The persistent problem with planning a trip (besides the obvious, like logistics, practicality, and money) is definitely the bewildering array of options. How do you narrow down everything you want to see and do in a foreign country into the main, oh, four to six locations that'll fit in a two-to-three-week crash course?
I could quite happily spend the entire summer wandering around Britain. If it were only up to me, that's probably what I'd do. As it is, I have only the aforementioned two to three weeks. I'd originally wanted to see England, Wales, and Scotland, but now I'm thinking that that would only be doable if I had no interest in actually seeing or doing anything. Since I'd much rather take my time, I'll probably confine my exploration to southern-ish England, and, a la Rick Steves, assume that I'll be back. Because I will be.
Right, so, that narrows down what I have/need/want to see to only half a country (plus a dash of Wales) instead of three. I only have three definite and immovable dates, illustrated in bold below. The rest is just a sketch outline, and can and probably will change suddenly and without warning.
6/26: Arrive in London
6/27: Bath (Avebury/Wells?)
6/28: Bath (Glastonbury)
6/29: Meet Shannon in Cardiff
6/30: Bath (Bristol?)
7/1: London
7/2: London (Brighton)
7/3: London (Canterbury and Dover)
7/4: London
7/5: London
7/6: London
7/7: London
7/8: Oxford
7/9: Oxford (Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick)
7/10: Oxford (Gloucester)
7/11: Oxford (Cotswolds, Blenheim)
7/12: Oxford
7/13: Cambridge
7/14: Cambridge
7/15: Cambridge
7/16: Meet Mom and Janna in Frankfurt
View Epic England Trip in a larger map
Likewise, I had originally been planning to go to some of the southern countries for the second part of this epic journey, but I'm rethinking that as well. I don't really want to deal with long days of traveling from one far-flung city to the next, and the southern part of Europe will be hotter in August than the north. Therefore, I may confine my solo August trip to the north and west of Europe: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and back to Britain, if I can't make myself stay away. I don't have a schedule for this one yet, because it's too insubstantial. But I'm working on it. Promise.
In other news, I had a false alarm the other day: my mother called to tell me that she had received a letter telling me the town in Germany where I'd been placed. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was, in fact, the grant authorization from Fulbright, so my ultimate destination is still shrouded in mystery. Hooray.
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