Just checking in

Okay. I took a break from all of this for a few weeks to stop my head from spinning. Plus, there really isn't much more I can do until I buy airline tickets. A few things:

Thanks to the stupid amount of travel David is doing over the next few months, he should earn enough miles to get a free round trip ticket for me! While I'm 99% certain that's what I'll do, a small part of me is considering using the miles for upgrades so I can fly in comfort. I doubt I'll actually do that, but it's nice to think that I have the option. Granted, this means I'll have to fly Northwest, but I guess it's better than some other airlines. Assuming, of course, that they're still around in nine months. I can't keep up with what airlines are going under and which aren't any longer.

The other reason I've been putting off doing much else about the trip is that my spending money is stuck in a CD until January (or maybe it's February, I can't remember). My grandmother gave me $500 when I graduated from college, and it's been sitting in a CD ever since. I graduated sixteen years ago, and it's barely worth $1,500. But, it's free money so I suppose I can't complain. And, if the economy keeps going down the tubes, maybe the dollar and the pound will catch up to each other by June. I definitely wouldn't be annoyed by that!

I've definitely decided to not to go to Holzkirchen. David will be there in December, so that will alleviate some of my guilt for not going. Plus, there's the whole "I'm not so keen on Laurel right now" thing. I am just not the sort of person who can go to that much effort (and cost) to see someone because I feel like it's something I should do. I have to want to, you know? Did that make any sense? I really need to not post entries at 11:30 at night.

Narrowing it down

With the help of Google Earth, I'm starting to really get a feel for where I want to go. Unfortunately, because of stupid gas prices and all that annoyance, I'm going to have to buy my plane tickets soonish, which means I need to figure out where I'm going and when. Hopefully this will be the most difficult part of planning. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm going over during Tourist Season. Helen, why couldn't you get married in September? That would be SO much more convenient for me!

Nothing is in stone at this point, but I think this is the list of the Must Sees. A few are negotiable, like the Dales and Stratford, but the rest are pretty much going to stay. Right now I'm toying with flying into London (or thereabouts), doing all the southern stuff, then heading up to Scotland. It looks like airfares will be the same if I come into London and out of Edinburgh/Glasgow, so that may be how I go.

Of course, I still need to figure out where Holzkirchen fits into all of it. But, to be honest, I really don't want to go. Laurel has become SUCH a different person these past 5+ years while there, and I really don't have much in common with her any more. If I'm completely honest, I really don't like her much at all any more. So, I may not go over there at all if I can avoid it. It's too bad, really, because I'd love to see their town and everything. I just don't want to see her. Ugh.

I was up until almost 2am last night reading (yes, READING) my Lonely Planet guide, and I've come to the conclusion that travel books are fairly useless. Not that that will surprise anyone, I'm sure. It did give me some insight to a couple places I've now decided not to go, but other than that not much else.

Tomorrow David is going to talk with Regina (his company's travel agent) to see about flight prices. He was going to look into prices for both of us, but now that my mom has decided to be a complete bitch about it, I don't think he'll be able to join me at all. But, that's a rant that will probably wind up on LJ and not here. Trying to keep this blog a bit more positive.

So... yeah.

I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to look through some travel books. I hate travel books. None of them really fit my personality. Lonely Planet guides are nice, but a bit too hippie-ish, Fodor is too stuffy. DK/Eyewitness are pretty, but a bit useless. Michelin? Not. I thought I'd found a winner with the Let's Go series, until I realized that all they want me to do is stay in hostels and busk for my dinner (okay, not really, but it sure seemed like it). You know it's bad when the Rick Steves books start to look appealing. So, after a bit of looking, I think I'm just going to go with the Lonely Planet books. They're the most straightforward, I guess. So I reserved a couple from the library. We'll see how that goes.

Now on to the much more important task - where to go? I know there is no way I can see everything, and I think I'm being fairly realistic about how and where I'm narrowing it down. However, I'm having a hard time figuring out what's realistic. For example, how much time should I allow for the British Museum? I know I'll never be able to see it all, but is it an all day sort of thing or can I feel I've seen enough after four hours? Eight hours? Or should I block out two full days? Okay, that last one is a joke. I don't want to spend all my time in London at museums, but OH MY GOD I could. The National Portrait Gallery! The Victoria & Albert! The Tate! My brain gets giddy just thinking about all that art. Sigh.

I would very much like to try to get a couple days in Scotland (all those pictures of Edinburgh on the 365s have drawn me in!), but how realistic is that? I suppose I could do it at the end and fly out of Scotland. Plus, I think the train ride up there would be an excellent way to see some lovely scenery of areas I won't have the time to visit.

In the beginning

Come with me, leave yesterday behind
And take a giant step outside your mind
- The Monkees

I always feel like I should open a blog with a really deep and meaningful first post. Unfortunately, I'm not a particularly deep or meaningful person, so we'll just have to muddle through this the best we can. Yes? I think so.

Right now the only person reading this blog is me. I don't know if I'm going to open it to the world or not, but for now I don't really see any reason why any person who isn't me would find the ramblings I'm sure will be contained here to be of any interest. Wow, three 'any's in one sentence. That may be a record.

So, yes, I'm taking a trip. I know it's real because I've told people, but it still feels a teeny bit like a lie. Or maybe more like an exagerrated wish. I don't think any of this will feel real until money is spent. But even then, I'm not holding my breath. I've spent so much of my life having things dangled in front of me only to have them yanked away at the last minute that I've become far too skeptical about this sort of thing. Plus, I'm still not sure I want to go.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I do want to go. Very, very much. I'm just not sure I want to go alone. I understand that it's the most prudent and realistic way to do it, but it feels wrong to me. Something like this is a once in a lifetime experience, and it makes me sad to think that I won't have anyone to share it with. But let's leave the depressing stuff for later, hmm?

So here it is in a nutshell: I'm going to the UK, and possibly Germany, in June 2009. Primarily the trip is to attend a wedding, but also because I've always wanted to see the UK. I mean, they've got history and pretty scenery, and I won't have to learn how to say "thank you" or "where is the nearest train station" in another language. Well, I hope.

I started to keep a written notebook with thoughts and ideas for my journey, but realized that a blog would be a much better way. So that's what this is. It's all a work in progress, and will hopefully help me lay out a plan for a trip that I'll enjoy almost as much as, well... something I enjoy quite a lot.

I guess that's it for now.