Off With Our Heads!

Today we are off to the Tower of London. It's an early morning after a difficult night of non-sleep for the Robinsons. It was hot, humid and noisy on Saturday night. These Brits know how to party.

Some photos from the boy's day yesterday at Wimbley Stadium and one from Sotheby's of London: 

A quick visit to Sotheby's of London:

The First Two Days In London

We've been in London for about 48 hours and are having a wonderful time. This will be a slightly shorter post than I'd like as I'm about to catch the tube to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to meet up with Nancy, Erin, Maddie and Claire for a performance of Wicked. The boys are all off to tour Wembley Stadium and we all hope to make it back before the thunderstorms and heavy rain start. My bet is that we will all get quite drenched at some point today.

There is so much to see and do here that I'm already feeling like there isn't enough time. But then again, is there ever?

These are some photos of the highlights from the past two days. In various combinations of people we have done the London Eye, walked along and across the Themes, gone on a Harry Potter tour, sampled some pubs, visited the British Museum and shared some meals. We've done a decent amount of just wandering around where we encountered Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Covent Garden (which is the neighborhood we are "living" in), and Leicester Square. 

We have all shared some pretty hardy laughs, been surprised some of the things we've seen and experienced some of the frustrations that come with travel and a group of 9 people getting from point A to point B and trying to come to a decision on where to stop to eat. All in all, we are holding up quite nicely and seem to be good at "pressing the reset button" when things get bumpy.

Weather Be Damned

Today is the big day. Nine people from two different locations will be taking off for the other side of the pond. At the Robinson house, it is currently 6:20 am and four out of the five of us are awake in an attempt to start moving our internal clocks to GMT. I was awake at 5:00am and up at 5:30. Payton joined me briefly but is now asleep on the couch. Nancy was up around 6am which is impressive as was really 3am Hawaii time. Dan is stirring. Darren is still sound asleep, but he's also the most resilient when it comes to sleep and energy so I'm not at all worried about him.

The weather report is pretty sketchy for London over the next week and I've starting thinking about how we might be able to switch our itinerary around to minimize the impact of the forecasted thunderstorms. As I'm doing so, I've run across this post from Soulseeds.com called "Taking Your Own Sunshine". It's funny how the universe gives you what you need when you need it:

"If you can change things, do. If you can’t, choose who you’re going to be."

So with sunshine in our hearts, we head out this afternoon for the trip of a lifetime; nine people discovering new lands and strengthening bonds that will last lifetimes.

Danger, Expectations

The excitement is building as we are now just two days away from our big trip. The Royal Baby has been born, our suitcases are out and we are eagerly watching the changes in the weather reports for the next few days in London. Erin and I are exchanging book recommendations for the 22+ hours of flying we'll each be doing in the next couple of weeks and I've made an appointment for a mani/pedi tomorrow. One must be properly groomed.

Over the last couple of days I've been focusing on letting go of expectations.

We spend so much time thinking and researching and dreaming about what it's going to be like. You know like when people rave about a movie or a book or a restaurant and then you finally try it and you are disappointed? Yeah....I don't want THAT to happen.

I find it so helpful to really let go of expectations and get myself in a frame of mind where I'm open to new and unexpected experiences. To welcome the times when I get lost or have to change plans because of weather or some kind of transit strike or whatever. Just allowing myself to be in the moment and appreciate it for what it is can make the difference between a good travel experience and a great one.

Breath in peace and joy....breath out stress and expectations.

The Cell Phone Abroad Dilema

Nowadays, pretty much every traveler has this issue: How should I deal with my cell phone/data issues while traveling abroad. There are a couple of different issues here. 1) Will my phone work where I am going and 2) How can I stay connected without going broke?

I'm not an expert by any means, but hopefully these suggestions will help.

First of all, unless you have urgent business needs, consider staying as unplugged as possible. It's really not that hard when you are in a completely new and fantastic place. Stop and smell the roses.

However, if your business demands it, or if you want to use some of the cool apps that help while traveling (I'll do another post on that), start by calling your US cell provider and asking them about your phone and whether or not it will work in the countries you are planning to visit. If so, great...now ask about how to use your phone and the data plan while minimizing costs. You can choose to disable international data roaming which will save a LOT. Just get your emails and post to Facebook while you are connected via wifi and you're set. Most hotels and some cafés and restaurants offer free Wifi. London has a TON of Starbucks so finding wifi won't be difficult.

What are we doing?

Our iPhones will both work while in England and France. Our boys phones will not as they are older models...pre-iphone 4 so they will be bringing them only to use with wifi and as cameras. I think this is important as I'm looking forward to seeing the memories of the trip through their eyes. For our AT&T iPhones, we will disable data roaming and buy a texting plan that will allow 100 text messages for about $10. We also have the good fortune of having a friend who travels frequently who is lending us his UK based pre-paid phone that we will be able to buy minutes on the SIM card. This will give us a London phone number to use if needed and we'll give it to the kids should they venture out on their own for a bit.

We will also be using the What'sApp iPhone app that will allow us to send texts, photos and some video at no cost via wifi to our friends and family who also have the app installed. We've used this on other trips and highly recommend it.

Rick Steve's does a nice job summarizing the details here, so I won't try to re-invent the wheel. You'll also find information on renting a phone or buying a SIM card in-country at the link above in case you have a phone that won't work at all outside of the US. Some other helpful links with info and suggestions:

Travel Quest
Budget Travel (includes some carrier specific info)