Day 18: The Trip Home (London Stop) & Final Thoughts

The trip home was pretty flawless - I had an 8 a.m. flight to London, and my big flight back to Seattle didn't leave until 3, so I got myself organized and headed into London for lunch and a little walk about. I basically went to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, etc. and bummed, ate a little soup, thought about getting some silly souvenirs but then thought better of it :) With the travel time, immigration, etc. I had about 2 hours to hang out before heading back. In my final act of kindness on the European continent, I passed on my Tube day-travel-card to a weary fellow who was struggling to purchase his own. He was delighted, and it made me feel better about the 6 pounds :)

These eternal flights are a bit much, but I'd still rather do it all at once then have to stop-over, all that going up and down adds so much time to the whole thing. Our flight time was 9:45 in length - long. Really, really long. I am, however, now hooked on Sudoku puzzles, which either kill the time or put me to sleep - both work just fine.

In the end, I have to say, I really dug the tour. I went into it a bit skeptical to say the least - it was a bit of a snap decision at a time I booked as I was in some level of duress - and I am a confident, capable travel planner and a good budget-traveler to boot. But what I liked was simply put, that I didn't have to work, to be in charge or to make things happen. A lot of the days were nicely filled up, there were some that were only 1/2 full, and then a couple of nearly completely free days. A nice mix really! And with 26 people, in the end, I think I really liked and appreciated them all. The group dynamic is a funny thing, but by the end, everyone had found "their people" within the group, and we were all having a pretty great time together!

Here's a funny little anecdote - last night, a woman on the tour who is likely in her 50s and from Georgia - said, "Well Jenn, you are just blossoming tonight! I had no idea how outgoing you are." I of course laughed out loud, but seriously - I was pretty mellow on the tour, just trying to quietly soak it all in, appreciate what I was seeing and enjoy the moment. I did get a little 'planner' fix on our free days by dragging poor Amy up big hills and on walking tours (which we both enjoyed, seriously), so I feel like in a lot of ways, we got the best of both worlds - a bit of 'do-it-yourself' travel, and a hearty dose of not having to think or make decisions, which was really nice.

Oh, and Amy and I - we are really, really good travel companions! We talked about the fact that it panned out to be pretty much what we both expected, despite the fact that many work folks had been worried for us both for different reason :) Honestly though, I don't think we had a single moment of tension or struggle - we had fun times together, and also had days where we separated, did our own thing and then had something to talk to each other about later. I'd take another trip with Amy in a heartbeat - super easy going, agreeable, and generally she's pretty easy to please!

So where to next...hm...I'll have to let the PTO re-accrue before that happens, likely not for a year or so, but after being in the south of France, so close to Italy, I got a hankering for some more time there. So, I think that's next on the agenda - not sure if I'd do a tour or not, but either way, Italy is just fantastic, and now I've been happily re-bitten by the travel bug.

Thanks for taking my journey with me :) I appreciate the readership, comments and emails - it's nice when you're far away to still feel connected.

p.s. A bunch of your have asked if I've lost weight on this trip - I'm not really sure, to be honest - we did a crapload of walking, standing, moving, etc. - however, I believe the wine and desserts may have cancelled out those efforts. I'll weigh-in this weekend and see where I'm at. I'm certain I did not gain, and my clothes do seem a little bigger, to be honest, but that could just be a result of them stretching out after being worn a few too many times :)

Photos: Karen & Shane/George & Candace - Shane & George were my two primary 'human garbage disposals' and benefited most from my lap-band :); Bonnie & Patty, drinking pals on that last night; our guides, Daniella & Patrick; Nice to London; a last few shots in London; the flight home - including sudoku, the modern-day torture device that tells you how many minutes are left if your flight; shots over Greenland and the Cascades; there's Seattle! And I'm home. :)