keep calm and carry on | Ramblintraveler

I’m no stranger to making fun of myself at any point… and well the title to this particular post is aimed to do just that… it’s actually specifically aimed at showing how uneducated and retarded I can be… I once saw one of my bosses (originally from England) wearing a shirt saying “Keep Calm and Carry On”… and I made the very uneducated comment of, “Oh, is that a spin-off from The Chive slogan of “keep calm and chive on”???

Yea…. enough said… I can be THAT blonde quite often in life really… and it’s usually ALWAYS when I’m trying to be impressive somehow… Goes to show you should ALWAYS be humble, otherwise stupidity (at least in my case) will always creep out!!!

Moving on, I flew over the pond on British Airways on a fairly cheap one-way ticket I found on my favorite flight site of skyscanner.com:) Let me tell you, British Airways has it going on!! The flight was comfortable, the food was actually tasty, and beside a little bit of a hiccup during my movie where it turned off and wouldn’t restart until hours later (which really forced me to get some much needed sleep) it was quite the pleasant flight!

After landing I did what I always do… Sat down and started searching for a place to stay for the night… You would think I would change my ways and plan SOMETHING ahead of time, but hey, that’s kinda part of the adventure of it all, isn’t it?? The only bummer here is that Heathrow airport only gives like 45 minutes of free WiFi to use!! After that you have to pay for it!! Seriously??? What if I had a layover there longer than 45 minutes?? Then I would have to PAY for WiFi??? Seemed like a total scam to me, but it was what it was…

Anyway after a bit of researching I did find a hostel that would potentially work. What I really wasn’t expecting was how absolutely expensive everything was!! Part of the reason it took me so long to find a hostel was because I was price shopping!! I knew and had heard that in general Europe is expensive, but seriously London is out of control!! But I’m getting ahead of myself…

So after getting a place in mind to possibly stay, I headed for the ticket booth, got a map and ticket for the Underground tunnel train and headed off. About 20-30 minutes later I was off the Underground and pounding the pavement of the streets with my feet. I walked for about 15 minutes until I found the hostel that I thought to stay at. Why did it take so long? Well, the map I was given of the streets really wasn’t quite as accurate as it could have been. So there were several times I wasn’t sure if I was going the right way as some streets were on the map, then the next several were not, then one would pop back up on the map… strange…

Anyway, I stopped into the YHA (Youth Hostels Association- they have a chain of hostels throughout Europe… Red flag #1 in my book as I think hostels should be more private than corporate) which had prices advertised at 26 pounds per night…. Upon arriving however, it was 32 pounds per night… No thanks!! That didn’t even include breakfast!! So I asked about another hostel nearby and was shuttled in the direction of Generator Hostel London.

After another 20 minutes of wandering around somewhat aimlessly while attempting to follow the map but still needing to stop for directions I found the Generator hostel!! Now, to my miracle, the days I spent in London were actually clear skies and warm!! You all know by now how much I LOVE warm weather!! However… when having to walk in it with a 40lb bag on back, it gets annoying quickly! And I tend to sweat quite a bit. So needless to say after the first mini-hike to the first hostel, then the second mini-hike to the Generator, I was looking forward to putting my stuff down and showering! Luckily they did have room and though I was planning originally to stay 3 nights, I only went for 2 since the first 2 nights were 26 pounds each and the third was 40 pounds!! At the time the rate exchange was $1.71 to 1 pound so 26 pounds was basically well over $40 to stay for each night… Oh and that amount was for ‘no breakfast included’ AND I was sharing the room with 11 other people and the bathroom with the entire floor (which was in the basement and probably had over 100 people at least per floor).

I was definitely missing the hostel prices I was used to in Central and South America!! This was seriously a completely different ballgame financially! In any event I paid for my room, headed down to my basement room, changed clothes, made a few calls and sent some emails then headed out for a beer!

On to Hostel Culture Shock

Back to United Kingdom

I flew back into the States from Bogota, Colombia after almost a full year of traveling between Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. I had spent most of my time in Costa Rica in the sleepy small Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo on the Southern Caribbean coast. Coming back to the States was a bit of a shell shocker from a few perspectives. First the amount of technology blaring in your face in the form of TVs was one thing I definitely noticed that took some getting used to again. The second thing was the blinders were put back on. You know, those blinders we tend to put on walking down the street, not saying hi to a soul unless you know them. Not being present to the outside world while moving through it yet just keeping to your own world. Those blinders… When first going to Costa Rica it literally shocked me that people would say good morning to me and acknowledge me as I walked down the streets. Then I got used to doing the same to others as I went from place to place. Then back in the States at first I kept my newly adopted persona of acknowledging people but was met with strange looks and no responses or people literally making a wider gap around me as they walked past. So eventually the blinders went back on… Oh well…

Coming back to the States was a choice I made primarily because the bank account was starting to get a little low and because where I had been traveling in Colombia was getting too cold for my taste and the travel enthusiasm was just dwindling. I went back to Houston to help house-sit my sisters place (and her two adorable dogs) as she was away quite often. I got a job there as a bartender and server (a trade I picked up for the first time ever in Costa Rica) and stayed about 6 months or so. Once my sister was back from her work obligations and I was no longer needed as a dog/house sitter, I moved to Key West, Florida.

I lived and worked in Key West for 10 months, saving all my pennies as much as possible (though of course I did have a little bit of a life too!) and then packed it all up and headed out traveling again. This time the destination was Europe. My time in Key West I’ll never forget. And who knows, one day I may still return. Though it isn’t the kind of place I could see myself living at permanently (there are no beaches on the island itself and it’s a little too much of a party town for my taste… If you don’t like to drink to oblivion on an almost daily basis there’s not much of a life to be had there really) I had so many amazing opportunities and met many people I consider life-long friends. It took a while to find some of these people, but I’m blessed that I did.

Key West really is a drinking town with a fishing problem. It’s no wonder people get way too carried away there. Tourists come for the party and as a person in the service industry we were there to provide it. Mind you, we only dealt in the LEGAL party! Though many tourists did come to Key West literally thinking they could do anything (it’s amazing, I seriously think people thought Key West was no longer part of the States and they could do whatever they wanted!!) and we were sometimes asked for drugs at my work from tourists, but they were always turned away. Yes, Key West also has lots of drugs. Go figure. Until having lived in Costa Rica I never really realized how prevalent drugs really are. Then from there on they literally seemed to be everywhere. Sometimes I miss my rose colored glasses, but just like everything else in life, you can choose to be involved or you can choose not to be involved. Everyone has a choice.

You know, as I type this up I can’t help but think that even though I really couldn’t wait to get out of Key West at the time (since there were a number of things I didn’t really like about it) it somehow grew on me and now I can say I have a little strange spot in my heart for the place. Perhaps its also because I really enjoyed my job. I know that’s an odd thing to say, but I really enjoyed bartending and serving; creating a positive vacation experience for tourists and such. Anyway… that’s enough nostalgia for now!

So after leaving Key West, surprising my mom in Houston for her birthday, taking a trip out West to see family and friends in Arizona and New Mexico, then a trip to Mexico (Puerto Penasco aka Rocky Point) with my mom and finally seeing my Tennessee family back in Houston, it was time to hit the road again. July 30th, 2014 I landed in Heathrow airport in London…

On to London

Back to Homepage

Exploring the World one Country at a time