Nanna Kaz joining Team Millie for the next part of the adventure.

I'm sure there will be plenty of stories to tell from that journey too! 😂

We're finally here

For now, though, we're going to take a breath.

We're here.

Benidorm. 🌴

The place where we made so many beautiful memories with Millie.

The place we're now returning to with Buddy.

The place where we're going to spend the next few days remembering our girl.

There is something incredibly emotional about knowing that we're standing in places where Millie once stood.

Walking where she walked.

Seeing things she saw.

And remembering the little girl who made those places so special to us.

This isn't about trying to recreate our 2022 holiday.

We could never recreate that.

Because the most important person from that trip isn't here physically anymore.

Instead, we're creating something different.

We're creating new memories alongside the old ones.

We're adding another chapter to Millie's story.

💜 For you, Millie Rose

This whole journey has been about carrying Millie with us.

From the moment we left home.

Through Dover.

Across to France.

Through Rouen.

Down towards Bordeaux.

Across the incredible Pyrenees.

Into Spain.

And finally here to Benidorm.

Every mile has carried her memory.

And now we're here.

Exactly where we wanted to be.

Exactly where she was four years ago.

With Buddy beside us.

With her mini urn safely inside Buddy.

And with our beautiful girl in our hearts.

Millie may not be physically walking beside us, but she is still part of this journey.

She is in every conversation.

Every photograph.

Every memory.

Every tear.

Every laugh.

Every place we visit.

And every moment we spend remembering her.

🌴 Day 5 — Complete

We made it. 🥹

 Spain
🌴 Benidorm
🐰 Buddy
💜 Millie

Five days.

Hundreds of miles.

So many emotions.

And one very special destination.

Tomorrow, the real memory-making begins.

We'll start visiting some of the places that meant so much to Millie.

We'll walk in her footsteps.

We'll tell her stories.

We'll laugh.

We'll cry.

And we'll carry her with us.

Because this isn't just a road trip.

It's Millie's journey too.

Every mile.

Every memory.

Every moment.

Always. 🌹💜🐰