It's past midnight on the Saturday before my trip. I'm not sure why I get all wack about trips just before they happen. I feel like I'm on the edge of a precipice... about to take a step into the unknown.
Well, that's very dramatic. Usually, I'm ok by the time I actually get on the plane.
I guess, that is, unless it's a plane dealing with turbulence.
Remember that plane that went down a few years ago just off the coast of Brazil? They thought turbulence had caused it to go down.
Now, I've been flying since I was five. At five years of age, I flew from California to Pennsylvania to stay with my grandparents. I never blinked. Never had an issue. Never had anxiety.
My dad few small airplanes. I was his flying buddy, and even though he would scare me to death sometimes with his aerial acrobatics, it never stopped me from flying.
But several years back, I had the flight of my life. Frequent fliers probably all have their stories of planes on the tarmac or planes with engine troubles. My story started on a trip from London back to Houston.
I was in an aisle seat, but in the middle section. Next to me sat a rather spiffy looking gentleman who drank a lot and on the other side of him, an engineer going on a business trip. Who would've thought that I would end up having deep transatlantic discussions with the two of them the entire time! It was wonderful, really, though I got NO sleep at all.
Well, we were about halfway across the Atlantic when it hit. The turbulence to end all turbulence. Kinda like that scene from Flash Gordon (roll forward to about the 3:54 mark)...
The new friends I just made were trying to console me, but it was as if someone had reached a hand out and grabbed our plane - shaking it up and down. Bins few open, people screamed. Or... maybe it was just me screaming! Anyway, if it happens again, I won't be flying anymore. Scary stuff.
See what goes through my mind just before a trip! LOL... ok, off to work on my packing list.
Take care all!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Insomnia - Just another way to beat jet lag???
Ok, well... yes, it's 3 am and yes, I'm up again. The only thing to do is listen to music and write at this hour!
I've spoken recently with my friend Sharon,the Lady Nomad travel mentor extraordinaire. She's coming over this week sometime to go over packing options.
I know some folks will say that so much attention to packing detail seems silly. But, if you ask a backpacker that question, they'll tell you the entire trip is centered around how you pack. To me, it's much the same with regular travel.
I talk with folks all the time who gasp when I tell them I live out of an overhead bag for two weeks. They tell me they could never do that! But, honestly? It would take you about an hour of hauling gigantic American luggage uphill to a B&B that's on the third floor of a walk-up with narrow staircases to tell you...
Packing IS important!
Especially if you aren't overly athletic!
So, I've asked Sharon to come look at three options with me. The Rick Steves bag, my old overhead, and the new Samsonite overhead.
I typically would've gone with my new luggage, but realized (too late) that even though I saved a bundle on the price tag - it's fairly hefty, and I'm not sure it offers all the space that my previous bag did. I'm still not convinced about the Rick Steves half suitcase/half backpack... but perhaps she can change my mind. She typically travels that way.
I finally got a request for a travel gift! I love it when people have something specific they want. This year, I'll be on a quest to find a lucet for a friend that weaves and spins. I've already located a shop that sells them in Edinburgh, though getting there will definitely be the biggest part of the adventure! I may also be getting a request for a tartan for a co-worker's baby girl. That would be fun (and much easier!).
Anyway, as always, I'm up for travel talk if you have any questions or discussion points. Feel free to post here!
I've spoken recently with my friend Sharon,the Lady Nomad travel mentor extraordinaire. She's coming over this week sometime to go over packing options.
I know some folks will say that so much attention to packing detail seems silly. But, if you ask a backpacker that question, they'll tell you the entire trip is centered around how you pack. To me, it's much the same with regular travel.
I talk with folks all the time who gasp when I tell them I live out of an overhead bag for two weeks. They tell me they could never do that! But, honestly? It would take you about an hour of hauling gigantic American luggage uphill to a B&B that's on the third floor of a walk-up with narrow staircases to tell you...
Packing IS important!
Especially if you aren't overly athletic!
So, I've asked Sharon to come look at three options with me. The Rick Steves bag, my old overhead, and the new Samsonite overhead.
I typically would've gone with my new luggage, but realized (too late) that even though I saved a bundle on the price tag - it's fairly hefty, and I'm not sure it offers all the space that my previous bag did. I'm still not convinced about the Rick Steves half suitcase/half backpack... but perhaps she can change my mind. She typically travels that way.
I finally got a request for a travel gift! I love it when people have something specific they want. This year, I'll be on a quest to find a lucet for a friend that weaves and spins. I've already located a shop that sells them in Edinburgh, though getting there will definitely be the biggest part of the adventure! I may also be getting a request for a tartan for a co-worker's baby girl. That would be fun (and much easier!).
Anyway, as always, I'm up for travel talk if you have any questions or discussion points. Feel free to post here!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Travel, Love, Friends, and Rollercoasters
Hidey Ho, Neighbors!
I've been writing a few lines about my upcoming trip lately, so I don't know if you want to know or not... but things have been scary in my private life.
First, I had my very BEST travel buddy friend Sharon W. almost kick the bucket on me (don't DO that again, Sharon!!!). Luckily, she's back and fighting. What a trooper! My friends Sandy and Kathy have not been so lucky. They've both been given the news that their time here is limited. All my emotions around THAT have been everything from humorous to dark and lonely. Other acquaintances and family are going through a litany of things. Dad's circulatory/diabetes/and other associated problems. Sharon B's ongoing fight with Crone's Disease, Angela's difficulties with arthritis and other medical issues, and so on.
Sometimes you wonder if anyone is healthy anymore! Also, it is teaching me that this moment in my life when I feel so healthy is a gift. A true and awesome gift! Many folks my age are valiantly fighting the good fight while my biggest problems seem to be which airline to take.
To all those out there courageously duking it out with disaster, I am totally humbled by you. I've pretty much determined that if I was facing the same things, I'd just end up in a puddle of woe. I'm not one of those strong folks.
Anyway, you know what? Something in me just now clicked that I'll do this next trip for my friends who can't. For those folks that would LOVE to hop on a plane and travel to Scotland and can't. For those who can't get out of bed or who are tied to doctor's appointments. Maybe God gives me legs for those who can't walk.
That seems a bit pretentious, reading back, but it wasn't meant that way. All I can say is that I love all my friends and that I carry each of them in my heart when I travel. Many folks don't understand why I love to bring gifts back from my visits... I've talked about this a little before. And, I think the majority of it is to share what I feel as the ultimate joy and adventure and spiritual upfliftment in my life with them.
So, take those kitchen magnets with a little bit of Joy loves you. That's the way it's meant.
Now, off to the Llama farm to see the Brambletts. Until next time!
I've been writing a few lines about my upcoming trip lately, so I don't know if you want to know or not... but things have been scary in my private life.
First, I had my very BEST travel buddy friend Sharon W. almost kick the bucket on me (don't DO that again, Sharon!!!). Luckily, she's back and fighting. What a trooper! My friends Sandy and Kathy have not been so lucky. They've both been given the news that their time here is limited. All my emotions around THAT have been everything from humorous to dark and lonely. Other acquaintances and family are going through a litany of things. Dad's circulatory/diabetes/and other associated problems. Sharon B's ongoing fight with Crone's Disease, Angela's difficulties with arthritis and other medical issues, and so on.
Sometimes you wonder if anyone is healthy anymore! Also, it is teaching me that this moment in my life when I feel so healthy is a gift. A true and awesome gift! Many folks my age are valiantly fighting the good fight while my biggest problems seem to be which airline to take.
To all those out there courageously duking it out with disaster, I am totally humbled by you. I've pretty much determined that if I was facing the same things, I'd just end up in a puddle of woe. I'm not one of those strong folks.
Anyway, you know what? Something in me just now clicked that I'll do this next trip for my friends who can't. For those folks that would LOVE to hop on a plane and travel to Scotland and can't. For those who can't get out of bed or who are tied to doctor's appointments. Maybe God gives me legs for those who can't walk.
That seems a bit pretentious, reading back, but it wasn't meant that way. All I can say is that I love all my friends and that I carry each of them in my heart when I travel. Many folks don't understand why I love to bring gifts back from my visits... I've talked about this a little before. And, I think the majority of it is to share what I feel as the ultimate joy and adventure and spiritual upfliftment in my life with them.
So, take those kitchen magnets with a little bit of Joy loves you. That's the way it's meant.
Now, off to the Llama farm to see the Brambletts. Until next time!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
28 Days, 18 Hours, 55 Minutes
But who's counting?
I am having dreams of losing paperwork and credit cards and ending up penniless in Paris. Thank goodness I'm going to Scotland!
After all the careful planning I did, my computer died. The hard drive doesn't work. I can't get my trip data off no matter how hard I plead and whine and cry over the darn thing.
All I can say is, "Thank GOD I printed that hardcopy!" Yes, I actually had every important document printed and filed in my trip notebook. I then turned all the hardcopy into a .pdf and uploaded it to Google docs! No darn hard drive is gonna ruin my holiday!
But, here I sit in my lonely little room with my cute little dogs and the fear sits just at the back of my mind. It happens on some trips... where I begin to be just a little scared of hurling myself into the void. Tossing myself to the four winds and to an unknown adventure.
I just tell myself to breathe. Just breathe. I'm drawn to adventure, but the very thing I'm drawn to causes so much anxiety. International travel can be like that sometimes. Mind you, I've never once regretted a trip. Not even the last horrible trip to Paris. It taught me something... never take trips to Paris. :) It was an adventure that was tried and failed, but at least tried.
I hear the voice of Max von Sydow ominously echoing from the past...
"Pathetic earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void, without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe, anything at all, you would've hidden from it in terror." (Flash Gordon, the movie)
Pathetic earthlings
And I am shaking, but I am moving forward.
The day of the trip, I imagine will go something like this... I pack up the dogs and the luggage. I look pensively at the home I'm leaving for two weeks. I wonder if everything will be ok. I look at the dogs I'll be leaving. My babies. They will miss me, but not as much as I'll miss them. And my new friend, Priscilla. I'll miss her too.
With a huge gulp, I know I'll enter the airport in Houston. I'll calm myself by writing in my journal and having a drink at the bar. I'll magically push everything - all the sadness and the dread and the anxiety - into the background. My mind will open and the awe and expectancy of a new adventure will fill me. I'll step on the plane.
And go... go baby. GO!
28 days. 18 hours. 45 minutes.
I am having dreams of losing paperwork and credit cards and ending up penniless in Paris. Thank goodness I'm going to Scotland!
After all the careful planning I did, my computer died. The hard drive doesn't work. I can't get my trip data off no matter how hard I plead and whine and cry over the darn thing.
All I can say is, "Thank GOD I printed that hardcopy!" Yes, I actually had every important document printed and filed in my trip notebook. I then turned all the hardcopy into a .pdf and uploaded it to Google docs! No darn hard drive is gonna ruin my holiday!
But, here I sit in my lonely little room with my cute little dogs and the fear sits just at the back of my mind. It happens on some trips... where I begin to be just a little scared of hurling myself into the void. Tossing myself to the four winds and to an unknown adventure.
I just tell myself to breathe. Just breathe. I'm drawn to adventure, but the very thing I'm drawn to causes so much anxiety. International travel can be like that sometimes. Mind you, I've never once regretted a trip. Not even the last horrible trip to Paris. It taught me something... never take trips to Paris. :) It was an adventure that was tried and failed, but at least tried.
I hear the voice of Max von Sydow ominously echoing from the past...
"Pathetic earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void, without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe, anything at all, you would've hidden from it in terror." (Flash Gordon, the movie)
Pathetic earthlings
And I am shaking, but I am moving forward.
The day of the trip, I imagine will go something like this... I pack up the dogs and the luggage. I look pensively at the home I'm leaving for two weeks. I wonder if everything will be ok. I look at the dogs I'll be leaving. My babies. They will miss me, but not as much as I'll miss them. And my new friend, Priscilla. I'll miss her too.
With a huge gulp, I know I'll enter the airport in Houston. I'll calm myself by writing in my journal and having a drink at the bar. I'll magically push everything - all the sadness and the dread and the anxiety - into the background. My mind will open and the awe and expectancy of a new adventure will fill me. I'll step on the plane.
And go... go baby. GO!
28 days. 18 hours. 45 minutes.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Advanced World Travel
I went to a great class last night at REI. Enjoyed it so much, I'm posting my notes for you here.
Hope they help!
Notes from the 5/1 Class at REI
“Advanced World Travel”
Aaron Bell Presiding
Important Points
• Pack Light
• Bring Less Stuff and More Money
• Use credit cards with no foreign conversion fees
• Don’t carry cash (well, carry as little as possible)
• Make copies of your passport and hide it in your luggage
• Take pictures of your bags if you check them (you can show these pictures in places where they don’t speak English)
• Use your camera as short term memory. Take a pic of the street your B&B is on.
• http://www.travelerspoint.com/ can track your journey
Resources
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Planning
• Identify the season you want to travel in. Traveling in warmer weather means taking less-bulky clothing. • Budget
• Examine your hobbies
• Don’t dismiss a destination
• Rarely are expectations accurate
• There’s always a bonus
Make Money
• Change your lifestyle
• Sell your junk
• Spend to save
• Look for loopholes
• Peer to peer economy - Peer-to-peer (P2P) eCommerce communities are often established dynamically with peers that are unrelated and unknown to each other.
• Challenge yourself to make money. $1000 a month in extra cash goes a long way!
Peer to Peer
• http://www.guidehop.com/– become a tour guide
• Airbnb.com – rent a spare bedroom
• HourSchool.com – connects people who want to teach anything
• Taskrabbit.com
• Getaround.com
Cheaper Flights
• Orbitz
• Skyscanner.com – shows cheapest place to land in a country
• Check nearby airports
• Be flexible
What to Pack
• Less is best
• All-in-one like an Iphone/smartphone that does lots of things (check your data plans! These can be very expensive overseas).
• USB – large one to download your pictures to
• Multiplug if going to several countries. Don’t forget the converter!
• Visa/Mastercard – remember no conversion fee cards
• Passport – use a ziplock bag to keep it dry
• Clothes that mix and match
• Quality equipment
• Light shoes
• Packing dividers
Tip: Get shorts with lots of zippers rather than a money belt.
Scams
Foreign places (mostly not Europe):
• Ask your hotel about local scams
• Be skeptical
Taxi Service
• Choose – don’t be chosen (don’t let taxi drivers pick you up – don’t let them pick up other people)
• Taxi Tip for England: The typical black cabs are costly. Look in the phone book or ask your hotel for a local privately owned cab service – they’re a lot cheaper. Better yet, take the bus/underground.
• Never put your bag in the trunk. That takes control out of your hands.
Advice from other travelers
• Study the currency
• Learn a few phrases
• Buy a 1-way ticket
• Go with the flow
• Get travel insurance
• Slowing down saves money. (Stay in one place – don’t move around so much)
• Be nice – it pays off
• Keep a positive attitude
• Remember, this is your last life!
For more on Aaron, see: http://guidehop.com/Aaron
Hope they help!
Notes from the 5/1 Class at REI
“Advanced World Travel”
Aaron Bell Presiding
Important Points
• Pack Light
• Bring Less Stuff and More Money
• Use credit cards with no foreign conversion fees
• Don’t carry cash (well, carry as little as possible)
• Make copies of your passport and hide it in your luggage
• Take pictures of your bags if you check them (you can show these pictures in places where they don’t speak English)
• Use your camera as short term memory. Take a pic of the street your B&B is on.
• http://www.travelerspoint.com/ can track your journey
Resources
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
Planning
• Identify the season you want to travel in. Traveling in warmer weather means taking less-bulky clothing. • Budget
• Examine your hobbies
• Don’t dismiss a destination
• Rarely are expectations accurate
• There’s always a bonus
Make Money
• Change your lifestyle
• Sell your junk
• Spend to save
• Look for loopholes
• Peer to peer economy - Peer-to-peer (P2P) eCommerce communities are often established dynamically with peers that are unrelated and unknown to each other.
• Challenge yourself to make money. $1000 a month in extra cash goes a long way!
Peer to Peer
• http://www.guidehop.com/– become a tour guide
• Airbnb.com – rent a spare bedroom
• HourSchool.com – connects people who want to teach anything
• Taskrabbit.com
• Getaround.com
Cheaper Flights
• Orbitz
• Skyscanner.com – shows cheapest place to land in a country
• Check nearby airports
• Be flexible
What to Pack
• Less is best
• All-in-one like an Iphone/smartphone that does lots of things (check your data plans! These can be very expensive overseas).
• USB – large one to download your pictures to
• Multiplug if going to several countries. Don’t forget the converter!
• Visa/Mastercard – remember no conversion fee cards
• Passport – use a ziplock bag to keep it dry
• Clothes that mix and match
• Quality equipment
• Light shoes
• Packing dividers
Tip: Get shorts with lots of zippers rather than a money belt.
Scams
Foreign places (mostly not Europe):
• Ask your hotel about local scams
• Be skeptical
Taxi Service
• Choose – don’t be chosen (don’t let taxi drivers pick you up – don’t let them pick up other people)
• Taxi Tip for England: The typical black cabs are costly. Look in the phone book or ask your hotel for a local privately owned cab service – they’re a lot cheaper. Better yet, take the bus/underground.
• Never put your bag in the trunk. That takes control out of your hands.
Advice from other travelers
• Study the currency
• Learn a few phrases
• Buy a 1-way ticket
• Go with the flow
• Get travel insurance
• Slowing down saves money. (Stay in one place – don’t move around so much)
• Be nice – it pays off
• Keep a positive attitude
• Remember, this is your last life!
For more on Aaron, see: http://guidehop.com/Aaron
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Widgets
You know it's getting closer and closer to travel time when you catch yourself in the middle of town hall meetings at work imagining...
I'm getting up from a refreshed sleep in my comfy bed in room #6 at Goodwin House in Keswick. I'm showering, having a lovely full English breakfast, and putting on my daypack - excited that today maybe I'll break some personal walking record. (Mind you, that's not really hard to do!)
Unlike most days in England, it's crisp, clear, and perfect walking weather. I've borrowed Dawn's hiking dog, Kimmi. Got my GPS, my hiking stick, water, and a sense of adventure on. I'm heading out the door.
Walking to the shoreline, I catch a ferry to a spot on the opposite shore. I've always wanted to do that.
"And now we'll hear from project manager "X" on how to funnel widgets through square holes."
I try to stifle out the widget talk, with a glance up the mountain. I head through the trees on the shoreline and up the incline. Kimmi already knows the way, so it's pretty easy to just follow along behind her. She's got a bright green tennis ball in her face. I'm assuming at some point, I shall become the defacto dog entertainment center.
But, until that point, I'm heading uphill through the verdent forest. I can smell fresh foliage and wet earth. Kimmi is smiling and panting. We get to the top of the ridge and I can see...
"Now, we're going to hear from project manager "Y" on how to funnel widgets from square holes back onto the assembly line."
forever, it seems. The sky is so blue, and Derwentwater spreads below like a cool reminder of pure water lapping against the shore, lake fish, and the unmatchable peace of nature.
I turn my face upward, and like my elderly friend Margaret, I murmer out loud..."I love the sun."
I take a lot of photos which will some day end up on the cover of National Geographic. Perhaps the one of me tossing a slobber-soaked tennis ball to Kimmi. The one of me in my element... in England... in the forest... by the lakes.
But, for now,
I
Have
To
Pay
Attention
To
Widgets!
I'm getting up from a refreshed sleep in my comfy bed in room #6 at Goodwin House in Keswick. I'm showering, having a lovely full English breakfast, and putting on my daypack - excited that today maybe I'll break some personal walking record. (Mind you, that's not really hard to do!)
Unlike most days in England, it's crisp, clear, and perfect walking weather. I've borrowed Dawn's hiking dog, Kimmi. Got my GPS, my hiking stick, water, and a sense of adventure on. I'm heading out the door.
Walking to the shoreline, I catch a ferry to a spot on the opposite shore. I've always wanted to do that.
"And now we'll hear from project manager "X" on how to funnel widgets through square holes."
I try to stifle out the widget talk, with a glance up the mountain. I head through the trees on the shoreline and up the incline. Kimmi already knows the way, so it's pretty easy to just follow along behind her. She's got a bright green tennis ball in her face. I'm assuming at some point, I shall become the defacto dog entertainment center.
But, until that point, I'm heading uphill through the verdent forest. I can smell fresh foliage and wet earth. Kimmi is smiling and panting. We get to the top of the ridge and I can see...
"Now, we're going to hear from project manager "Y" on how to funnel widgets from square holes back onto the assembly line."
forever, it seems. The sky is so blue, and Derwentwater spreads below like a cool reminder of pure water lapping against the shore, lake fish, and the unmatchable peace of nature.
I turn my face upward, and like my elderly friend Margaret, I murmer out loud..."I love the sun."
I take a lot of photos which will some day end up on the cover of National Geographic. Perhaps the one of me tossing a slobber-soaked tennis ball to Kimmi. The one of me in my element... in England... in the forest... by the lakes.
I
Have
To
Pay
Attention
To
Widgets!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Two months? Really?
Two a.m. and the garbage trucks over at the strip mall behind my complex are keeping me awake dumping dumpsters at ungodly hours. There should be a law, yanno?
Anyway, I just realized I hadn't posted in eons. It's four days til I leave for a long weekend in Galveston and two months until I leave for my beloved UK. I always say that each trip has its own vibe or theme. The last trip was a quiet finding myself, spiritual exercise. The one before had been about meeting new people. This trip, however, doesn't seem to click on either of those cycles.
I'm just a happy camper because I get to plan fabulous things and wonderful things and happy things. By the time the day of flight arrives, I'm usually just able to go on autopilot and open myself for new adventures. So, what's planned for this year???
Well, I mentioned the Trafalgar tour, and the trip to Lindisfarne. But there are other adventures in store.
The first will be actually getting to my B&B in Edinburgh! You see, the airport in Edinburgh is quite a distance from the city centre. Taxis are expensive. My bag and baggage will have to find ourselves a bus from the airport to the Royal mile. Mind you, this is after: driving from Austin to Houston, going through checkin, flying for 10 hours, going through customs, being held for a four hour layover at Heathrow, and flying to Edinburgh. I imagine I will shower and crash that first day.
Then, it's an early morning trip to Lindisfarne for the day. Somehow I'll have to find my way to the place where the bus departs... another adventure!
I have one more free day before the guided tour takes off. I'll either head to Stirling Castle or chill in Edinburgh. Then, Sunday, the Trafalgar Tour starts.
I have a whole lotta mixed emotions around this guided tour thing. It's an adventure because I typically don't do guided tours. I also don't typically like being tied to someone else's timetable. For instance, I'd rather spend my time touring the Talisker distillery in Skye than hanging out at the 18th hole of St. Andrews golf course. But, who knows? I've sometimes found the most beautiful days are the ones that happen serendipitously in places I never thought beautiful things would happen.
Perhaps on the 18th hole, I'll meet Richard Branson! He'll ask me if I want a job for Virgin Atlantic visiting hotels and sights in Great Britain for the airline partners program... you know, seeing if they're up to snuff and such like. And I will say, "let me think about that ok yes." :)
The wonder of travel for me is just to keep my eyes and heart open and my mouth shut. I have seen some glorious things on my trips.
I'll be hopping a train in Glasgow at the end of the tour to head for the Lakes in England. What a wonderful wonderful thing that will be. First, I am so happy that I'll get to see Neil and Sarn! You may recall from past trips that we've had some pretty fun adventures together. Neil will never live down the whole cow pie episode. And I *still* laugh when I think about the hike we did to Castlehead. Me, huffing and puffing up hill, climbing a sheer mountain face (ok, it was a small hill, but I have an imagination!), hauling myself over the edge and succumbing to exhaustion...
only to be awakened by the twitters of the little old ladies sipping their tea on a rock nearby! Americans are way more outta shape than Europeans on the whole, I'd say. Too much office job, too little hauling butts over sheer rock walls. ;)
Anywho, it is by the kindness of Neil and Sarn that I will have a ride to and from Penrith. I'm hoping to get a chance to meet Dawn this time. I have several virtual friends who are hikers in the Lake District. They do things that I only get to imagine... hiking daily, taking gorgeous pictures of beautiful places. In my mind I'm all decked out in my hiking gear with my hiking dogs and my GPS and galavanting on 20-mile treks on a daily basis.
The three-day hike on the dog-walk this week seems to fade in comparison somehow! But, in another life, I'm sure I hiked quite a bit.
From the Lakes, I'll go to London with precious little time left to spend. Greg and Kim are meeting me there, and we are heading to a musical called Matilda - written by a musician the three of us like (Tim Minchin). Kim, who is always and forever one of the kindest people I've met has set up a high tea for us at Hotel Russell.
I really won't have time to do much more than that! Leaving at 9:30 in the morning on Wednesday for home. I really should have taken an extra week.
However, stay tuned! If I can save enough, there may be a repeat of the whirlwind War of the Worlds Dublin tour that I did in Dublin 2009. There is a new War of the Worlds cast starring Liam Neeson... and I want more time in Ireland. My only gripe is that it will be in WINTER. What were they thinking?
Ireland in summer was barely tolerable weather-wise. Ah well, the people make it a much warmer place. I had a great time there.
So, see you next time on "Where in the World is Joy Now?"
Anyway, I just realized I hadn't posted in eons. It's four days til I leave for a long weekend in Galveston and two months until I leave for my beloved UK. I always say that each trip has its own vibe or theme. The last trip was a quiet finding myself, spiritual exercise. The one before had been about meeting new people. This trip, however, doesn't seem to click on either of those cycles.
I'm just a happy camper because I get to plan fabulous things and wonderful things and happy things. By the time the day of flight arrives, I'm usually just able to go on autopilot and open myself for new adventures. So, what's planned for this year???
Well, I mentioned the Trafalgar tour, and the trip to Lindisfarne. But there are other adventures in store.
The first will be actually getting to my B&B in Edinburgh! You see, the airport in Edinburgh is quite a distance from the city centre. Taxis are expensive. My bag and baggage will have to find ourselves a bus from the airport to the Royal mile. Mind you, this is after: driving from Austin to Houston, going through checkin, flying for 10 hours, going through customs, being held for a four hour layover at Heathrow, and flying to Edinburgh. I imagine I will shower and crash that first day.
Then, it's an early morning trip to Lindisfarne for the day. Somehow I'll have to find my way to the place where the bus departs... another adventure!
I have one more free day before the guided tour takes off. I'll either head to Stirling Castle or chill in Edinburgh. Then, Sunday, the Trafalgar Tour starts.
I have a whole lotta mixed emotions around this guided tour thing. It's an adventure because I typically don't do guided tours. I also don't typically like being tied to someone else's timetable. For instance, I'd rather spend my time touring the Talisker distillery in Skye than hanging out at the 18th hole of St. Andrews golf course. But, who knows? I've sometimes found the most beautiful days are the ones that happen serendipitously in places I never thought beautiful things would happen.
Perhaps on the 18th hole, I'll meet Richard Branson! He'll ask me if I want a job for Virgin Atlantic visiting hotels and sights in Great Britain for the airline partners program... you know, seeing if they're up to snuff and such like. And I will say, "let me think about that ok yes." :)
The wonder of travel for me is just to keep my eyes and heart open and my mouth shut. I have seen some glorious things on my trips.
I'll be hopping a train in Glasgow at the end of the tour to head for the Lakes in England. What a wonderful wonderful thing that will be. First, I am so happy that I'll get to see Neil and Sarn! You may recall from past trips that we've had some pretty fun adventures together. Neil will never live down the whole cow pie episode. And I *still* laugh when I think about the hike we did to Castlehead. Me, huffing and puffing up hill, climbing a sheer mountain face (ok, it was a small hill, but I have an imagination!), hauling myself over the edge and succumbing to exhaustion...
only to be awakened by the twitters of the little old ladies sipping their tea on a rock nearby! Americans are way more outta shape than Europeans on the whole, I'd say. Too much office job, too little hauling butts over sheer rock walls. ;)
Anywho, it is by the kindness of Neil and Sarn that I will have a ride to and from Penrith. I'm hoping to get a chance to meet Dawn this time. I have several virtual friends who are hikers in the Lake District. They do things that I only get to imagine... hiking daily, taking gorgeous pictures of beautiful places. In my mind I'm all decked out in my hiking gear with my hiking dogs and my GPS and galavanting on 20-mile treks on a daily basis.
The three-day hike on the dog-walk this week seems to fade in comparison somehow! But, in another life, I'm sure I hiked quite a bit.
From the Lakes, I'll go to London with precious little time left to spend. Greg and Kim are meeting me there, and we are heading to a musical called Matilda - written by a musician the three of us like (Tim Minchin). Kim, who is always and forever one of the kindest people I've met has set up a high tea for us at Hotel Russell.
I really won't have time to do much more than that! Leaving at 9:30 in the morning on Wednesday for home. I really should have taken an extra week.
However, stay tuned! If I can save enough, there may be a repeat of the whirlwind War of the Worlds Dublin tour that I did in Dublin 2009. There is a new War of the Worlds cast starring Liam Neeson... and I want more time in Ireland. My only gripe is that it will be in WINTER. What were they thinking?
Ireland in summer was barely tolerable weather-wise. Ah well, the people make it a much warmer place. I had a great time there.
So, see you next time on "Where in the World is Joy Now?"
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