I ask strangers to take pictures of me; a memoir of my trip to the UK

  For an extroverted person I enjoy spending a lot of time on my own. I particularly like traveling by myself because it gives me freedom to do whatever I want.

   I can change plans on a whim, lounge around all day and eat whenever I want without having to coordinate with anybody else's schedule.

   It wasn't perfect on my first days in London since the people at the hostel I was staying at kept to themselves and it was hard to make friends when everybody (yours trully included) just sat in the common area with their headphones in staring at their computer/phone/tablet screens. But things eased up. I made friends from a different hostels, and we spent some time together before going on our separate ways. After London I was basically visiting friends in the cities I was going to and that was great as well. Because they were there for only part of the journey, in their home territory so they could show me around the nooks and crannies of the lesser beaten path.

  This trip is exactly what I had romanticized traveling to be like. I went out of my comfort zone. I choked on meeting my idol, I ate haggis, I climbed a mountain, I drank with strangers, and got hit by a car. All stories I'll cherish for the rest of my life, of the time when I could have put this trip off for another year, to wait until I had more money, or more stability on my job... or a job at all to be honest. But no, seeing the UK has been a dream of mine for a very long time and I didn't want it to be my good china.
 
    I'm not the kind of person who looks at a mountain and says "I'm gonna climb that", what I am though is the kind of person who doesn't deny herself experiences. And I climbed that mountain, figuratively and literally, and it was completely worth it.

view from the top of Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh Scotland

   Now that I'm back home I have some projects that I want to pick up and work on, hopefully some of them will pan out alright, and the ones that don't will be a good way for me to spend time without feeling like I'm wasting my life.

  Still no progress made on those new years resolutions though.

Best,

M.

A Social Experiment

   Based on Chris Gillebeau's post, How Can You Help Someone For Free, A Social Experiment I've decided that although I'm not very skilled, artistic or even that resourceful there are two things I can give away for free and that can make at least a little bit of a difference to somebody.

  1st. - I am fluent in Portuguese, so I am offering to anyone who needs translations of anything (into portuguese to english or vice versa) they might need. Transcrips, an article, a love letter. You name it, contact me in the comment section and I'll get it done for you in no later then a week. (provided your document is not absurdly long, that might take some time). I am also willing to offer some portuguese lessons for a month to those interested, just keep in mind I'm not a teacher.

   2nd. - I will talk to anybody who wants to, sometimes you just wish there was another person at the end of that angry tweet, or passive agressive tumblr post. Say anything you want in the comment and I will respond to the best of my ability, and if you're extra cheeky (because I'm still in England) you even get a joke (albeit not a very good one) at the end.

   I also want to encourage everybody who reads this to look at Chris' article and think of one thing you can give that might help somebody, anybody, and try out this social experiment.

   Amanda Palmer gave an amazing TED talk about people helping other people, and their willingness to do so. You just have to ask. I highly recommend her video, but would like to go a little farther and say that people also really want your help, all you have to do is offer.

   Cheers,

M.

Choking up

   So last night I met JK Rowling.

   That's right, I'll let that sink in for a while, since It took me forever to believe it was actually happening. She came to The Forum in Bath to talk about her new book and was every bit as amazing as I expected her to be.

   She's honest, and funny and caring. I could go on and on about what she said or what the book is about but I would not be able to do it justice. Also, being the selfish person that I am, I want to talk about myself.

   After the talk she had agreed to sign a copy of The Casual Vacancy for everybody that wanted one. Being in the farthest rows I was one of the last people to get it. So I had enough time to psyche myself out, to nearly vomit several times, threaten a few heart attacks and convince my friend that I am absolutely bat-shit crazy. When we started lining up I had already decided what I wanted to say to her, it was just simple and I edited in my head a bunch of times so it wouldn't be too long, or not sound rude or anything like that. At the leading up to it I actually rehearsed the line in my head over and over again.

   I finally walked up to the table, looked at her straight in the eyes and couldn't do it. The words didn't come out, and I felt so vulnerable and rushed and confused I couldn't say anything. What I wanted to say was personal, and really important to me, and I couldn't do it in front of a thousand strangers.

  I had one chance and I fucked it up.

  I'm not dwelling on it though. I count myself lucky to have been able to be there, to meet a person I idolize so much that I am actually rendered speechless (for those of you who know me in real life, that is indeed a feat).  It was a once in a life time thing and I although it didn't go as planned I did manage to squeak out a "thank you", and after all that was all I really wanted to say.

M.

My Fish & Chips Adventure!

   I went out with my new friend, Tea With Me, on Thursday to find London's allegedly best fish and chips.
 
  The destination was the Rock & Sole Plaice in Covent Garden. We got there, eventually.

  The thing is, I am used to New York City where you can literally get anywhere by counting. Now, in London I'm not ashamed to look like a tourist and open up my big ol' map to try to find where I am going (to the side obviously, people do NOT stop in the middle of the sidewalk).

  Thing is, we had two different maps, and iPhone and the maps the city provides (btw, thank you London for those). And we still walked in the wrong direction SEVERAL times, because the streets aren't straight, and they sometimes continue, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are named, sometimes the names changed but not on the guide.

  Anyhow, as soon as I got to eating I realised I'm not schooled in the art of fish and chips. So although I throughly enjoyed my meal, I'm not qualified to agree with its status of best in all of London.

Best,

M.

So mad at myself I can't even think properly

So I'm not even half way through my trip and I am already 40 pounds short for pure stupidity!

So I was in Oxford this weekend, going to Cardiff today. Bought my ticket ages ago through Megabus (INCLUDE LINK) and was all set to get on my merry way. When my very sensible friend pointed out that I would be getting to Cardiff sort of late and maybe would not be able to check in. I tried calling the hostel but got no answer so I just assumed I couldn't and proceeded to buy a new ticket (for 20 pounds) at an earlier time. I ended up leaving Oxford just five minutes too late and missed the bus by that much.

Once at the bus station, already pissed at myself for my stupidity, I asked the nice lady at the counter when the next bus would be, and that one is already full, so the only available seat is for the bus I already have tickets for. She also mentioned that if by any chance there is a spot free on this earlier bus it costs only 5 pounds (not the 20 I threw away foolishly) to take an earlier one.

Even angrier now, I log online to see FINALLY a response from the hostel saying it is fine if I checked in at a later time.

So the lesson here girls and boys, is PLAN your trips, otherwise you're gonna be so mad at yourself you won't be able to enjoy it.

But these things do happen, what I found to the be best thing is to just take a deep breath, allow yourself to feel all the emotions you need to feel then let it go. If you can't get the money back just make sure you are paying more attention the second time, and don't spoil your trip further by dwelling on it.

Cheers

M.

p.s. the remaining 20 pounds are for stupidities of different nature, but also just as maddening.

Touristy things!

   As much as I dislike traveling on the beaten path there are certain things you HAVE to do when you go to a city. Like NYC, you don't have to take the ferry and climb the Statue of Liberty, but you at least have to go look at it from far away.

  Or on the Staten Island Ferry since it's free anyways.

The Ultimate Uncluttered Tube Map 

   So this is what London consisted of for me today; Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace etc. I also did A LOT of walking around, because the tube is expensive and I'm cheap. It was chilly, but nothing unbearable if you were dressed properly. I also asked a lot of people to take pictures of me, and every time had a mini heart attack wondering if they were going to run off with my camera - the disadvantages of traveling alone.

   It was worth it though, some of these places felt unreal, like Big Ben is not as tall as I thought it would be, but the fact that it is a physical thing in the world did blow my mind a little, after growing up seeing it on tv, movies and cartoons for so many years.

Best,

M.

 

I love airports

   I am a big fan of people watching. Not in the judgy normal way, but in the curious, story way. I like to guess where people are going, who they are going to see and when they'll be back. And there is no better place to do that than transitory places, airports train stations etc...

  I'm currently sitting at Gate 24 of the Aeroporto Internacional de Guarulhos, waiting for my flight to the UK, with connection in Germany. There are German people, Brazilian people, no English in sight yet, but I'm sure they are out there somewhere.

  I unfortunately got stuck with a middle seat, but I'm also kind of excited about that since it is the first time ever that I'll not be sitting at the window, as the youngest in my family I got to scream and yell until somebody gave me the window seat. I'm expecting the flight to be any different, but having watched enough Hollywood movies and read YA I can't help but to wonder at the possibility of meeting a pretty amazing somebody who is stuck next to me for the next 12 hours.

That is all from my end, I'll be Cheeky Morringhan for the duration of my stay in the UK.

Deal with it.

CM.