In London

In London we spend a few days hanging out with my friend Kristine. At the British Museum we finally get a picture of the three of us together. Being in London after all this travel is like a mini-new york break without the 24 hour everything. The British Museum is a treasure trove of thievery from around the world and we see valuable mummies, buddhist statues, chinese vases, African, Greek and Roman art and precious Indian art. I am glad I got to go there as the last time I was in London I missed out. The only caveat is that at 1 pound=2 dollars, we sort of cry through our wallets as we pay for everything. With the help of one of my big sisters, we scored an apartment in Notting Hill and cooked many meals but even the groceries are pretty expensive. I was most surprised to visit Leciester Sqaure´s China >Town and learn that Chinese ingredients aren´t really cheap there. Apparantly Iceland is worse.


Random Travel advice that you may already know: (My sisters are probably going no-duh right now)

Number 1:
For budget travel, go to India, South America, South East Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. My itinerary is expensive and we generally only eat out for dinner and cook in often for dinner too sometimes. I often stay with friends, friends of friends, hostels and pensions where the going rate is around 20-30 euro a head and breakfast of toast, tea and marmalade, hard boiled egg is included. Ps. find the supermarket, not the grocery store for water, yoghurt and go to fruit markets in local areas.

Number 2: Only buy things that you absolutely love. Its sounds like a simple and no-duh advice but many times you get caught in the moment and air and you buy low-quality why did I do that? Junk. I´ve made a purchase or two where I am like... why? They are small but they still take up room in my tiny bag and annoy me when I pack. They were cheap but not cheap enough to chuck so I stare at it everytime I think of how heavy my bag is. Take cash and if you are traveling for a while don´t just buy 20 table clothes because one of them is cheap and you think somebody will want it. They won´t. You´ll be stuck with 15 table cloths and everybody you know will have to get one for Christmas. I´ve seen many travelers/tourists do this for some reason.

Number 3: Also don´t plan so much ahead. I bought a rail pass and made some hotel reservations so far in advance that I´d forgotten about it and got burned in the process. For very busy areas it is better to book in advance but we´ve been in some pretty deep fleabag hostels by booking later than earlier. If you are one person, sometimes its easier to just show up and negotiate a price or find one at a hostel or pension.

Number 4: Pensions and hostels are interchangeable and sometimes about the same price. Laura wasn´t very keen on the backpacker/frat boy scene so hostels with 5 other people were out. We found we paid just a little more than hostels and often got our own bathrooms.

Number 5: Skip the towel, pack the sarong. I´ve needed a towel many many times on this trip. The sarong has been lighter, faster to dry and is multi-purpose and can function as a sling/bag, skirt. Also on packing light, Laura is more hard-core than I am and as she was staying in one-climate zone(summer) she packed the following:, 3 bottoms (2 skirts, one pair pants), 2 tops (two camisole bras), 4 underwear, 2 pair of sandals/flip flops, a bikini, toiletries and a sweater. She bought an entire wardrobe of about 4 shirts, 3 dresses, a hat and a big dish in florence and still fit it into her backpack. When she would run up the stairs to go to the train I just stared in envy and awe. But I am happy I packed many of my goods too.