London bound

And just like that... I'm off to London for my birthday again. Let's hope this time when I go... I get lucky.

I'm back!

So... I'm back from my two week vacation to the United Kingdom, and boy do I miss it. I could totally live in London. I liked that city so much!

I'll blog about my trip later on this month... for now, I'll leave my fellow readers (all three of you) with a pic of me in Wales at Conwy Castle. That's me, Princess Randi, looking down at all of my peasants from my ivory tower (ha ha ha).

My nervousness about my upcoming U.K. trip

So... for the first time in my life this upcoming Sunday, I will be going on my first international trip. On the one hand, I'm really excited to see places that I've never been before! I can't wait to see all of the landmarks in the United Kingdom that I've only seen on television up close and personal. It's going to be great.

On the other hand... I'm EXTREMELY nervous about my trip.

Why, might you ask? Let's see:

• For the first time in my life, I'm going to be considered a foreigner. Not that it's bad to be a foreigner, it's just that it's going to be weird to be in a place where no one sounds like me.
• Secondly, I'm afraid that my luggage is going to get lost!
• Thirdly, I'm worried about not having enough money. The British pound is $1.70 for every American dollar. WTF.
• And lastly, I guess... I'm afraid that I'm going to get lost, miss my flight and lose my passport.

So there you have it... my fears.

I shouldn't be worried, right? It's not like they don't speak English in the U.K., lol. 

Perhaps maybe my biggest fear is that after 9 months of planning out the most exciting vacation that I am about to take in my life thus far... I'm afraid that I won't have a good time.

Hmmm. How can I not have a good time? My friends will be with me. I get free room and board in Wigan when I stay there. George Clooney will be getting married in London while I'm there. And I may be able to (schedules permitting) stop off at the University of Oxford and possibly get a glimpse of Prince William and Kate Middleton. 

Yeah. That sure as hell sounds like a bunch of things to be afraid of. Perhaps I should just calm down.

I will, I guess. Perhaps when I'm finally on the plane.

I'm going to try and stay active on Twitter and Instagram, so that I can post pics whenever I can. So for all 3 of my blog followers, you will see that I probably didn't have anything to worry about in the first place.

And that I really am, having a good time overseas.

PS - My birthday is on Monday, September 1st. And I'll be in Scotland, having a pint. That doesn't sound so bad, right? Cheers!

Best Summer Ever

So... this summer is going to be off the heezy! Why??? Because I'll be travelling the whole time...

I KNOW! YAY!

I haven't taken a real vacation since June 2006, when I went to visit San Francisco with my sister. I know... shame on me for not getting out more. Since then, I have taken weekend trips to Atlanta, New York City and Atlantic City, but this time, I'll be taking some REAL vacations and spending my time away from work travelling to these wonderful places:

Atlanta, Georgia

Memorial Day weekend will be the start of my vacation season. I'll be visiting my friend Jeannine again for the weekend. It's not technically a "vacation", but I'll be getting away from good 'ol Washington, DC, and spending time with her and her family. I might actually spend the weekend in Albany, GA with her husband's family, doing some country stuff like shooting guns and riding around on an ATV. I've never done anything like that before... and even though it sounds a little like not exactly what I would do on vacation... I'm thinking that it'll be fun, though. Because ATV's are awesome, lol. After that, I'm headed to...

Seattle, Washington

I've never been here! And I miss the West Coast. I'll be here for 4th of July weekend with my friend Anne. Lots of stuff to see here... the Pike Place Market, the first ever Starbucks, Voodoo Doughnut (a day trip to Portland is in the itinerary) and we'll also be taking a cruise around Puget Sound (money permitting). And of course, we'll be hitting up Mr. Space Needle as well. And then lastly, I'll be going to three different places in the United Kingdom...

Manchester, England

Remember when I blogged about winning $2K in prize money for travel at my company's X-mas party? Well, I plan to spend that money on a trip overseas, starting on my birthday in September (for two whole weeks!!!!). I won't be going to Paris (waaaaaah... another time), but I'll be all over England and Scotland. My first stop is going to be Manchester, where my friend Dawn's husband, Andy, is from. He's from a small town here called Wigan. I'm crossing my fingers in the hopes that we'll see a soccer (aka football) match and drink lots of beer with the townies (lol). From there, it's off to...

Edinburgh, Scotland

I just want to see a castle, and pretend that it is mine! We are going to spend the weekend here. Perhaps I'll see a few people in kilts. And hopefully I'll have some money to buy one (we'll see). And perhaps I'll talk to some Scottish guys who'll have accents so thick that I won't know what the hell they are saying. And perhaps I'll eat some haggis. Yes, haggis, aka sheep intestines. EW. Well, at least it's cooked. And then, my last stop will be...

London, England

Oh, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to go here! It's the home of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Bridge, and of course, this lovely man pictured below:

Sadly, I found out that he won't be portraying Hamlet on stage until next year. So, he may not be in London when I'm there (ugh... depressing). I think at this point in time an act of God would have to put him in the city at the same time that I'm there, since he likes to work all of the time and then spend his free time in NYC. Perhaps I'll get lucky and he'll be in town that week. We'll see.

Even if he's not there, I'll still have a good time. I'll definitely be hitting up the Sherlock Holmes museum and be paying a visit to the street that they film the BBC's Sherlock on. Man, I love that show. And instead of meeting my dear Cumberbatch,  maybe I'll pass by Prince William and Kate Middleton! Or meet Daniel Craig! Pipe dreams, yes I know. But who knows. It could happen, people!

So that's my summer. I forsee myself being insanely broke by the time I come home from the U.K., but honestly, I think it'll all be worth it. And I promise to update my Twitter and Instagram feeds with lots of pics so everyone can see what I'm up to when I'm visiting all of these places.

Now I just have to get my passport and buy some luggage... I know! I'm so lazy.

London, here I come

Yes folks... next year, on my 36th birthday (September 1st), I will be spending my time in the lovely place pictured above... London, England.

So, something very interesting happened to me on Monday morning... I arrived at work to find out that at my company X-mas party that previous Saturday night (I didn't go... I was too busy not wanting to buy a dress that I could never wear again), I had won the grand prize of the night (my company gives away gift certificates and prizes every year)! I won a $2K travel voucher to visit anyplace I wanted to in the world.

I KNOW!

I've never won anything in my life. Well, I did receive a few trophies growing up for my band and sports accomplishments, but I've never won anything like this.

I KNOW! LOL.

Anyhoo, my friends Dawn and Andy and I had been planning a trip to London for awhile... and now I have the funds to go! I'm so excited! We are going to spend 2 glorious weeks in Manchester (where Andy is from), London, Paris, and possibly Louin, France (Andy's parents have a summer home there).

I KNOW!

I can't believe it. I'm beyond excited.

I definitely have to see this London Eye. It's so pretty. And I'll be taking a lot of pictures. And I'll be eating some croissants, speaking French, and taking in all that is Paris.

The best part about this is that I get to visit the place that my novel is set in... it all takes place in London, with a few scenes scattered around Paris as well. I'm trying to decide if I want my characters to visit Moscow as well, but I don't know if I'm going to have the time to send them over there. We'll see.

And the other kicker in this situation... Cumberbatch is going to be on stage as Hamlet in London around the same time I'm visiting.

I KNOW!

This is all like a dream come true. 2013 has been the craziest year. It started off soooo crappy, and now it's ending on an unbelievable high note. I'm truly overwhelmed.

Next year is going to be a busy travel year for me... I'm going to NYC in January, ATL in May, then Seattle in July, and then London and Paris in September. WOW.

All I have to do now is get my passport... and then I'm off! Whoo-hoo!