I have been posting about my travels a bit but what about everyday life in London? I used to write about that a lot when I first got here but what's going on now?
Well, here's an example of what's going on. I took this video sitting at the front upstairs on a bus on my way home after work one night a few weeks ago. It was during the cold snap when there was a bit of snow around.
To get home from work, sometimes I walk, but mostly just walk across the River Thames over Tower Bridge, and then catch a bus from Tower Bridge Road, through the North part of Bermondsey, to my house in Rotherhithe. Here is the bus ride in its full, unedited glory.
Where in the World is DK?
08 February 2010
Australian summer means beach
One of my favourite pass times during summer in Australia is sitting on a beach with my mates whilst drinking beer, going for a swim and watching the girls. When I went back to Australia for a few weeks over Christmas I got to do this quite a bit. It was great. It was paradise.
Here's a short video of some footage I captured at Portsea Surf Beach, about an hour down the coast from Melbourne:
Here's a short video of some footage I captured at Portsea Surf Beach, about an hour down the coast from Melbourne:
02 February 2010
The Changing World of Travel
A friend and I are going to Austria in a few weeks time, and we will be starting our trip off in Vienna. She mentioned a movie called Before Sunrise to me. I had never heard of it but apparently it was a film set in Vienna. So last night I went to her house and watched it, so that I would have a frame of reference for any such references she may make to the film whilst we're there.
I liked it, and even though it was a complete chick flick, with excessive dialogue (and a distinct lack of car chases and firearms), it reminded me of the romance of travel generally, which is something close to my heart. But I digress. The point I am trying to get to is that we noticed the characters - with their early-to-mid-1990's style - carrying around bags, and I thought these days they would surely be wheeling around suitcases.
Suitcases... like this maybe?
I liked it, and even though it was a complete chick flick, with excessive dialogue (and a distinct lack of car chases and firearms), it reminded me of the romance of travel generally, which is something close to my heart. But I digress. The point I am trying to get to is that we noticed the characters - with their early-to-mid-1990's style - carrying around bags, and I thought these days they would surely be wheeling around suitcases.
Suitcases... like this maybe?
When I think back to when I was a kid, in the early 90's and certainly the 80's, no-one really had suitcases like that.
People carried bags and suitcases like this:
...which had wheels if you were lucky, and even if they did, the frames were probably still quite unballanced and hard to wheel around.
The funny thing is that the suitcases we have now haven't been around for long at all. Which made me think, so much has changed with the way we travel.
Here are some things I regularly do when planning and carrying out a holiday, that my parents could not have done in the early 90's:
- I look around for cheap flights online, using sites such as Kayak to compare prices. If I am not sure what airlines fly to an airport, I use Wikipedia to look up the airport. It will tell me which airlines fly there and where from. When I am happy with a flight, I book it. Directly. Without a travel agent.
- I book a hostel days before leaving, and I know it will be a clean, friendly and fun place, because I have read the reviews from fellow backpackers.
- I fly for relatively cheap, because of deregulation of the airline market. Competition has made for affordable fares, as have budget airlines.
- To figure out how I am going to get from the airport at an affordable price by looking up all of the transport options on Wikitravel. Whilst there, I also have a look at what the suggested things are to do in that city. It is like having a Lonely Planet guidebook for every city. Except more up to date.
- Once I get there, I email mum on my Blackberry to tell her I have arrived safely.
- I don't want to waste money on bad exchange rates at foreign exchange offices, so I just put my debit card into any ATM and withdraw through the Maestro or Visa networks. If I am travelling in Europe, I only need Euros for most of the Western part of the continent.
- As I travel from country to country, I needn't worry about showing my passport. Most of these European countries are Schengen countries. And anyway, an EU passport gets me anywhere.
- I get snap happy and take about 500 photos in just a few days, and don't use a single roll of film. I choose the best photos out of that set. There are some really good ones. There would have to be seeing as I've taken so bloody many! After making some slight adjustments, I upload them to Facebook for my friends and family to see and comment on instantly, rather than boring them with albums when I get home.
Those were just a few things off the top of my head. Please feel free to comment below and share your thoughts - what can you do in your travels today that you couldn't in 1990? Even more interestingly, what can you do today that you couldn't in 2000?
01 February 2010
Interesting Times Ahead
I have been booking flights like crazy over the last few days!
This is a copy of an email I wrote to my friends this afternoon:
From: DK
Sent: 01 February 2010 13:43
To: (friends)
Subject: Exciting times
This is a copy of an email I wrote to my friends this afternoon:
From: DK
Sent: 01 February 2010 13:43
To: (friends)
Subject: Exciting times
Interesting times ahead!
BA bookings in the next few months:
easyJet bookings in the next few months:
(end of email)
What this means, I think, is that my work to accomplish my Travel Goals for 2010 is well in progress.
30 January 2010
An English Seaside
I recently wrote about a trip to Yorkshire. During our drive around the region, we stopped off at Flamborough Head. It was so cold and windy! I took some footage on my iPhone while I checked out some of the scenery. Here it is:
25 January 2010
A Winter Weekend in Yorkshire
A few months ago, way back, before I went to Australia, I saw some cheap train tickets advertised for trips up to the North of England. Some friends and I decided we would book some and have a cheap trip up Yorkshire way.
So last week, three friends and I caught an early morning train out of London to the City of York. We spent rented a car from a lovely Yorkshire lady at the Hertz at York station and I thought, "it's nice to be up here. The people are much friendlier!"
We looked around York for a bit for the benefit of those of us who had never been, and had morning tea at Betty's Tearoom.
Then we headed further up North, down some partly flooded, narrow B-roads, a route which was a result of my lack of ability to properly follow a GPS navigation system. But a route that was fun and scenic nevertheless.
Once in North Yorkshire, we stopped at various seaside spots on the way, and I was impressed by how rough, brown and wild the sea looked. Never had I seen beaches looking so uninviting. We stopped by various cliffs overlooking the sea, each time only leaving the car for a few minutes before the cold and wind forced us back into the shelter of our Ford Focus.
We made it to Whitby, a town known for where Captain Cook first commenced his naval endeavors (no pun intended) and subsequently discovered half of the new world including Australia. We made it to a pub named after his ship the Endeavour amongst a number of other fine drinking establishments, and apart from me not being able to understand some of the locals, it was a good night out.
We woke up to some home cooked breakfast in our B&B the next morning, went to the beach and checked out the Whitby sights before driving through the Yorkshire Moors national park, an area covered in a good foot of snow. I was surprised by what wilderness existed in Britain - places where you could see for miles without seeing much of anything. We watched sunset from steep hillside covered with snow and drove back to York, to stock up with drinks for the two hour train ride home.
Overall a great weekend of getting out of the city, seeing a bit more of Britain and spending time with friends. One of them beat me to it, and wrote her own blog entry on the trip, including some great photos.
So last week, three friends and I caught an early morning train out of London to the City of York. We spent rented a car from a lovely Yorkshire lady at the Hertz at York station and I thought, "it's nice to be up here. The people are much friendlier!"
We looked around York for a bit for the benefit of those of us who had never been, and had morning tea at Betty's Tearoom.
Then we headed further up North, down some partly flooded, narrow B-roads, a route which was a result of my lack of ability to properly follow a GPS navigation system. But a route that was fun and scenic nevertheless.
Once in North Yorkshire, we stopped at various seaside spots on the way, and I was impressed by how rough, brown and wild the sea looked. Never had I seen beaches looking so uninviting. We stopped by various cliffs overlooking the sea, each time only leaving the car for a few minutes before the cold and wind forced us back into the shelter of our Ford Focus.
We made it to Whitby, a town known for where Captain Cook first commenced his naval endeavors (no pun intended) and subsequently discovered half of the new world including Australia. We made it to a pub named after his ship the Endeavour amongst a number of other fine drinking establishments, and apart from me not being able to understand some of the locals, it was a good night out.
We woke up to some home cooked breakfast in our B&B the next morning, went to the beach and checked out the Whitby sights before driving through the Yorkshire Moors national park, an area covered in a good foot of snow. I was surprised by what wilderness existed in Britain - places where you could see for miles without seeing much of anything. We watched sunset from steep hillside covered with snow and drove back to York, to stock up with drinks for the two hour train ride home.
Overall a great weekend of getting out of the city, seeing a bit more of Britain and spending time with friends. One of them beat me to it, and wrote her own blog entry on the trip, including some great photos.
15 January 2010
New Years Eve in Australia and Return to England
My last posts were at the end of December from Melbourne, Australia.
I celebrated new years eve with three of my closest friends. The day was hot. Really hot. My parents went to the beach and it was going to be one of my last chances to spend the day with them, so I went to the beach too. After the beach I came home, had a quick shower and was picked up by one of my mates. We stopped by the bottle-o (Aussie for liquor store / off licence), picked up some beers, ice and a bottle of Jäger. We went to a friend's house and drank in the comfort of his air conditioning and then some more in his back yard as the heat eased off. As it was time to head out, the cold front came through, the temperature dropped noticeably within seconds and it started pouring.
We were thinking of spending the evening in a lively inner beach-side part of the city but the rain kind of drowned that idea. We made it into the city where we were unable to get in anywhere and were getting wetter by the minute. The fireworks started exploding all around, and we sheltered under a bridge and watched them light up the rainy sky over the Yarra River. We decided, then, that we would seek shelter and booze in Crown Casino.
Reflecting on the evening, it was great to spend it with close friends. They are great guys and I missed them while I was away. But overall we ended up doing the same old thing in the same old places. During some of my visit I had doubts about why I am still in cold dark England when I could be living life on the beach in Australia. But I now realised that if I were to settle in back in Australia, live life there, not just a holiday, that the monotony would soon get to me and really, I'm not ready for that just yet. Adventures still await in the Northern Hemisphere.
So a few days later I was feeling fine about leaving the sun and the sea, and boarding a London-bound jet.
My flight departed in the middle of the night, and I had a good sleep on my way to Malaysia. We landed in KL while it was still dark, and I spent the morning in a lounge there. It was a five hour stopover and it was nice to be able to have a shower and a free feed. But then came the longer part of the flight, the 13 hours back to London. It did give me a chance to watch about 5 movies and some TV shows. Video on demand really does make flights go faster these days!
I landed in London and it was indeed cold. In fact I had just gotten there in time for the "big freeze". In the long passport control queue I picked up an Evening Standard and saw an article predicting snow and lots of it. Its prediction was accurate. The next morning I woke up before dawn, looked outside my bedroom window and saw London covered with snow. It continued like this for about two weeks, until just a few days ago. What a contrast! A few days ago I had been on the beach covering up with sunscreen, and a couple of days later I was trekking to work through the snow.
They say variety is the spice of life. It is. And I like my life with a lot of flavour. Change - it makes life interesting. It makes life tasty.
I celebrated new years eve with three of my closest friends. The day was hot. Really hot. My parents went to the beach and it was going to be one of my last chances to spend the day with them, so I went to the beach too. After the beach I came home, had a quick shower and was picked up by one of my mates. We stopped by the bottle-o (Aussie for liquor store / off licence), picked up some beers, ice and a bottle of Jäger. We went to a friend's house and drank in the comfort of his air conditioning and then some more in his back yard as the heat eased off. As it was time to head out, the cold front came through, the temperature dropped noticeably within seconds and it started pouring.
We were thinking of spending the evening in a lively inner beach-side part of the city but the rain kind of drowned that idea. We made it into the city where we were unable to get in anywhere and were getting wetter by the minute. The fireworks started exploding all around, and we sheltered under a bridge and watched them light up the rainy sky over the Yarra River. We decided, then, that we would seek shelter and booze in Crown Casino.
Reflecting on the evening, it was great to spend it with close friends. They are great guys and I missed them while I was away. But overall we ended up doing the same old thing in the same old places. During some of my visit I had doubts about why I am still in cold dark England when I could be living life on the beach in Australia. But I now realised that if I were to settle in back in Australia, live life there, not just a holiday, that the monotony would soon get to me and really, I'm not ready for that just yet. Adventures still await in the Northern Hemisphere.
So a few days later I was feeling fine about leaving the sun and the sea, and boarding a London-bound jet.
My flight departed in the middle of the night, and I had a good sleep on my way to Malaysia. We landed in KL while it was still dark, and I spent the morning in a lounge there. It was a five hour stopover and it was nice to be able to have a shower and a free feed. But then came the longer part of the flight, the 13 hours back to London. It did give me a chance to watch about 5 movies and some TV shows. Video on demand really does make flights go faster these days!
I landed in London and it was indeed cold. In fact I had just gotten there in time for the "big freeze". In the long passport control queue I picked up an Evening Standard and saw an article predicting snow and lots of it. Its prediction was accurate. The next morning I woke up before dawn, looked outside my bedroom window and saw London covered with snow. It continued like this for about two weeks, until just a few days ago. What a contrast! A few days ago I had been on the beach covering up with sunscreen, and a couple of days later I was trekking to work through the snow.
They say variety is the spice of life. It is. And I like my life with a lot of flavour. Change - it makes life interesting. It makes life tasty.
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