Looking forward - Budapest

We stayed up late last night to finish (almost) packing so that today wouldn't be consumed by it. We still have to pick up a couple small items to add to our suitcase, but essentially, we're ready.

As I sit this morning, thinking about embarking on our trip tomorrow (yes, it's tomorrow!), I'm reminded that we've posted about London, Oxford and Scotland, but not Hungary. From what I've found in research, Budapest is a beautiful city and one I didn't realize I wanted to visit until after doing some research on it. Take a look:

It will be a pleasure to have guides in Budapest, if only for a day. I know a couple who have lived there for a number of years and they have so graciously agreed to show us around a little. My anticipation is growing tremendously to visit Budapest!

Looking forward - Oxford

So much history, architecture and heritage await us in Oxford. To imagine C.S. Lewis and Tolkien and the rest of the Inklings meeting at Eagle and Child for their discussions, food and a pint.

Then there are the sights and scenes from BBC Mystery series that I've watched over the years: Inspector Morse, and Inspector Lewis.

So excited to step into the history of Oxford in just a couple weeks!

Even the weather is looking better ....

At home today it was -14 when I woke up. If that doesn't make you want to jump on a plane, I don't know what does.

I pulled up a weather report to see if that's what I can look forward to....

It's much, much nicer in Edinburgh than it is here. Now I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

Looking forward to the Cairngorms

This is just a little preview of what we're looking forward to seeing. It may be a bit more wintry or rainy when we visit, but we can hope for some  spectacular scenery even if we end up seeing it through fog and rain.

If we get a clear and sunny day there, that will be a real blessing to us!

We're determined to enjoy it (and blog it) regardless!

Looking forward - London

Tim and I were talking today about our trip (yeah, it's pretty much the hot topic for us right now), and he had a wonderful suggestion: blog about the research I've done for the locations we'll be visiting and include the links for the info I've found.

We'll start with London today.

Tim has been to London, I haven't. Even so, with the exception of the British Museum, he's only seen a few things in the early morning hours and only from the outside. Of course, I want to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster and Parliament, but I want to get to know London, not just the tourist hot spots. Here is some info I've found:

To start, I looked up available day tours:
http://www.viator.com/London/d737-ttd

I like Viator as a source for specific areas of travel. It is user friendly and has some great information, especially on the typical tourist things to do. Here, I was reminded of places such as Stonehenge, White Cliffs of Dover, Highclere Castle, Windsor Castle, Cotswold, Stratford on Avon and more.

Then I found http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Welcome.html
Sounds fun, right? Very simple website filled with fun information from walking tours to statues to event calendar. Did you know that London has a statue of Abraham Lincoln? Actually, there are two of him in Britain (that I've found online anyway). It was "presented to Britain by America in 1920 to mark 100 years of peace between the English-speaking peoples." This site has a listing of "secret" walks in London, which take you through areas of wonderful and sometimes scary history, garden walks that are hosts to animal statues, etc.

Other links I found interesting:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-does-london-vocabulary-compare-with-us-english.html?utm_source=Lifehack&utm_campaign=c7b252a800-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_983e966a3e-c7b252a800-414733985

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/17/londons-best-pubs_n_4114120.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-food

http://www.buzzfeed.com/americanexpressuk/21-amazing-secret-places-to-find-in-london#.avMARdGP1

http://eatyourworld.com/destinations/europe/england/london

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/street-feast#.ulv6eRkNa

I look forward to trying some new foods, hearing the vocabulary and visiting some fun locations as well as historic ones. We won't see and do everything there is, we just won't have time, but it is most certain we'll enjoy everything we do get to see and do. I'll leave you with this today:

Good Friends and Fresh Realizations

We are under the two-week mark on the countdown to leaving for Europe! 13 days!

Yesterday, I was sharing with a friend that I'm excited but a little apprehensive about the length of time we'll be gone. She asked me why. This struck me, at first as "why wouldn't I be, that's a long time", but as I was providing my 'lame' reasons for being worried, I realized they were lame. She was reassuring me that everything here will be fine, our kids (who are both 18 or older) will be fine and they have lots of friends nearby if they need anything. She even offered to stop by and check on our house for us. Mostly, she reminded me that my focus should be on enjoying this opportunity to it's fullest and the time I'll have traveling with my husband.

It is a great opportunity. Another friend mentioned that she is so excited for me, but that she's also a little jealous. This was mentioned jokingly (somewhat), but it solidified the realization that this is a great opportunity that many, many people just wouldn't have.

So, instead of allowing the apprehension to continue or even grow, I'm choosing to only be excited about this adventure. We'll be traveling for 26 days, almost 4 full weeks and the itinerary looks fabulous! 5 days in city center London, 1 day in Dover and other coastline areas, 5 days in Oxford/Abingdon area, 7 days in Scotland, 1 day in Paris, an overnight train to Hungary and spending 6 days in Budapest.

Doing some research to get an idea of all the things we want to see/do while in each area has been fascinating. I want to see castle and cathedrals, forests and coastlines, typical tourist attractions as well as off-the-beaten-path locations. We want to try new foods, and some not new, but traditional local dishes. We'll get to drive (again for me - NZ) on the opposite side of the road. We'll attend church services in other countries (Scotland and Hungary). We're going to visit a couple places that are location for some of our favorite BBC sitcoms.

When I think about all of this, the excitement grows. When I think about all the support we have here at home to help keep an eye on things and support for our boys, the worry dissipates.

We were able to get a visit in with our son Jason, who's at college. So, at least it won't seem like quite so long in between visits. We even set up a prank that we can help with from London! I'll get a visit in with my mom this coming weekend too.

In conclusion, I will miss our family and friends. I will miss our church and even our quirky, little house. I might even miss the dog. But, those are the things that make returning from vacation so wonderful, aren't they? So, I'm going to enjoy our vacation, to it's fullest. I'm going to enjoy the time with my hubby without having to worry about the normal, daily routine at home. And I'm going to enjoy returning home at the end of it.

Note: my husband just came downstairs saying, "you know honey, I'm excited about London and Budapest, but the thing I think most is 'we're going to Scotland'!" He walked into the bedroom, then returned with his new Scottish Touring Hat on saying, "so much so, that I'm going to where my Scottish hat today." Oh yeah, we're going to have a great time!

Much ado...

When in the planning stages for a trip, you think, "it's so long before we get to go", but when you're down to less than 30 days, you think, "yikes! I don't have enough time to get everything done and ready!"

That's a little of how I'm feeling right now. While I am accomplishing things on my list, the list seems to go on forever. Here's an example:

• Housecleaning - the whole house must be ready for company!
• Updating our wills - our children are no longer minors and other things have changed.
• Setting up information folders for things while we're away.
• Laundry - it's 4 weeks of travel people!
• Dog care - do we need it? Will John be home enough? 
• House keys - need extras for those who will be helping take care of things.
• Update insurances - beneficiaries, etc.
• Getting replacements for leadership activities at church.
• Getting church scheduling completed through April.
• Find time with friends - we're really going to miss them.
• Set up rides to/from the airport.
• Set up flights.
• Set up hotels.
• Set up rental car.
• Set up train travel.
• Set up people for our boys to call in an emergency.
• Make sure everyone has contact phone numbers.
• Pack.

Not that long of a list, right? Wrong. The housecleaning means every room in the house must be completely clean and ready as if for company. I won't be here to keep it up, so friends will be coming in to help with maintaining the house. I can't let them come in with it messy to begin with!

Updating wills, insurance - I have that mostly taken care of now. We just need to get signatures with a notary completed then copies out to those who need it.

Flights, hotels, car, train - finally completed today. With this being partially a work trip, these things couldn't be finalized until the office had confirmation of certain things and that does not happen quickly.

Packing - yeah. 4 weeks, 1 lg and 2 sm suitcases, 1 backpack and 1 camera bag. Hmmm, how would you suggest I handle it? With the exception of deciding exactly what to take in the way of clothes and shoes, the rest isn't that big of a deal. My husband and I both are pretty good at packing. He regularly packs for a week with an extra pair of shoes into a 16" carry-on bag. The biggest issue is that we have to take winter coats and boots, which will take up a great deal of room.

So, I'm slightly panicky about getting everything done. But, in the end, I know it'll be fine. We'll get the most important things done first and work from there on the rest. It's a matter of taking a little time each day to remind myself to chill.

Thinking back... New Zealand

In preparation for our upcoming trip to Europe: Britain, Scotland and Hungary, my mind returns to the memories of other trips. Since we weren't blogging about travel then, thought I'd write about a few of them.

New Zealand. Christchurch on the south island. 2012.

A two-week work trip for Tim and I was able to save the money to travel with him. New Zealand was my big bucket-list destination and it was actually happening! Imagine it, the one place you've most wanted to visit most of your life with the expectation it would never happen... happens! I was like a giddy schoolgirl. Couldn't contain my excitement and didn't even want to try.

The trip wasn't what I'd imagined throughout my life. I'd imagined a large city, hustle and bustle and... well, that was it really. See, I'd had a pen-pal when I was in elementary school through jr. high and part of high school. It was a boy from Auckland, New Zealand. He'd told me all about Auckland and how he was in an apprenticeship and his goal was to come to America as soon as he could afford it. He'd sent a couple of pictures in his letters, one of himself at work and one of Auckland. From this, and reading about his life, from a young age, I wanted to visit his homeland as he wanted to visit mine. Of course, I had no idea (at the time) that New Zealand was made up of two islands, nor that they had green rolling hills, beautiful lakes and waterfalls, their own Alps, rain forest, plains and gorgeous coastline.

This New Zealand, south island anyway, is what I experienced. A drive (yes, on the opposite side of the road) to Kaikoura to photo seals without any barriers between us. A drive to Ackaroa for a harbor cruise where I took pictures of Hector dolphins only in those waters. Christchurch bus tour, seeing the aftermath of terrible earthquakes. Tim and I both traveling through the plains, the Alps and the rain forest over the course of two days on his weekend free time. Mt. Cook was stunning, Lake Tekapo was breathtaking, and the glaciers were amazing! We saw a Kiwi bird, drove through mountains in the rain only to come through the break in the clouds to a beautifully blue sky with fluffy white clouds that seemed to remind us that there is always something better to look toward.

The thing I think on the most when I think back to our trip to NZ, are the things I saw while with Tim on the weekend. I did and saw so much more on my own than with him, but sharing those experiences together made them much more special. This is my favorite picture from the whole trip:

My husband. My best friend. My favorite travel partner.

Preparations are under way!

The countdown has begun! Well, actually I started counting down when we were 45 days from departure, but it's official now. 26 days!

In preparation for this trip we've made a few purchases:

    1. Additional camera equipment

           *3 styles of pods: tripod, monopod, and a flexible tripod

           *Filters

           *Macro Lenses

           *Extra Batteries

           *Larger Camera Bag

           *Glare hood

    2. New purse for Libby (me): it's a security purse so that stealing it or pick-pocketing will be difficult.

    3. New shoes for both of us. We'll be doing a lot of walking/sightseeing, so new, comfortable   walking shoes were a must. And we got them early enough to acclimate to them.

    4. New luggage: Tim and I both needed a new carry-on (which is usually all we use) and our checked bags have been unusable for a while. So we did a little research and purchased new pieces. We would have just purchased new carry-on luggage, but with this type of trip, we'll definitely need to check a bag, so we purchased one of those too.

    5. Thermal underwear. I've never worn them and didn't buy any for myself, but bought a couple pair for Tim. He gets cold much easier than me and we've been reading that the Highlands in Scotland can get quite chilly. I'll wear my yoga pants under my regular ones.

Packing has begun. Those items that we will not need to wear before our trip, but will need/want on our trip are already going into the large bag. We'll adjust the items in each bag later, but can't do so now as we'll have to use our carry-on bags for a couple more little trips before then.

Packing means sorting through all the clothes, which also means that I can take this opportunity to get rid of clothes that no longer fit or we just don't wear anymore. And perhaps, by the time we leave, all the laundry will be completely done and caught up. Ha!

Travel Anxiety

Anxious: wanting something very much, typically with a feeling of unease.

Eager: wanting to do or have something very much.

These are the emotions I am experiencing in preparation for an upcoming trip. It's not unusual for me to be eagerly awaiting to go on vacation, or to be a little nervous about the flight to get there. This trip, however, will be the longest we've ever gone on. It will be 26 days!

The longest we've been away before, both of us together, has been 2 full weeks on a trip to Christchurch, NZ. That was the first time I'd really felt anxious about a trip. We have two children, boys and at the time, our youngest was still under 18. I'd never left my kids for 2 weeks before. A week, sure, but 2? Um... I was a little unsure about it.

I had the dreams about someone breaking into the house and hurting them, the dreams of them burning the house down, etc. But, we had a wonderful time. Tim had to work most of the time, and I did sight-seeing on my own, but the days he didn't work, we filled them to the brim with as much as we possibly could and it was lovely.

This upcoming trip, our eldest will still be at home, taking care of the house and the dog. Our youngest is away at university. Even so, I am starting to get that little nagging feeling about being away so long. It won't stop me going, but until we're actually there, I'll be wondering if I should be going.

If you know me, it probably won't surprise you to learn, that even when I am anxious or afraid, I will still go ahead with what is planned or what needs to be done. I don't like flying, but I'll get on the plane, takes lots of deep breaths and busy myself for take-off. Once in a while, I can even get myself to look out the window! I don't like bridges, but I don't let them keep me from going places. If there's a bridge, you just speed up a little and get across it quickly (if possible). If not, and if I'm not driving, I just close my eyes and tell myself we're on solid ground. Though, once in a while (not often), I can even look out across the water, but it's best if I do this while not on a bridge. 

All that leads me to this: it doesn't matter if I'm anxious. I'll go. My husband and I will see many wonderful things, taste new foods and meet new people. We'll drive (both of us this time) on the left side of the road and laugh with one another at the silly things we do. We'll have a wonderful time. And upon returning home, I'll likely be ready to go again and the worry of being gone for 4 weeks will be gone.

Now, how does a person pack for 4 weeks?!