The Scotland Portion of #kanda2013

The second leg of our trip consisted of renting a car, driving through Manchester and up to Edinburgh, spending a day there, and continuing north to the Scottish North Highlands and Inverness to see Loch Ness before returning to Edinburgh, and then back to London through the Lake District.

Basically, this means we spent a crap-ton of time in our beloved rental Volvo looking at sheep and gorgeous landscapes.

 

We named her Bridget, and she was seriously awesome. My car is 10+ years old so driving a brand new car was a dream!

Landscapes and sheep on the way to Edinburgh. Lots and lots of sheep, but given the time of year, there were lots of adorable lambs hopping around. Seeing them actually didn't get old.

Another beautiful day in Edinburgh -- visiting the castle first things first. It was quite windy though, and it rained for about 10 minutes every hour. Otherwise, perfect! 

A view of the castle.

Looking up. Can you believe this castle was never overtaken? It was torn down and re-built, but never taken over.

 

We also did a whisky tasting. Guess what? We hate whisky. I would have loved to do a distillery tour through the Highlands but unfortunately we ran out of time and had little to no reason to do it given that we didn't even like the whisky we tried...

 

A room full of whisky -- the most expensive collection in the world!

 

These landscapes were nuts -- rolling green hills one minute, snow-capped mountains the next. Some things I never thought I'd see in Scotland!

 

Beautiful, beautiful rainbow over Loch Ness. It rained just before we got on the boat, stopped for the hour long boat ride, and rained as soon as we got back to the car. Perfect timing I'd say!

 

Erqhart Castle from the lake. It's way more ruins than castle it was still beautiful! I guess that's what I realized about Scotland... the whole country is like one giant postcard. Beautiful to look at and photograph, but not very day-trip friendly. If we'd spent a couple of days in the Highlands region, we could have done hikes and explored the neighboring towns, but since we were only there for a short couple of hours, we could really only take it all in from the car. Plus we didn't really want to get soaked and then have to ride home all wet.

 

We stopped in the Lake District on our way home at a marina to snap a few pictures. It was another beautiful, perfect day with a few scattered showers.

 

We drove back to London, stayed at an airport hotel, and got the heck outta dodge the next morning. The flight home was perfectly pleasant, I napped, worked, and read. Coming back from vacation is always such a relief for me. I have waxed poetic about my love for traveling, but I also thrive on and crave routine, consistency, and predictability.

 

I got to spend 7 days with one of my favorite people. Sure we argued and had our spats, but in the end we were both sad to leave each other and go back to our respective homes. The good news is that she's moving here in August, the bad news is that August is a long time away!

 

We're already talking about our 2014 trip and where we want to go...one of my girlfriends from work just moved back to South America so that's on my bucket list for this fall, but we'll see. I've got a few other surprises up my sleeve that may take up more time & money than I'm prepared for, so I'm not really making any definite plans. But there's nothing stopping me from dreaming!

 

 

London 2013 #kanda2013

Fair warning: this is going to get very, very long! I'll start with London & do a separate post for Scotland.

 

We left ATL on my 27th birthday and after many, many cocktails in the crown room (what's it called now Delta?), got lucky enough to have a completely empty flight. The flight attendants were also awesome, so both Mandy & I got a row to ourselves and slept for 7.5 of the 8 hour flight. Success!

 

First stop, the Waldorf by Hilton to drop our bags. Our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we headed out to explore and eat.

 

 

We saw street performers in Covent Garden (who knew Mandy was so into these characters? Not me),

 

And stopped for lunch and a quick persusal of the guide book. Good thing we opened these in advance of the trip... but they came in super handy. I prefer Lonely Planet and Mandy prefers Rick Steves, and between the 2 we felt really confident with all of our choices. I still prefer Lonely Planet though, I used it in Australia, too! The books are colorful, offer great suggestions for food and tourist stops, and the format is really easy to read. I'll stop plugging now but really... highly recommend!

 

 

After Covent Garden, we walked down through Trafalgar Square, pausing for pictures. Judging by all the people milling about, you can tell that the weather was spectacular! We got really, really lucky.

 

Continuing past Trafalgar Square, we found Westminster Abbey & Big Ben. We did a tour of the Abbey but no photography is allowed inside. There are so many famous people buried there, particularly famous scientists, which we found fascinating.

 

We walked back to the hotel and made it in time for happy hour and hors dourves, and then got a recommendation from the hotel for a light dinner. Dinner was eh, but the company couldn't be beat :)

 

 

 

We got up the next morning with every intention of making it to Buckingham Palace in time for the changing of the guards. Everything took us twice as long as we expected, so we missed that but bought tickets for the double decker bus tour instead. We hopped on and away we went. 3.5 hours and a sunburn later, we had a really great time. The guides were phenomenal. I was so impressed by the museum guides, taxi drivers, tour bus speakers, and everyone else who was willing to share information. The pride and passion for their country and what they do was so obvious, and it was contagious!

 

 

 

We saw the London Eye...

 

 

Took selfies on the bus...

 

Watched as all of London basked in the beautiful weather...

 

Found PK's horses...

 

Checked out Buckingham Palace...

 

Floated under the Tower Bridge...

 

Hung out with soldiers at the Tower of London (and saw the Queen's jewels!)

 

Rode the London Eye on the most beautiful day...

And took the quintessential London tourist picture.

 

We packed SO MUCH into 2.5 days in London. Not pictured was a Jersey Boys viewing, some great meals, visiting the oldest craft brewery in England, and a boat cruise to Greenwich. We had beautiful, perfect, even HOT, weather. I knew London was a big city, but I had no idea just how enormous it really is. I've always thought I'd be overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of a city like that, but instead I found it inspiring and exciting. I was excited to see everything and take in all of the people.

 

I haven't ever felt so comfortable in another city. I felt like I could see myself there, like I could live there, walk the streets, be friends with the people. I loved the busy-ness, the excitement, the pleasant people, the culture. Maybe there are more trips to London in my future?

 

Scotland up next!

Does Coming Home Always Feel This Normal?

Traveling is such a thrill to me. The prepwork, the excitement when you arrive, the exploration of a totally foreign city... but then it's time to go home. You pack your bags and your belongings don't fit quite right. You return home, and you think "if I were in ___ I'd be doing this right now," or "it's ___ time in ___." You miss your journey, your companions, the experiences you shared. The disappointment of coming home is is never quite enough to mask the joy from the trip. For some, it is a whirlwind cycle of trip --> come home --> plan new trip to cancel out sadness of last trip ending --> repeat.

The 12 Apostles

But what is it that makes us so melancholy about returning home to a place we (mostly) love?

For some, it's the loss of adventure. For others, it means returning to a life they aren't completely satisfied with. And for still more, it means not having something to look forward to.

I had the greatest vacation-high I've ever experienced when I returned from Australia. I felt rejuvenated, enriched, fulfilled, and ready to take on the world. I jumped back into my life with gusto, speaking fondly about my time in Australia and how I felt it changed me.

Sydney from a ferry

Coming home from Argentina brought a similar feeling of elation. I was happy to be home, and I realized that sometimes even the best of friends do not make the perfect traveling buddies. I also learned that traveling solo freaking sucks and I should abandon all hope for enjoying it. What can I say, I thrive off of other people's energy.

Iceland was different for me. I knew the trip would have a lasting impact on my relationship with my best friend. I also knew deep down inside that this trip wouldn't be life-changing for me. What I didn't know is how at peace I would feel about it.

En route to Gulfoss

It was just a trip. A really rockin' trip that continues to amaze me as I look at the pictures and tell stories about it. But the reality is, I left on a Thursday excited about the adventure ahead, and I came home on a Monday thrilled to be back in familiar territory. No major revelations. No life-altering decisions.

And it makes me wonder - does that make me a real "traveler" to take a trip that doesn't have a lasting impact on my life? I'll always remember Iceland. I'll always look back fondly on a fabulous 3.5 days with my best friend. And I'm certainly better because of it.

Merely thinking out loud here, but I'm happy the trip didn't bring any huge changes or ah-ha moments. I'm pretty happy living life just as I am and I'd hate to ruin it!

A travel bucket list, of sorts

I have fallen in love with all things travel. I crave the excitement of selecting my next adventure. I relish in the ability to research, research, research, and ultimately choose my itinerary. I look forward to the looks of shock and awe I get from others when I tell them about all the things I've seen already or where I am off to next (not because I want them to be jealous, I just love sharing that side of me with others!)

I'm one of the least adventurous people I know. Skydiving, wind surfing, snowmobiling, or other outdoor adventure sports are just not for me. I also don't operate well without a very precise, defined plan in my day to day life.  Based on those two things, my passion for traveling comes as such a surprise to myself and many others. I guess I've learned that much like with life, you can't have it all 100% planned out. You can have goals, dreams, and an idea of what you want, but who knows what will send you on a detour and when? Same thing with traveling - you can plan and you can know exactly what you want to see, but ultimately there will be things that you miss, experiences that you didn't even know you wanted, and you learn something about yourself every. single. time.


My newest obsession is following travel blogs and travel Twitter accounts. I should stop, as it's only contributing to my wanderlust. But in my exploring, I found Adventurous Kate's problem with bucket lists.

I have zero problem with bucket lists (clearly). I've now made two 101 in 1001 lists. I like lists. And this one stood out to me as something that aligned so perfectly with my own dreams for traveling. So, here it is - 5-10 things that are my travel priorities. I will do ONE of these in the next 2 years.

• Explore Napa Valley. I know, it's not international, but it's something that I really would like to see. I've heard so many stories about girls trips, romantic trips, and family vacations to this wonderful West Coast wine country, and I just know I have to see it, experience it, myself.  
• Visit Antarctica. If I had a bucket list, the only thing on it would be to visit all 7 continents. Antarctica is the only one left. I don't think this is actually practical for the next 2 years, but it's certainly somewhere I plan to see in my lifetime.
• Trans-Siberian Railway from St. Petersburg to Beijing.  A coworker shared the story of how she, her mother, and her sister spent 3 weeks on a train coursing through the Russian countryside, hopping on and off and exploring everything Russia had to offer.  As long as Rasputin doesn't interfere!
• Spend a week on the beach somewhere other than the US. My international journeys have always included constant busy-ness and exploring new things, which I've enjoyed tremendously. I'm not much for bumming around on a beach. However, I think spending a week in a beach town in Europe (thinking Greece, Croatia, Spain!) would be such an exciting adventure. Meeting locals, sipping fabulous cocktails at 2pm, taking a catamaran for a spin, and lounging on a chaise reading a good book sounds like a perfect vacation. And maybe a week is too much, maybe I could tag 3-4 days onto another vacation to make this work.
• Take an African Safari. No additional commentary necessary.
• Share somewhere that I've already been with someone I love. Traveling has had such a meaningful impact on my life, both as a child and now as an adult. I've been all around the world but have shared those experiences with limited people (my family, my best female friend, and my best male friend). I'd really like to return to a place that I treasure and experience it all over again with someone special to me who has never been there. It's what my mom did after exploring Hong Kong - a few years later she honeymooned there, and in 1996 she took her in-laws and 2 small children to experience the country as she once had.
• London, England and Paris, France. I’ve spent 8 hours in Paris and therefore seen the Eiffel Tower, but I’ve never been to London. I’d be thrilled to spend a week bouncing around both cities, especially now that the Olympics have passed. My family is considering a trip to France this fall, so maybe Paris will also land on our itinerary.

So there you have it - the list seems not too short but not excessively long, and certainly attainable. I have to keep reminding myself that the goal is to only get to ONE of these places in the next 730 days... but really I want to do it all, and do it all now. Patience is not my strongest suit.

What about you - would you want to explore any of these places? What would you choose instead? Please tell me - of course I need new places to add to my growing list of desirable locations.

Í dag ætla ég til Íslands (that means that today I'm going to Iceland... in Icelandic).

Back in October, one of my best friends decided to go to Iceland for work. I laughed at him. Spending the better part of winter in Iceland? When your real home is South Florida? ARE YOU NUTS?

Then he said, "Katie, you should come visit." I'm pretty sure my immediate response was "LOLZ DO YOU KNOW ME" and he said "yup, so come visit!" If that's not true friendship, I don't know what is.

So I hemmed and hawed. Somehow I convinced myself that this sounded like an okay idea. And once he found out I was leaning towards a yes, he really laid it on thick. I'd be the best friend ever for coming to visit, we'd have the best time ever, he'd be so sad if I didn't, on and on and on. He even sent me links for things we could do! I claimed that I caved just to shut him up but between you & I, the idea of going somewhere totally unexpected kind of grew on me and plus, some of his ideas for entertainment sounded pretty dang cool.

So, $900 and 2 flights later, BOOM, I was going to Iceland in January. Then I received this email (pictures not included in original email):

Subject: Legendary Weekend v1 (draft -- for discussion only)

Friday
6:40 – Katie lands in Iceland
7:30 – Katie gets picked up from the airport
8:15 – Arrive at Icelandair Hotel Natura

8:30 – Free/nap time -- NAP was crucial

1:00 – Katie wanders the streets of Reykjavik, gets acquainted with the city

5:00 – Depart hotel for brewery tour! Beer!

7:30 – Head to center for dinner -- Caruso was delicious, I recommend the snails!

9:30 – Late night fun

Saturday

9:00 – Early wake up! Let's see Iceland while it's actually light outside 

10:00 – Depart for Golden Circle

• Þingvellir
• Swim in a random hot spring – below photo is pre-hot spring swimming but I did strip out of that ginormous coat and into a swimsuit in freezing temperatures, and it was 100% worth it!

• Geysir – We have video of the Strokkur Geysir erupting but the below picture is the  Litl Geysir!

• Gulfoss – Just a waterfall – reminded me of Iguazu but on a much smaller scale

• Blue Lagoon – No photos because it was real cold and there was nowhere to keep my camera but the water was as blue as any picture you find on the internet and they served beer. Success!

9:30 – Dinner at The Fish Market (We actually both got the cod, which I highly recommend. My friend went back again and got a different dish, and wished he'd gotten the cod.

Also, this may be quite controversial, but I decided to try the minke whale. It was tasty, I'm glad I opted for a dish so unique to Iceland, but I'll be leaving the whales to swim in the sea from now on!)

 

Sunday
9:00 – Breakfast in the hotel
11:00 – Leave for Snowmobiling (as inspired by this)



5:00 – Return to hotel (& rest because we have been going NON-STOP)
7:30 – Dinner
9:00 – Leave for dogsled tour
10:00 – Dogsled / Northern lights tour

 

Monday
8:00 – Breakfast in the hotel
9:15 – Katie gets picked up for horse riding
10:00 – Horse riding
12:30 – Katie heads back to hotel
1:00 – Katie back at hotel
2:00 – Katie departs for airport
5:00 – Time to fly

I actually ended up sleeping in on Monday morning and jumping out of bed with barely enough time to rush downtown, pick up some souvenirs, grab a bite to eat for lunch and make it back to the hotel to get on my bus to the airport. Certainly not how I planned it, but you win some, you lose some!

What I included here actually ended up being our final schedule rather than the 1st draft but honestly, it wasn't much different than what was originally sent to me. We crammed a LOT into the 3.5 days I spent in Reykjavik. My friend had a car the whole time we were there, which probably contributed to how much we were able to do in a few days. I don’t know how much car rental is but that could certainly be an option if you are feeling brave. It gave us a ton of flexibility, which I appreciated!

We (obviously) stayed pretty close to Reykjavik but others I know have ventured to the north part of the island. I felt quite satisfied with all the things we did and it left me wanting just a little bit more. My friend has already made plans for other adventures that we heard about while dogsledding or snowmobiling, so there is certainly plenty to do if you wanted to stay longer.

The cost for food and drink on top of our activities was astronomical. This may be where booking through a tour company makes sense because at least you know exactly what you are getting for a certain price. I never quite figured out the exchange rate so I just threw down my credit card…not my best decision. We ate at some of the best restaurants in Reykjavik, which had it’s perks and it’s drawbacks. I am sure it’s possible to dine in Iceland on the cheap, but that wasn’t how we rolled this time around.

I’m SO glad I went. It felt a bit spontaneous, a bit out of character, and was a really great way to kick off 2013. I got to spend time with one of my favorite people, I got to explore somewhere I’d never dreamed of going, and we had an absolute blast. I think I may have found a new travel buddy, and certainly found a place that I can’t wait to re-visit.

Could you imagine yourself in Iceland?