So here’s a frugal tip: hide the credit card away when you have a few drinks and have your iPad to hand.
Mr S and I have agreed on our overseas travel plans for the next three years. (I preface our list of plans with the info that our holidays and travel have largely been around Australia. When money was tight we camped and stayed with relatives. As we became financially secure we stayed at resorts and flew further afield. Besides a cruise to some Pacific Islands as a family over ten years ago, Mr S hasn’t travelled outside of Australia and NZ. I did the obligatory backpacking trip in my 20s to Europe. So the three years of overseas travel is not that extravagant. Well, may, but so be it.)
So where to in the next three years? NZ January 2015; England 2016; France, Belgium and Germany 2017.
NZ flights are booked and paid for and the itinerary roughly planned. I was using the “special” birthday year for me as a tool to get my way about travel to England. It’s “my” trip so I get to pick what and where. 2017 would be Mr S’s trip to visit WWI battlegrounds and timed for the 100 year anniversary of some big battles.
Sunday afternoon I made some lovely cocktails and was reading a forum to which I belong when up popped a comment about a Qantas special. Naturally I went to have a look.
Unfortunately, while I did know about the connection between alcohol and addled-mind syndrome, I didn’t know about the horrible nexus between poor online shopping choices. The deal looked so good and we were going in that year anyway, weren’t we? Not the month I wanted but the deal was so good, I could be flexible. So I whipped out the Amex and bought two tickets and skipped down to Mr S to share my thrill at such a bargain.
Mmmm. Seems I got the years mixed up again. 2015 is next year. March is only 6 months away.
Oh well. It could be worse. I could have bought a ventriloquist dummy in a muppet version of myself. Look here for that and other online shopping regrets.
Dar is off to NYC, and has received lots of great suggestions for her visit. So what would you do, what would be on your must see, for London?
Decades ago I spent three weeks or so in London and a few months travelling around England, Scotland and Ireland. I’m a different person now and some things I will be looking at with different eyes, some things have changed and some things I didn’t do/see/experience.
I don’t know how far out of London I will venture this time. It will depend on my list of things I have to do in London this time round.
So fire away. Something different! Something unusual! Little known! Quirky, even.
lucinda sans 
OH this is hilarious and wonderful, and in line with my Sarah style of booking stuff ups (six tickets for the five family members to Thailand anyone – I was price comparing!) Anyhoo…
I don’t actually have many tips for London, having only spent a few days there in the last ten years – insane for a young Aussie to know so little about their second city, right? Almost everyone I went to (private) school with has spent a year there! The only thing I remember from being there in 2006 with my parents was Ace Hotel and HOstel being lovely and well situated… Hardly earth shattering or quirky
So what happened to the sixth ticket? Don’t leave a tale dangling!
Well there were two in my name, on the SAME flights… In the end, I think my mother talked them out of the $400 cancellation fee, given their system should let two people of the same name, DOB and passport number book the same flight… She fights hard!
March 2015? So soon! Since Rom’s parents are in the UK, we visit them each year in their small village, and spend a weekend in London. I liked Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and the Tower Bridge just for the “vibes.” They felt quintessentially British. As you can imagine, my favourite place is the Tate Modern (+ good views and food at their restaurant). The most distinctive neighbourhood I visited was Camden – so alive! Punk/Goth/tattoo culture and shopping. You could run with a couple of themes, like visiting flagship stores (Harrod’s, Hamley’s) or make a quest of finding the best Cornish pasty or banoffee pie. Outside of London, I have visited Brighton many times (accessible by train) and would love to return to Stonehenge and its quieter neighbour, Woodhenge!
Brighton, Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Tower already on list. I will add the Tate modern and go to the restaurant. And Hamley’s, which I’ve never heard of. Love a quest for something new!
Hahaha! I love it! The link to drunk online shopping was great too – the Dettol! The ukulele that has opened up a whole new world for the purchaser’s mother!
Re London – long time ago but I loved all of it. Just soaking up the vibes by walking around. Enjoyed Tower of London and a walking tour; even hopping in a cab or on a bus was exciting. British Museum?
I’d be visiting Cornwall and all those other TV series places that I enjoy. Maybe you need to go to Larkrise? Candleford? Doc Martin land?
Cornwell’s a definite.
Imagine all that Dettol? What would one do with it?
YAYYYYY!!!!! I am thrilled for you! 😀 You work hard, you can afford it so just go for it. How exciting. I think you should look at Kensington as a ‘base’ to stay (we lived it and picked it up as a tip from Laura’s blog.) Go to Cluequest, I think you’d love it. I liked the palaces and Westminster area, the walk from Buckingham Palace through St James’s Park and onto Westminster Abbey et al. Harrods was worth visiting for the sheer excess. OMG, I’m excited for you!!!
I’m excited too. I am also worried. You know how time passes so quickly and I never get the things done that I mean to because work or slothfulness intervenes? Well, I am worried March will roll on around and I will have nothing booked! Or planned.
* not ‘lived it’…’loved it’
Well, even though it wasn’t your intent to book tickets for next year, it does make for a good story!
I’ve never been to London so I don’t have any advice. But I’m looking forward to hearing what you plan and how it goes! Will it just be you and Mr S?
Just the two of us. My boys are both over 18 now and I won’t pay for their travel. They can work and save for it. They don’t really want to go anyway so it would be a waste of money. They’d moan and wouldn’t enjoy the things we do. Better for them to stay home and play computer games and drink beer. Such limited things make them happy!