Not Quite to Plan Audiobook

The author's experience of the global pandemic and a military coup with a newborn baby. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family arrives in India and Milla is thrown into the enormous challenge of setting up a new life in India with a toddler in tow. Speaking to her family back home, she realises that she has to write down the events of the past year so that Jasper can understand it all when he’s older.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family waits for their visa applications to be processed. Tensions rise as Milla adjusts to the loss of the independence she had in Jersey and Dylan’s work stress increases with his prolonged absence.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla and Dylan struggle to adjust to co-parenting and to handle Jasper’s jet lag while staying at Dylan’s mother’s home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After almost 6 months apart, the family are reunited in Doha, halfway through their journey to Australia to apply for the visa to India.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the one year anniversary of the Myanmar coup comes around, Milla and Jasper discover that they will have to travel to Australia to get the visa for India, but are in limbo waiting for a date to be fixed by Dylan’s company.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jasper’s first birthday arrives and becomes the first of many milestones that Dylan will miss as the involuntary separation extends into the new year.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla’s employment contract comes to an end and with that, the last piece of her Myanmar life falls away, leaving her feeling adrift. A trip to London bolsters her confidence as a mother, but the realisation that a visa for India will be hard to get means the family’s separation has no end date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla leans on Jasper for emotional support as she takes on the new challenge of solo parenting without the support or the structure of her life in Myanmar.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family have just two weeks in Jersey together, before Dylan leaves for their new life in India.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family’s stay in Ireland is restorative but challenging in many ways: both expected and unforeseen.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A quick tour of an enormous supermarket on the way to the family’s Irish holiday rental reminds Milla of everything she’s missed having been stuck in Myanmar for almost two years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla encounters an issue at immigration but eventually the family arrive in Dubai. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the family pack up the apartment and prepare to leave Myanmar, they find a loophole relating to their quarantine in Ireland.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A work opportunity for Dylan in India results in new travel plans.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family tests positive for COVID, with Milla’s father-in-law narrowly surviving and Milla starts the long and complicated process of trying to get flights out of Myanmar. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the world all but closed to international travel, Milla and Dylan spend several weeks trying to find a safe route to the UK with their 7-month-old baby. They finally settle on a route via Ireland and are halfway through packing when Dylan makes a surprise announcement.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The family makes the difficult decision to plan their departure from Myanmar, as soon as they have Jasper’s passport, the application process for which finally concludes in an emotional interview for Milla.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla manages to restart Jasper’s passport application process but, three months into the coup, the pressure of the situation and military activity too close for comfort inside the estate where they live, starts to weigh increasingly heavily on the family’s mind.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amidst increasingly frightening internet outages, travel restrictions and hospital closures at the hands of the military, Milla tracks down Jasper’s passport application and struggles to deal with the bad news that it has stalled.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the civilian resistance grows against the military and violence on the streets of Yangon, Milla returns to work at the end of her maternity leave, and the family realise Jasper’s passport application has not been processed.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first few days and weeks of the Myanmar military coup bring uncertainty and unease, but Milla manages to find some humour as Jasper’s personality starts to emerge.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the start of 2021, Milla settles into a rhythm of motherhood and applies for Jasper’s passport. Life feels almost normal, until towards the end of January, rumours of a military coup start to increase in volume.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Milla is thrown in the deep end of motherhood: far from home and facing challenges with breastfeeding.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Told as a lunch time anecdote to friends, Milla hears Dylan tell the full story of his and Jasper’s out-of-hours adventure to the childrens’ hospital. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.