For the last couple of weeks, I have been touring Scotland and England, returning to some of my old haunts in London, and exploring other areas, including the Highlands and the eastern county of Norfolk, in England. It was a whirlwind tour, covering a lot of ground in the UK, and my brain was a bit overwhelmed by the history, but I enjoyed myself.

First, let me say, that this post will be a little different than some of my other travel posts. I will have detailed posts on everything we did in Scotland to follow, however, today’s post will be more of an overview, and a reflection on my trip, so don’t be surprised if it is a bit disjointed!

I started off my journey with a 20 hour layover in Toronto, Canada. This was a result of booking the cheapest flight to LGW (Gatwick) that I could find (round trip only 650$ incl taxes! For other Canadians, you know this is a steal of a deal!). Now most people would not be thrilled with such a long (or short) time in Toronto (I arrived just before 1 am, and left again at 9 pm the same day), however, I am very fortunate to have family who live nearby. I took the opportunity to visit once again with my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins.

For those of you who don’t know them, let me just say that my grandparents are hilarious! Both of them separately told me: “Why are you only going for 2 weeks, that’s such a short time. You should go for a month.” Even now that I am back, it was the same thing this morning; “2 weeks is too short!”

Their memories (short and long term) are well intact, even at their age (96 and 91, although Grandma insists she is 90). They were recalling my road trip across Canada with one of my friends 5 years ago, “Oh yes, she is such a lovely girl! How is she doing now?” (about my friend). After lunch, my cousin and I enjoyed the only heat (and mugginess) that I have had in the last 6 weeks (I really miss the hot sun… with the exception of 1 week, summer has basically not existed since I got back to Canada). I took advantage of my aunt’s cooking and enjoyed a tasty meal before heading off to the airport.

While writing this post, I have noticed that there are a couple of themes that are arising. Most notably, that I am “economical”, trying to save money as much as possible on some things, so that I can spend it on others. I also tried to make the most of my time, seeing people, seeing places etc. The last theme was out of my control, but involved a lot of sitting on tarmacs in an airplane…

Because I am a cheap person, and didn’t want to pay the 25$ to check in a bag, I made it over to the UK with only carry-on. My 36 litre Osprey was quite full, and yet I somehow managed to add a bottle of Scotch and some children’s books in there! (I did my part to help the Scottish economy with not one, but two bottles of Scotch!) Before leaving, I had debated about going with my wheeled carry-on, or the backpack, as it looks more sophisticated to go with wheels, but in the end, I went for the convenience of the backpack.

I also ended up taking the night bus from London-Edinburgh-London. Although I do prefer trains, the fact that the bus was one third of the price really sold me on it. It was also nice (train or bus) to save money on hostels as you are combining transport and accommodation into one. In the past, I wouldn’t have done this, as I wouldn’t have slept, and would have been wrecked for the next day, but my grandparents were right, 2 weeks is not a long time, and I had to fit everything I could into it! It will never be the same as a proper night’s sleep in a bed, but for a couple over-nighters, it was good enough (PS, aside from the over-nighters, I have only used the sleeping pills I got in Colombia once, just to know how I would react to them before getting on a plane or bus). The direct service is only 7.5 hours, but means you arrive at 6 am to your destination.

On the theme of no time wasted, I payed the extra for the Gatwick Express and made it to my Harry Potter tour (and was able to buy a SIM card along the way) just in time on the day I arrived to London. I wasn’t sure if I could go with my bag. but they happily checked it in at the Studios. Staying busy is one way that I find helps to stave off jet lag. After a late dinner at Franco Manca’s with my cousins (I didn’t get to their place until 7:30 pm), it was goodnight, until about 9:30 am the next morning.

Saturday saw me reconnect with Erin, who I met through one of the teaching agencies. It is interesting how there are certain people who you just get along with. We’ve only physically met each other a couple of times, but have no problem spending the day together, as we have had similar experiences in our lives. We decided to go to Buckingham Palace, to visit the State Rooms and the exhibit on the Queen’s wardrobe (90 years of fashion). As someone who loves design and sewing, I absolutely loved this exhibit, and I feel that it was worth the entire ticket price just to see that. A few things that were very apparent, were that the Queen has always been a busty lady, and loves beading and millinery (hats). She really pushes the limit with some of her hats and gowns, trying new styles and using many bright colours, even in her older age. Her coronation and wedding gowns were also stunning, and it is amazing how much bead work has gone into them. Those dresses must have been so heavy! (We weren’t allowed to take pictures though, so you will have to loo

It is really nice to have family to stay with in places like London. Before catching the bus, I chilled out in Balham, and started watching The Honourable Woman, with Maggie Gyllenhaal. It is really good, but now I will have to find it online to finish the series!

When you don’t have family or friends in a location, another good thing to keep in mind is 24 hour reception! The hostel I booked had just that, and let me in at 6:30 am, feeding me breakfast and storing my bags until 2 when I could check in. Thus began the history overload, and the beauty of the Scottish highlands.

One thing that I found very interesting though, was that being in the highlands didn’t bring about the sense of wonder that I get when I travel to new places. Instead, it brought about the feeling of being at home. It was very natural to be in this location, and it didn’t feel foreign at all. Not quite what I was expecting, but welcome anyways. I also understand fully why the Scots settled in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and it really hit home just how much the Scots influenced settlements like Calgary (we were named by Colonel James Macleod, of the Isle of Skye when they established Fort Calgary (NWMP trading post))

As I mentioned before, I will post more detailed descriptions of my trip around Scotland, but it would be much too overwhelming for this post! As for sitting on tarmacs, each flight I had involved some sort of medical emergency, weather delay, or a bird being hit by a plane… I can’t recall a time when I had so many flight delays (one or two per flight) and at least 2 medical emergencies (but at least everyone made it off alive this time).

Now for the more introspective part of this post (I apologize again for the disjointed-ness, I have basically just written as the thoughts come along). I thoroughly enjoyed my time, even though I am still in a process of “finding myself” again and feel that I wasn’t as outgoing as I could be. Burnout really affected me, I am not ready to be back in the classroom (we passed various school trips, and my immediate reaction was Nope, can’t do it.) and I am still not back to being my vibrant self, but travel always seems to help me with my creativity, and I can see glimpses of it returning. Upon my return to London, I was also very fortunate to have met up with friends who reminded me of just how energetic, lively and wonderful I had been when I left the UK. Seeing them, and being surrounded by their energies was the spark I needed to remember what I can be. I am optimistic for my future, even if employment is still being sorted.

Stay tuned for the rest!