Now I'm officially traveling solo for about a month. Today was all about transportation: the Tube, a train, a plane, and a bus. I've safely arrived at my hotel on the Isle of Man, the Rosslyn Guest House. I had to walk the last mile or so from the bus stop to the hotel, and it's a bit colder here than my last stop. So I'm going to rest and look forward to adventures tomorrow. I met with Eno for lunch before I left - it was regrettably short, since she had a meeting at 2. I will certainly miss her company and the comfortable place to return at the end of the day. I'm happy that we will be meeting up again in 2 months. I'm including 1 picture that I took on my plane ... read more

I've been to London so many times, it's always a treat to try and find something I haven't seen or done. Since it's always changing, it isn't too difficult to accomplish. Today was a day for staying close to home. I took the opportunity to pay close visits to the 2 tallest new additions to the cityscape: the Gherkin (aka 30 St Mary Axe) and the Shard, the tallest building in the EU. Frankly, I just wanted to see them up close, and when I did, I moved on. I got to cross over London Bridge twice, and I got to see things in the distance that I had already seen up close - Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St. Paul's, the Thames. I finally got around to seeing Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross ... read more

So, I flew into London-Gatwick this morning. What a nightmare. We did arrive early, and my first experience with Norwegian Airlines was fantastic - it's got to be the best night's sleep coming to Europe that I've ever had. But everything between getting off the plane and meeting up with Eno was a disaster. I always figure that the worst part of any trip to Europe is the first few hours - jetlag, getting the phone to connect, crowds... This experience, though, takes the cake. I guess if I hadn't had high expectations for being able to use my American phone in Europe this time, things wouldn't have been so troublesome. But I've been on the ground now for 6 hours, and my phone still hasn't connected. I'm glad they had wifi at Gatwick, so I ... read more

Things have gone well so far, now that I'm officially on this trip. I'm currently sitting at my gate at the ATL airport, with an hour and half until my flight leaves. They have free wifi here, so I thought I would take advantage of that. My 3 days in Tifton were uneventful. I got a couple of school assignments taken care of, so that's less I'll need to do abroad. I managed to check out a couple of new places to visit while in England, so that excites me. And I found a better deal on hotels in Ireland, so I jumped on that, too. On the family side, I got to chill a good bit. Ran errands with dad around town on Tuesday and then trivia with the bro and friends that night. Went ... read more

I'm almost on the home stretch - 1 week until I'm boarding a plane in ATL!!! I couldn't help but take note of the plane that skidded all over the runway at LaGuardia Airport this morning. Guess where my first flight on this big adventure lands - LGA! Maybe the snow and ice will be gone by then... One of my last non-packing preparations for this trip was a a visit to the dentist this morning. No cavities! Now my teeth are all shiny and clean, and I can drink and eat whatever I feel like. They asked me if I drank coffee, because the only issues were some stains from dark liquids on the backs of my front teeth. Alas, I don't drink coffee, but I am addicted to sweet tea. And at that moment, ... read more