When this post publishes, Mom and I will be well into a long awaited jaunt across the pond. We started setting aside money in 2014. For as long as it took to finally get the trip under way, it is well worth it.

Planning this trip looked a lot different than the others, especially from my first European journey. Even though these two trips share a lot, leaving on Wednesday June 7th for example, the day after completing school year obligations, I dod not have the luxury of a snow-storm induced week off from school in early January this time. I made do with the time that I had, thankful for technology enhancements over the past six years. That alone significantly eased the planning duties.

Planning for this trip took place in two primary stages.

Stage One

I knew that I would need to spend one of my winter break beach vacation days planning the skeleton of the trip aka booking flights and lodging as well as nailing down a rough itinerary. I knew that I would not have much time to work on the itinerary once the semester started up again so I also planned to book as much as I could at that time.

I started with the basics, first of which was the flight. Once I found cheap enough tickets, it was time to move on to lodging. Apart from airfare, lodging can make or break a budget. I looked first at hotels to estimate the approximate cost. I then looked at airbnb. Before this trip I had not made use of the services provided but Laura has used it frequently with great success. I excluded all other options besides whole house/apartment, knowing that that would be the most comfortable option both for myself and for MOm. To my surprise I found that six nights in a charming flat north of London cost less than $100 a night with taxes and fees included. I found a similar option for our two night stay in Edinburg. Altogether, our lodging for eight nights cost a little over $700 for two people during peak vacation season.

After nailing down the skeleton of the trip, I set to work on fleshing out the itinerary. I first needed to figure out the best way to fit in the handful of “must sees” on the list. Admittedly, these were things that were must sees to me. Mom, gracious as ever, deferred to me when it came to what we would see on the trip. I knew that if possible, I wanted to go to Cardiff and take part in the Doctor Who Experience. I also could not possibly go to London and not take in the sights of the Harry Potter Studio. Apart from that, I simply wanted to take in as much history as I could without repeating anything from my first trip.

I quickly discovered that, to my horror, the Doctor Who Experience was scheduled to close some time that summer. Tickets had not yet been released for the spring and summer. I had to maintain hope that closing at the end of summer meant July or August, not June. I then moved over to a tool which has served me well the past two international trips, Viator. After reading the descriptions and reviews, Mom deferred to me once again but let know if there was an option she preferred.

By the time the day ended, I had booked our flights, reserved our lodging, booked three tours, made a list of things yet to be booked and nailed down a rough itinerary.

Stage Two

That one day of planning comprised the entirety of my effort for the next several months. Occasionally I checked on Doctor Who Experience tickets but until early May, nothing had been released, including a lack of notification regarding the official closure date. I kept meaning to get around to trip planning but life kept getting int he way.

After Spring Break and the Chicago trip, I knew that I could not afford to put it off any longer. I tentatively scheduled in a little time each weekend to chip away at the remaining tasks. I should have known better than that. I do my best work when I’m on a roll.

On the first weekend of May I sat down to work – I remember because I postponed seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. I started with the Doctor Who Experience tickets. By the time I finished several hours later I had booked and arranged everything that I could ahead of time. The only things that we will purchase once we arrive are Oyster cards (for the Underground), food/meals and a handful of souvenirs.

Some things had to be scrapped form the original plan, like touring the Houses of Parliament. Due to the snap election called by Prime Minister Teresa May, the number of available tours diminished and by the time I went to purchase tickets, sold out. Even if I had been able to snag one of those tour tickets, it would not have included the House of Lords, closed for preparation for the opening of the new session of Parliament. Even with taking some things out, our itinerary is full, not quite to the brim, of amazing things that I cannot wait to share with Mom.

When I return, look for two more posts on the trip: one on the completion of the plan and another, possibly more, on the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the United Kingdom.