England planning in Stuff

So, that’s pretty exciting. Less than a month now :D

I’ve booked accommodation for when I arrive, for the first five days for now. It’s only the el-cheapo option in Central London, because I just needed to get something down so that I have SOMEWHERE to go when I arrive.

I’m concerned about how I will handle jet-lag, as this will be my first long-haul flight. I need to remember to exercise my lower body on the plane to avoid deep-vein thombosis, I need to hope that shit is written in English at Hong Kong International Airport, or else I’m fucked getting my connecting flight :P
(I see no reason why it wouldn’t be). I’m just trying to cover bases where I can.

I did consider getting nicer accommodation for when I arrive, just because it may take me a couple of days to adjust time-zones. Who knows, I may be fine? I am sure I will be having a sleep on both flights at some point in time. The thing I am wondering what to do about now is when my flight arrives in London at 4:40am, and when I can check in to my accommodation from 10am. I’ll have five hours there. I assume customs probably takes a while to clear, luggage etc. I guess I’ll walk around, much like I’ll be doing the entire trip. I may need an umbrella and gumboots, given London’s weather. I know it will be cold.

I’ve printed off a few itineraries today - such as the flight details and the first lot of accommodation. I’m still trying to get details out of Moe for when I can stay with him, but he’s being a bit slow on details and as this will be my first ever overseas trip (other than Tasmania haha), it might be okay for him to be all casual about it, but I ain’t! He offered for me to stay with him from the Monday to the Thursday, so I’ve booked my accommodation until that Monday for now. But I am wary that anything could fall through. He might decide he doesn’t want me to stay with him. The other thing is, he needs to double-check if his bed in the hotel is a single or a double. I caught up with him and Steve yesterday for a movie, and he said, “If it’s a single, you’re sleeping on the floor.” LOL.
Yeah, I really wanna fly for 23 hours to sleep on a floor in probably 3-degree weather. ^rolls eyes^ haha.

It’s been bloody hot here the past two days. It’s gonna be a shock to the system going from Spring here to Autumn there. Even worse when I come back because Summer will have started. Yikes! I’m glad I applied for an extra week off when I come back. It’ll also be my birthday week!

I just booked the el-cheapo accommodation because Andrew recommended it, and I’d looked at a lot of the reviews. Most people say that the beds are comfortable, and that will be a priority for me. I was even looking closely at the photos on a few different sites, trying to determine if the mattresses will give me a sore back when I wake up or not. I am quite tall also, and I know from staying at the one in Sydney (which is fabulous, mind you), that I’ve generally had to curl up a little. They also say there is a reading light and a power plug, so woohoo for charging devices. I’ve already bought an adapter. I may need another.
I did look at a lot of other hotels, but it’s hard to tell reading reviews. I saw some that had really nice photos and (apparent) great location, but then I’d read a review slamming it, or it’d have an average review score of less than 2.5. I generally was keeping an eye out for the 3+ reviews because I understand that of course not everyone is going to be happy, but if more than half the people who’ve stayed there aren’t, then that’s probably a pretty good sign it’s shit.

Air B&B is another option I could probably look at. I haven’t really done that yet, and probably will in the coming days. From what I can tell (given what I know from Moe’s plans), I still have to plan for another 18 nights of accommodation. Maybe 14 if I’m allowed to stay another 4 nights with Moe the following week. I will probably stay safe and plan for 18. Maybe in the same accommodation as I’ve already booked (pro = cheap) or maybe staying with Andrew, although I’m not sure how far out he is, or maybe splurging a little and going with a half-decent review-rating and hopefully not extortionately-overpriced hotel.
I just figure the cheaper I can get somewhere to sleep (and, really, that’s all I’ll need it for), the more I can spend on cuisine and touristy things and public transport, including a weekend away in some other European country, which seems like an exciting possibility! Moe offered yesterday for me and Andrew to go with his friends through France, which was nice of him. I was especially surprised when he said Andrew could come with LOL. Yikes. I think his friends would be alarmed at the inappropriate conversation itself.

But, I’m not there yet! The place where I’m staying, initially, has wi-fi, so that’ll be handy for transferring funds etc. I can’t believe how shocking the exchange rate is using my card. I’m seriously considering using other options for my money-exchange because it’s even worse than it was! The only good thing about it is spending money in Australian Dollars, and it will help me if I run into trouble over there I guess. I would just rather get 46ish British cents/pence to my $Adollar than the lame 42 cents my card is offering.
I’ve also read not to buy a sim card at London airport, because they don’t give you a good deal at all and rip you off by 10 pounds+. It’s so annoying using this keyboard and there’s no symbol for the British Pound on it, so I have to keep typing ‘British Pound’.

I was freaking out about my return baggage allowance also, because it isn’t listed in the correct order on my flight intinerary, AND the link for checking the baggage allowances didn’t work. I was like ‘Great, so I can take my shit there, but will have to leave it there.’ I soon stopped being stupid and went to the airline’s website, where I logged in to my details and read that everything is fine after all. PHEW. Small panic moment there where I was texting Moe like, “WTF dude?” He’s like “You’re on a through-fare so your baggage is consistent throughout.”
I replied, “Well I know that, now!” :P

I just hope everyone’s friendly - from the airline staff to the flight attendants to the hotel staff, and hopefully the people I meet! I’ve heard London is mostly a friendly place where people will help you. I’ve heard that France is the opposite lol. Guess I’ll find out when I get there. How much French can I learn in the next three weeks? Probably none that will stick.

I may be staying in The Netherlands for one of those weekends away with Andrew. I’m not sure yet as we haven’t spoken about details, but he’ll know the good spots to stay. He was meant to ring over the weekend but hasn’t.
Or maybe he did when I was in such a rush last week during my full-time hours.

I don’t know how I used to do that every week. I remember I used to get so depressed and that hasn’t happened anywhere near as much since I started doing 4 days.
And I see Sweden has just introduced a 6-hour work day trial. Pretty cool to only spend a quarter of a day working. I hope it works out and other countries can follow. Maybe I’ll get to go to Sweden? I have two Aussie friends living there (even though they don’t like each other haha).

Maybe I can hire a car in my second weekend there. They drive on the same side of the road as we do, so surely I can use my Aussie licence?

A lot more stuff to plan, but it’s gradually coming together. Once I do all that, I’ll be able to enjoy myself :D

Ahhh, less than a month!

I haven’t even told my mum I’m going yet. Nor my UK friend who lives there now. But I did tell Andrew and I think he’s all excited to show me around, and I might be able to see my old Italian housemate Adriano again, who moved over there with his boyfriend he met in Sydney.