Looking back...

Heading home...looking back

What a two weeks it's been!  Seems like two months really, I'm exhausted, but content, I did almost everything I'd wanted to do and so much more!  The spontaneity I was able to enjoy added so much to the trip I'd planned.  There was a trade off, the time I would have spent writing was instead spent making plans as I went along.  It worked.  Thank goodness this wasn't the busiest time in Europe, so it was possible to get last minute reservations as I went along.  I do love that I took advantage of the time and extended my stay.  It wasn't a long time, but enough to see and experience a bit more along the way.

And now I am sitting on the plane home, for the final leg of my journey, the big adventure is over.  What mixed feelings I have, a bit of sadness that the adventure is over, but a pride of my accomplishments.  Traveling alone is no easy feat for me, but it works.  I've lived alone enough to be used to the freedom it allows me.  Commitments along the way get more difficult each trip. I know me well enough to know I have no idea when I will need to sleep, when my feet will wear out and I'll need to stop, when I won't feel well and need to spend some down time, etc.  Alone  means I don't inconvenience anyone, don't disappoint anyone, and don't push myself to follow anyone else's agenda.  

If you know me, you know how much I enjoy the free spirited way to live, and especially travel.  I do need to plan ahead, I need to know I have a place to lay my head at the end of the day.  I have learned I can solve problems that arise along the way, and if I can't I know I can find someone who will help me.  I like changing my mind, being open to experiences along the way.  I don't mind doing things that just might not make sense to others, if someone wants to judge me, they can.  No one has walked in my shoes, lived my life or been in my head.  My decisions make sense to me, right or wrong, they are my own.

Sharing this 'bit of me' might help make sense of the really not so 'crazy' things I do.  They make sense to me, and that is what matters when you journey through life alone.  At any time I would trade this freedom for a wonderful, loving relationship, but if that is not to be, you wont find me sitting home waiting for it.  And every now and then I cross paths with other like minded, usually, but not always, solo travelers, and it is always fun to share our adventures.

So now looking back, I'm hoping I remember the highlights, and there have been many!  What a trip!  I know my entries were sketchy, a little time here and there, and with no chronological basis.  Random happenings...now random no more...

My trip started a bit earlier than planned.  I was doing something I never do, making the entire trip in a day.  Because the overseas flight left at 10pm from DC, I decided to break my own rule and leave that same day from Denver.  I planned a 4 hour layover, which I felt would be sufficient, and better than spending the entire day in DC waiting for such a late flight.  Well, as my departure date got closer, the sequester started causing so many problems with cancelled and delayed flights.  So I decided the stress of wondering if I would make the connection was not worth it, and found if I called 24 hours before my flight and there was availability for the same ticket price, I could pay $75 to reserve a standby seat sooner.  At the right time I called and even though there hadn't been availability earlier, there was at that moment for me to depart at 6PM that night, so with just a couple hours notice, I was headed to the airport a day early, and had already reserved my room at the Marriott in hopes it would work out.  It did and I was able to relax, knowing all worked out.  The only problem was that the flight to London was an hour late due to the sequester, something easier to deal with, no more connections.

I have developed some travel patterns, and one is that I rarely ever book the advance payment rooms, too much can change, and the up to $20 that you save isn't worth it if plans change, which mine tend to do. I do purchase the nonflexible fares on trains though, they usually save a great deal of money and aren't so expensive that it upsets me to miss one or two along the way.  My own reasoning, others wouldn't agree I'm sure.  

I arrived in London, late, but no problem, no connections to make.  It was a quiet flight, no one chatting, which is more the norm than the exception.  I just loved the trip last year with my fun seat mate Dana, who made me laugh a lot.  We are still in touch and I always let him know how much I appreciated the trip with him.  He's now living in Hawaii, so who knows, maybe one day we will meet again.  But I regress, back to my arrival in London, oh, how i love to hear the British accents when I emerge from the plane.  Customs was a bit of a wait, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I retrieved my little suitcase and walked out pulling my two small suitcases, purple purse attached.  I always take a taxi to the hotel.  There is a bus that costs about 1/2 the price, but the 9 GBP isn't much for the ease of that luxury!  No hauling my own suitcases inside, or making other stops.  And as perhaps I've mentioned before, getting into one of the british taxis makes me feel like I've walked onto a movie set.  Before I knew it I was walking into my familiar renaissance hotel!

I don't have any love of the hotel, as I believe I've mentioned, but the concierge staff treat me like a VVIP and that warm welcome and care means a lot, especially so far from home.  The greeting was as wonderful as ever and I started up to the room and the handle on one of my little suitcases broke, it wouldn't go down!  First problem, and not a small one.  I couldn't travel around with that, so my afternoon turned into one of shopping for a suitcase instead of a nap and visit with a friend.  I was given directions to uxbridge, a town I went to by bus, so I would have some choices.   Before I knew it, i was on a city bus to Uxbridge, the first of many bus trips this time.  I believe it took longer than 20 minutes, but I was enjoying the experience of a local bus.  Many stops later I reached the destination and climbed off and started the luggage search. As I was walking i saw a little cafe offering belgium waffles, directly from belgium.  Well, why not?  So i stopped in and ordered a white chocolate caramel waffle.  Not the waffles i love from the street vendors in belgium, but something dipped in melted white chocolate and drizzled with caramel just has to be good.  So after that snack, much needed since I'd not eaten since breakfast on the plane, I started shopping.  No success, nothing I liked, so what was there to do?  Well, on my way to the bus stop I saw a pub that advertised the Best Fishh and Chips in England.  So I tried them, I have to say that I've decided that anywhere that advertises themselves that they have the best of something, just keep walking!  in every case the place is far from the best...lesson learned!

The trip back on the bus was much more interesting, it was time for the schools to be out.  At each stop, for several stops, school children of all ages climbed on.  Mostly teenagers, chatting animatedly with friends.  There were moms with their elementary aged children and babes in their arms.  Every child was wearing a uniform, something I wasn't used to.  I talked with some of the middle schoolers who were adorable.. They said they loved my accent, funny.  They explained that all schools require uniforms, public and private.  They had so many questions about America that it was fun to chat with them.  They were kind, respectful, and appreciative of all my information.  When they got off they kept looking back at me and waving.  I would guess that they shared the story of meeting the American lady on the bus too.

Arriving back at the hotel, no suitcase in hand, was disappointing.  I ended up buying a great purple one at their gift shop, which I later returned because it wasn't big enough.  While packing it I saw that the spring of the handle kept the metal peg from retracting, so I realized that if it was taped it would work.  So in the middle of the night after a nap, I went down to my wonderful concierge guys and the kid on duty got out the duct tape and taped the peg in.  Voila!  With care the handle would go down as long as no one pulled on it too hard.  I could then sleep and know I would be okay on my forward journey.  

In London I'd tried to call a friend but my cell phone wouldn't work.  The company I've used changed their global sim cards and apparently the new one doesn't work with my old phone.  I emailed back and forth and none of the solutions they gave me worked, so finally I resigned myself to the fact thT the only way I could communicate was by Internet or my Colorado phone with the roaming costs.  Two things broken, but the holiday continues...