Surprise, Surprise

Upon my arrival in the UK I still didn’t feel that it was quite real, that I was back after nearly four years away. After collecting my luggage I walked through for my ride.

 D looked exactly the same. It was so great to see someone from home, especially one of my favourite friends. After a hug and a very quick catch up (seriously, I ever used to be so affectionate) we climbed into her little car and headed up north. 

                                              

We made good time, travelling through

the middle of England.

 

Much as I love my life in the Falklands, I didn’t realise until driving through the English countryside, quite how much I miss greenery and trees. England is a beautiful place.

During the drive I sorted out a temporary sim card for my mobile, let my brother know my whereabouts and gave him an eta. We stopped at a service station for a Burger King meal, my first in four years. It turns out I don’t miss fast food places after all. We saw the Download festival traffic and I was offered a free ticket to go along. As we headed into Yorkshire I made a couple more calls and we arranged how we were to surprise my mother with my visit. That’s right, I, me, Sam, infernal chatterbox, managed to keep my visit, that I have been excited about and planning for months, a secret.

To say mum was surprised is a bit of an understatement.

She had been out shopping with my sister-in-law and when they returned I was sat on the sofa drinking a cup of tea. How very British of me.  :/

Big Bro was rambling on about some package or other being mis-delivered and basically just confusing mother, so when she turned and saw me…first of all there was a blank look on her face. She couldn’t believe her eyes, not least because her eyesight is so terrible. It’s the first time in my 29 and a half years I have ever seen her speechless. I feel very proud of that…

Mum gave me the longest hug. She’d hug me, the push me away to look at me and say something, then pull me to her and hug me again. It was like a quirky little dance.

It was the first time in ten years that mum had all her children in under the same roof.

I’m just glad she didn’t have a coronary. But we’re strong Yorkshire stock J

 

So much green.

 

 

Ready...Set...Go!

So I was all ready, all packed, set to go. 

Packing was difficult. I had to pack one case with clothing suitable for 3 weeks in the UK which would include lazing at mums, going shopping, going for long walks in Yorkshire, pubs and clubs and a family photograph. Along with that I had to make sure I had the right gear for my USA trip which was going to include lots of walking, sight-seeing, pubs, clubs, pools, horse-riding and other outdoorsy activities.

I managed this fairly well I reckon. I double and triple checked my case and my hand luggage the night before leaving for the flight. It was a fairly late night for me. Excitement and nerves kept fluttering about my belly. I said goodnight and goodbye to A and S, my lovely housemates.

Just a few hours later I was getting up, checking things through one more time. One more time - Is it odd that Daft Punk’s One More Time just ran through my head??? – I then sat expectantly waiting for my lift to Mount Pleasant Airport. N got here with J, who I wouldn’t see in the Falklands again for a while as his contract in the Falklands was over and he was set to go on holiday himself. We said goodbye and had a hug (I have never had so many hugs since I moved to the Falklands!) and then I was sat in the car and we were away.

My new friend N dropped me at the airport and went into work early. I love that people here are so happy to give a helping hand if they can. So, I went though the whole airport process. It was very different getting on a plane where you know half the other people on it, as opposed to when I came to the Islands and knew no-one.

I had a couple of seats to myself and so managed to curl up and doze for a while. This was after being given an iPad to play with. Games, music and films all available to help break the monotony of an 8 hour flight. We waited a short while at Ascension, picking up some whisky for my older brother (yay for duty free), and then on to the second third of my journey…

 

My wonderful, self-customised suitcase.

 A lot emptier than when I returned from holiday.

 

Planning Recommended

For my super cool holiday I was just going to find somewhere to begin with and then decide what I wanted to do as I went. After my friend (who for the purpose of this blog I shall name A) decided to join me on my epic adventure I figured I couldn't just wing it as I intended. Especially since she's more travelled than me, and she recommended a lot of planning.

So I planned.

A was supremely busy at work so I pretty much planned things, updated A, got her response and then had to re-plan. I used a notebook specifically for planning, making notes on hostels, hotels, places, costs, activities, etc.

We finally agreed on our route:

Chicago
Memphis
New Orleans
Gunnison
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas.

Of course things changed while we were actually away, but we did get to these places on our list, and then some. We purposely left some time with no planning so we had some flexibility during the holiday. We booked our hostel in Chicago, a hotel in New Orleans and a hotel in Vegas. Other than that we were pretty open to suggestions and recommendations.

We had our projected budget, which came in at £10,000. But that included my spending three weeks in the UK beforehand and A spending time in Canada after America. We settled on £1,000 per week, each, to include all meals, accommodation, travel and spending.

I booked my return flight to the UK, and a few weeks later we both booked our American flights via Expedia's multiple destination option. I paid a little under £1,000 to fly from Manchester to Newark for a connection to Chicago. Part-way through the holiday I was to fly from New Orleans to Denver and my final flight (for the American Part of my trip) was from Las Vegas to Washington to connect for my flight to return to Manchester.

Money, of course, was an issue. With the help of a bank loan, and with my wages coming in throughout my holiday, I managed to get the £10,000 budgeted for. So, by the time June came around I was organised, with my travel plans, with my shopping list, with my money, with my packing.

And it seemed I had managed to keep my visit to the UK a surprise from my mother, which I was very pleased about. It was a helluva surprise for her!

So, the next thing for me to do was finish up at work and double, triple check everything and head off on my Epic American Adventure.

First Things First

Before you go anywhere or do anything...you need to know what you want to do, where you want to go, what it will cost and what money you have available.

The first thing I did was start saving up. Although, to begin with, I didn't know I was saving for a holiday. Especially this holiday. But there you go.

I passed the £1,000 mark and got excited. I then used some money, but before I knew I hit the £3,000 mark. I then lent the money to a friend and after getting it back I hit the £4,000 mark. Oh yeah, I was getting excited now. I never saved this much before...previously I've been notoriously bad with money.

It was just before or just after Christmas I though 'bugger it! I need a holiday!' so I started making notes. Notes of all the places I've wanted to visit, all the things I've wanted to try, all the new experiences I've wanted. I had a lot of lists.

I also looked into how to raise more money, I applied for 2 months holiday from work (two whole months!) and looked at when was best to go.

In the end I found that from January 2013, with the savings I already had, and the wages to come, with the help of a bank loan, then I could have £10,000 by June when I was to go on holiday.

Work agreed that I could take June 11th until 1st August for my holiday. After deciding on a visit to see the family in the UK, I would then visit various places in the good ole U S of A. I had two months, £10,000 and a lot of people and places to see.

And on with the lists!...
And on with the budgets!...

 

One draft of my budget. I'd update depending on what was happening

and what changes were made to both the holiday and my bank balance beforehand.