London 2012: Initial Thoughts

Yes, I am home, safe and sound, after what has mostly been an absolutely fantastic trip!
I have lots and lots and lots and lots of things to share, so I'm hoping to be able to work at the blog quite a lot today, and maybe during the next few days as well.

I don't want to become too personal in the blog, and while, naturally, this trip has meant a lot of things for me, personally, I won't get into that too much in this blog - I will mostly just tell you what I did and share my experiences and my photos with you.

From a practical perspective, I think it was insane how well this trip actually went! I didn't think it was "allowed" for a trip to work this smoothly, there has been no problems to speak of whatsoever, and no one is more grateful for that than me!! I'm also quite happy that it was on this particular trip that things worked out so well, as this was a trip to, more than anything, test myself, my ability to cope and to actually do this - and it feels really great that it worked out so nicely.
I'm perfectly aware of the fact that not all trips will work out as well as this one, but since this one did I think I have strengthened my confidence in coping in situations when things doesn't always work out really well! :)

Keep an eye out in the blog, as I will try to update fairly regularly now! However, I will have to sort through all my photos first - and that will definitely take a while! :-)

London, Here I Come!

Time for my final entry before leaving - I'll be off in a couple of hours! :)

I have SO many mixed feelings regarding the trip right now, and I'm going from happy, excited and proud, to a state of complete panic and almost a wish to cancel the whole thing ... I have a feeling this will be a very emotional day, to say the least.

I don't have the time nor the energy to write a lengthy blog entry here, I just wanted to let you know I'm off and that I will be back on Saturday night. Blog probably won't be updated until Sunday though (at the earliest), but I am hoping for long and detailed blog entries with lots and lots of photos!

Until then, take care! :)

A Quick Decision - Or Not?

(Tower Bridge, 2009)
 



I really have thought about going to London ever since Annika and I went there in 2009 - I very much wanted to go on my own and prove to myself that I really could cope with it in a good way (I went on a short London trip by myself in 2004, info on that will be available eventually, but that really wasn't a good trip, it was way too soon!) ... but somehow life in general got in the way of my plans.


During late spring and summer this year I did start to think about it a bit more, but it was still nothing like actually planning or checking out available flights or hotels, but still, I did think about it.

Then, about 1½ weeks ago, I had nothing much to do and started just checking flights and hotels in London - and before the day was gone, I had booked a trip! *yikes!!*
I really don't make decisions that quickly so it was a bit of a chock, I'm still not sure it has completely sunken in! Still, I think I got a lot for my money! :) I have a return flight with Ryanair and five nights at what seems to be a really nice hotel in Bayswater/Paddington for about 4500 SEK (about £430, $690, 530 Euros)!

There is a lot going on in my life right now, apart from this London trip, so I'm feeling quite stressed out and rather nervous about pretty much everything, but so far, I'm totally excited about London! Nervous too, of course, this will really be the first time I go anywhere truly on my own, but at the same time I'm really confident I actually CAN cope with this on my own, and do so in a good way.

I have compiled this blog/website to really try to make the most of this London trip - even though of course I will update my Swedish blog about London stuff as well (though for details I will refer my Swedish readers here as well) - to get in the spirit of the trip by remembering my previous trips! :)

The 2012 blog will of course be all about this trip - I will try to update as I plan my trip, and when I get home, you will get detailed entries about my trip as well as tons and tons of photos (I will check in one bag so I'm taking my both my cameras, and hopefully my zoom lens as well!).
On the other pages of this blog you will find entries and photos from my previous London trips as well as my musical experiences in London too ... these pages are currently under construction, and I will let you know as more and more stuff become available!

I hope you will enjoy this London focused blog/website - maybe almost as much I as I enjoy making it! :-)

Take care!
/Jessica