Author: obe8

Two days before the big trip! I am getting more and more stooked each day and it is finally becoming all real. I’ve had to do many things to prepare and be sure I am as safe as I can be. I also began packing my hygiene essentials which is setting in with me. It is giving insight into I will be able to fit it all into my luggage, and I believe I can. I have compiled a pile things to physically have on hand so I can be secure and safe. Lastly, I have a huge surprise to tell at the end!

Traveling takes a lot of important steps and processes to get to a place, but when you’re traveling alone, it may be even more difficult. Now, imagine that you are traveling internationally, the processes are 10 times more complicated. London has a lot of people living here, so anything good or bad could happen to you, so you always want to prepare just in case something bad does happen to you. For example, you can be pickpocketed at any time, or have something stolen from you. So I was prepared the best I could be, I have printed off my important documents, so now I have a digital and physical copy. For example, having your airline tickets with the booking confirmation and departing time is important to have printed in case your phone is stolen. This is also the same case with your credit card, ID, passport, and the address of your hotel. I have printed each paper out, put it in a pile, and put it inside my carry-on bag, so I will always have it with me. 

For the hygiene products I have packed, I made sure they were all travel size. Travel size means that they are less than or equal to 3 ounces. If your bottle or products are 3 ounces or less, you will be able to smoothly get through the security at your airport. I have made sure to get the necessities such as hair shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, moisturizer, toothpaste, etc. I did notice though that London Heathrow Airport is very strict about the amount of liquids you can bring. To

 get through security there, you must only have one quart-size bag of liquids that is sealed. I am not too worried about that considering I am leaving from the USA security first. By the time my trip is done, I will most likely have used the majority of my shampoo, conditioner, and face moisturizer. I just thought that was a good tip to keep in the back of your pocket, so when you are packing back up at the end of your trip, you can just throw everything out at your hotel instead of being stopped by security and being told to throw it all out. 

Lastly, the surprise I have been wanting to tell about! My aunt came over to my house to drop off a gift. She is a flight attendant and has all the coolest travel items and necessities. She gave me a tiny bag with an adaptor and converter. I believe I won’t need the converter, but having it is always good for backup. She also gave me about 100 pounds which is extremely generous and an oyster card so I can get along the tube with no problem. Without the oyster card, I would have to do Apple Pay at each stop, which is simple, but could add up depending on the routes. I also received some money from my other aunts which are going so far for me. I have a ton of money to spend on nicer restaurants or cool attractions that I may want to tour. I am very grateful for all the help I have received and this trip will be so unforgettable. I already feel so much happiness and joy and I haven’t even left yet.

It is less than a week now before I leave for my trip to London! I am more than excited to go to London, but also nerve-wracking. I am having a mix of emotions such as stress, happiness, nervousness, and anxiety. I know these are probably normal emotions to feel when you are about to go on a big trip, but I can’t help but think about everything I have to do before I arrive, then when I get there making sure I get to do everything.

My stress is coming from the fact I am planning this all by myself. I have planned every aspect from the flights I am getting on, to which sightseeing attractions I am going to see. For example. I have a huge list on Google Docs of things to most likely see in London. It feels like a lot for one person, but at the same time, it is amazing because you get to make sure your trip is perfect the way you want it to be! With that also comes some anxiety, because there are many things that could impact what you had planned. For example, the weather could delay my flight coming into London and could impact how much free time in the morning I have before everyone else arrives. If an attraction ends up being closed that day for unexpected reasons, you may not have another time to see it. As a result, it causes your itinerary to become messed up, which would end up being upsetting to me. But all this planning leads to a lot of great positive emotions to have!

Who wouldn’t be happy to go on a trip to the historic and beautiful London! Not to forget I am also going to Cambridge where Trinity College and Cambridge University are located! Fun fact, Cambridge University was founded in 1209 and Trintiy College was founded in 1546. Being able to see history and how people may have interacted and lived back in the day is super interesting to me, so going to two very old educational institutions will be super interesting to see! I am also studying Interior Design and interact with so much architectural stuff in my degree, so going to both London and Cambridge will bring me so much joy.

In my major, I work with more than just the Interiors of homes usually. I work with the formation of buildings, what they’re built with, and the design concepts behind them. Being able to see beautiful architecture such as The London Bridge, historic pubs, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and so many more will not only bring

joy to me but expand my knowledge and experience with being able to see the vast architecture. I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral in New York City, so I can’t even imagine how beautiful the one in London looks like! By most likely day 3 into the trip, I will have a good couple hundred photos in my phone and buildings and cool things that have been built around the city! The happiness and joy that I’ll feel in England will make all the negative emotions I had go away and outweigh them by 1000%!

I leave for London in 5 days! I am super excited to embark on this journey to London! In order to get to London, I had to plan my flights. I had to think of how where I was first going to fly out of, if I was going to do a direct flight or have connections in between. Ideally, most people want a direct flight so they don’t have to go through a hastle of making sure they make their next flight, or worry about planning for in-between flights. The positive to doing connection flights is that it can be cheaper, which can make a huge difference depending on how much you are trying to budget for a trip.  For example, if you are traveling from America to Europe, you can use airline points you earned from a credit card to pay for the domestic flight. This is what I am planning to do, and I ended up saving about $350!

Next, you have to choose what city you might want to fly into. There are many things to think about such as, how big is the airport? How many different airlines can fly out of my chosen airport? Will I be able to easily commute or walk to my next flight? Lastly, is the city I’m travelling to known for bad weather? The city I chose to fly into is New York City. I am flying from Dallas, Texas to New York City, New York. I chose this option because Southwest Airlines has a direct flight at a good time in the day to New York, and matches perfectly for me to comfortably travel to the next airport. Southwest Airlines flies into Laguardia Airport, and most international flights go out of JFK Airport.

Next, once I get into Laguardia Airport, there is multiple transportation ways to go to JFK Airport. I will most likely be using public transportation, since I am trying to keep my budget low. I have been to New York and became good at it while I was here so I believe I won’t have trouble. Virgin Airways was offering low prices for flights, so I’m departing at 6pm and arriving into London at about 6AM. In order to get the lowest price, I am unable to choose my seat which I believe will be fine. I fly a lot and have never gotten to choose where I wanted to sit, so I believe with the right items, I can be comfortable. 

Lastly, once you get to London there is many ways to get to your location. Since I am arriving in London Heathrow Airport, I will focus on the best ways to get to your location from here. Taking a London cab or Uber will probably end up being really expensive for me, so I am taking the tube. But how will I get around in the tube? You’re probably saying right now, “I can just Google or Apple Maps

to simply get around…” Google maps around London, especially in heart is known not to be work as well or be accurate. I downloaded City Mapper, which gives great directions to travel within the tube. For example, City Mapper tells you from Heathrow Airport to take either the Elizabeth Line to get to Central London, so that’s exactly what I am planning to do. When the day comes, it should be really smooth since I am using City Mapper, but I will post all the tips and the experience I had!

 

While I was watching vlogs on what they ate throughout the day, I noticed particular outfits they would wear or if they were packed for winter or summer. Depending on the time of year you go, the outfits can vary and can even sometimes have a mix of both. The United Kingdom is much more up on the globe, so the temperatures will be lower no matter when you go most likely. In the winter, it can feel cold as the tundra at night, and become cooler when the sun starts to shine! In the summer, it is way cooler than Texas heat but warm enough to enjoy some spring or summer outfits.

I checked my iPhone’s weather app to see the highs and lows for my London trip and it is showing decent weather. It shows cloudy every single day, which doesn’t bother me much, but love to catch a good sunset in London. I’m honestly not too worried about the sun showing or not, but it will make the day a little 

 chillier than it would be if the sun was out. For the days I am going to be here, it says the highest temperature will be 65 degrees and the lowest will be 48 degrees. Also, I may need to prepare for unexpected rain showers within London. 

London is known for getting unexpected weather changes, so always being prepared is key. For example, you will most likely need an umbrella and a sweater with you. Wind chills could come into play, even though it is in the city, so bringing a sweater to wear over your outfit will definitely come in handy. I have begun laying out some clothes that I have already bought for my trip. Some of the clothes I may not even end up bringing, because I didn’t realize the London weather wasn’t going to be exactly warm summer weather. Oops! When I went to France for the World Cup in 2019, we went in the warmest weeks of the year and it was 80 and 90 degrees during the day.

Right now, I have begun setting out full outfits I may wear on my trip. Right now, I have a match green set that is shorts and a tank top style shirt. I also got one in black just in case. I am also going to bring a bunch of simple small tops and an oversized grey sweater to compliment them. The pair of dad and mom jeans will go well with these also. I will also bring some shorts because I tend to like the cold and enjoy a cold breeze. With all that I have so far, I think I am a great start to having an extravagant trip! 

Ever since I found out I was going on this incredible trip to London, I have begun making a list of things I want to do while I am there! TikTok and Instagram have been a huge help in getting me started creating the perfect itinerary. I watched certain vlogs people would make where they would talk through their entire day and what they did, which gave specific very insightful details into a realistic experience in London.  I have also seen TikTok slideshow posts that detailed specific categories of places or restaurants to ex

perience, making creating my itinerary super simple and easy. I made sticky notes with each categories of food places, lookouts, and cool markets I want to go to. I will be sharing this list with you guys and sharing cool details I have found out so far! 

I haven’t seen much information or photos of what these restaurants look like, but some cool restaurants I saw that I may want to go to are, Ballie Ballerson, Primrose 

Bakery, Blue’s Kitchen, and The Black Dog. Ballie Ballerson has a ballpit that can have many photos taken inside it and has many vibrant colors that make the place stand out. When you think of a classic bakery in your head, Primrose Bakery looks exactly like this with elegant yellow exterior walls and a picture of a cupcake on the windows. The Blue’s Kitchen is located in Camden and is a Jazz Bar with neon sign lighting and dim lighting inside. For the Black Dog, I would most likely not go inside unless I am able to, but recently due to Taylor Swift’s new song, The Black Dog, it has been very popular. On the outside, the walls have Taylor Swift lyrics on it and seems like a great spot to snag some pictures. I am a huge Taylor Swift fan, so going to this feels like a must-see! 

Going to London’s lookouts is at the top of my list to do while in London! Way back in the beginning of May, I reserved tickets for the Sky Garden lookout! It is free lookout that has a restaurant and beautiful plants within the building. For the Sky Garden, you do have to book a spot weeks in advance to get in though, which I didn’t know until I did further research into it. Another one that I am planning to go to is the Horizon 22 lookout. It is the highest free lookout London has to offer, but this one too, you have to book way in advance. Lastly, the Garden at 120 is a free lookout that seems really interesting to go to. 

London has many markets with cool things to buy in them and amazing food to try. Some of the top markets that I saw people are going to is the Borough Market and Leadenhall Market. The Borough Market is a very old historic market that has food such as chocolate-covered strawberries and more that I absolutely must try! Leadenhall Market is extremely beautiful and charming and that attracts me to go here right off the bat! Not to mention, the shopping and dining are most likely amazing! Another Market that will be close to where I am staying is the Camden Market which has over 1000 shops, which seems overwhelming to me but so fascinating at the same time. 

 

Welcome to Rachel’s London 2024 blog. This is where I will share my experiences as I prepare for, embark upon, and return from London this summer! I will share photos, tips, and interesting spots you may not know about in London! I’ve been super stoked and prepared to go on a trip like this for a long time now. I have always wanted to explore the world and experience new journeys!

The primary audience for my blog will be my friends who are in college and around my age group. I feel they will be the most interested in my blog, so I will target this audience first. My secondary audience will be my family who might be interested in looking into my travel journey and who have supported my journey from beginning to end. The people who will check my blog are my aunts, my mom and dad, and my uncles. They are middle-aged people who will be most interested in how I feel when seeing different places and trying different foods.

The purpose of the blog will be to show how to experience London and get the most out of the experience. I will show my opinions, thoughts, and cool tips that you may not know about London right from the start. Since my family will read my blog, my secondary purpose will be to offer personal stories and feelings about what it is like to experience London and all it has to offer!