Off to England in FIVE DAYS!

Five days. A work week. That is all that remains before I depart on my next adventure. A years worth of planning is about to come to an end. I am about to embark on another trip to England. The last time I was this excited for travel was three years ago, our last trip to England. Just as we did three years ago, we are heading to the largest greenfield music festival in the world. Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. At the time of me typing this, gates open in 7 days 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The poster!

UK Trip 2016: Biggest Purchase DONE!

I am writing this blog today with great excitement, for I have just spent $3747.21 in one go. So, you ask, what does $3747.21 get me? I just purchased the flight and hotel package for my sister and I. It includes two round trip flights and eleven nights in a four-star hotel. The trip itself lasts from June 20th till July 8th. Wait a minute. That's longer than eleven nights. I know, and there's good reason for it.

A little pricer than 2013, but worth it!

Our plan is expanded from what we did in 2013. The flight on the twentieth is overnight and doesn't arrive in London till the next morning. Next plan is to go to a reasonably priced hotel near Paddington Station and stay one night. In 2013 we stayed at the Days Inn for £89. The next morning (June 22nd) is when the real fun begins! If things go like they did in the past, we'll be hopping on the 7:06am train from London Paddington to Castle Cary. You may be thinking to yourself, what is there to do around the rural station of Castle Cary? Answer, The World's Biggest and Greatest Festival, Glastonbury!

The Famous Glastonbury sign

I first heard about Glastonbury Festival in the spring of 2012. The olympics were getting closer and closer and I was learning more about UK culture. I proposed the idea to my sister that we should try and save up and go to the festival in 2013. We did, and it was one of the greatest things I have ever done.

On the hill above The Park 

So, back to 2016. The plan is to camp at Glastonbury for five nights from June 22-26, just like in 2013. Some pretty big acts are strongly rumoured for the gig and it should be amazing. The first act was officially confirmed yesterday as being Jeff Lynne's ELO. The rest of the lineup is usually revealed closer to ticket day. Tickets were purchase on a £50 deposit scheme back in October. They sold out in thirty minutes. The balance £183 per ticket is due in April.

The Hives on the Other Stage in 2013

After Glastonbury is over, we make our way back to our eleven night hotel in the London neighbourhood of Cricklewood. We'll likely need a refresher day and then it'll be straight out to the tourist attractions! To help with the costs of all the tourist attractions, we have decided to purchase a London Pass for the second time. We were happy with how the pass worked in 2013 and will be getting ten day passes with travel this time around. The pass allows free access to many attractions for ten days, along with unlimited tube, bus and train travel in the capital.

The Elizabeth Clock Tower

The trip is sure to be a lot of fun. Check back here for regular updates. I've also thought about doing a daily VLOG while overseas. We'll have to see how it goes.

Let the planning begin!

Today is the beginning of a long and drawn-out process. Today is the beginning of almost a year of saving all extra money. Today is the day I taped some paper to my bedroom wall. If you go back through my blog archives, you will see exactly what taping some paper on the wall really means. Okay, I'll spill the beans for those of you who are not in the loop. This is my trip planning wall. It's something that I've reserved for only the biggest of trips that require planning. Each 8.5x11" page represents one day of my vacation. This format allows me to meticulously plan each day down to the hour in an analog format. Sure, I can and probably will also plan digitally with Google Calendar, but important information can easily get lost in a cloud within itself. Whereas with a schedule that forms most of my wall, things cannot get lost.

So what am I planning, you ask? Its been almost three years since I had the trip of my life to the English countryside, so why not go again? I'll be attempting to procure the almost impossible to get tickets from Glastonbury Festival for the 2016 edition in October. Then I'll spend eleven nights exploring the capital of the United Kingdom, London. In 2013, I got to see some amazing bands, like The Rolling Stones.

It has been over a year since I last posted here. I hope to keep this blog updated as much as possible leading up to and including the trip.