![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
textualdevianceFirst off: *points to icon*
It's officially official. We've both been cleared by our bosses! Now just nailing down exact dates. At the moment, the most likely is May 20-June 10. Or thereabouts. We'll definitely be hitting the London Expo (already have tickets) and also doing a Duran Duran concert that weekend at the O2 (also already have tickets.) Haven't seen them live since 1984. Figured since I'm (almost) 40-going-on-13 these days, may as well go all in for it. (Heck, I may even go haunt the red carpet zone at the BAFTA TV thingy going on then, too, if my lad's stuff gets any noms.)
The specific itinerary for the trip still being worked out, apart from that weekend. Thusfar, I know for sure we want to hit Brighton, Bath (and yes, Stonehenge), Cardiff, Dublin and Leeds. Plus a bunch of touristy crap in London. Depending on timing/routes, we'll prolly also hit Glasgow and Belfast (or at least thereabouts; I want to see Giant's Causeway.) We'll likely also make some stops based on birding/caching/gardens stuff, and I hope to find a way to hook up with at least some of my fandom peeps (if not at the Expo, then some other way.)
I've decided to bite the bullet and rent a car while we're there. Not while we're in London--gods, no--but for the rest of the tour, I think it'll ultimately be easier than figuring out trains, etc. (especially with my somewhat-limited mobility.) Slightly terrified of getting used to things being on the "wrong" side, but if I start out in a smaller town (Leeds or Brighton) and make sure I have an automatic, I should be OK after a day or so's practice. Just hope I don't smash things up while I'm learning!
I can't believe we're actually doing this, though. First--and probably only--time for something this big. I've never done a three-week vacation before, never crossed the Atlantic, never been on a plane for more than 6 hours, and the only foreign country I've spent more than an afternoon in is Canada. So. Yeah. Big deal for me. *wibble*
--
This massive adventure is being funded by the fact that my contract got extended, and now goes through the end of June. Frankly, I'm slightly annoyed at the prospect of working this job for four more months, but having something like this to look forward to is making the deadly boring days a little less so. And there's something more to look forward to as well: Even with the expense of the trip, we'll have a fair amount left over. Factoring in some more cash we expect at the end of the summer, and we can get the adoption stuff started as soon as we get back.
That's part of the reason for the trip, fwiw. Once we get a small human, I won't have the bandwidth to manage large-scale travel plus minding the bairn. So we're looking at at least 10 years (aka, when the kid's more self-sufficient) before we could do something like that again. Little trips, sure, but not the around-the-world stuff, unless we suddenly come into a ton of money and can hire a sherpa/nanny to help out. Last fling of my pre-parenthood life? May as well.
Still somewhat flummoxed as to how, specifically, to get started on that path, tho (an option that isn't state care, open or international is proving elusive), but I guess we'll figure it out.
--
Still working here and there on the novel, though the muses have wanted me to play with other stuff lately. I only have a few more chapters to go on the rough draft, though. I can see the end in sight, which is more than I can say for any of the other novels I've tried to finish over the years. It's not award-winning, Earth-shattering stuff, but I do think it's not half bad for a YA fantasy story.
Spose I'll have more time to muck around with it soon now that the first half of my show's new run is over and the next one isn't until late May (prolly when we'll be there, actually.) Or maybe I'll just write more porn and do more stupid vids. ;)
--
Saw a flock of robins pecking at the back lawn this morning. Spring isn't just a distant dream!
It's officially official. We've both been cleared by our bosses! Now just nailing down exact dates. At the moment, the most likely is May 20-June 10. Or thereabouts. We'll definitely be hitting the London Expo (already have tickets) and also doing a Duran Duran concert that weekend at the O2 (also already have tickets.) Haven't seen them live since 1984. Figured since I'm (almost) 40-going-on-13 these days, may as well go all in for it. (Heck, I may even go haunt the red carpet zone at the BAFTA TV thingy going on then, too, if my lad's stuff gets any noms.)
The specific itinerary for the trip still being worked out, apart from that weekend. Thusfar, I know for sure we want to hit Brighton, Bath (and yes, Stonehenge), Cardiff, Dublin and Leeds. Plus a bunch of touristy crap in London. Depending on timing/routes, we'll prolly also hit Glasgow and Belfast (or at least thereabouts; I want to see Giant's Causeway.) We'll likely also make some stops based on birding/caching/gardens stuff, and I hope to find a way to hook up with at least some of my fandom peeps (if not at the Expo, then some other way.)
I've decided to bite the bullet and rent a car while we're there. Not while we're in London--gods, no--but for the rest of the tour, I think it'll ultimately be easier than figuring out trains, etc. (especially with my somewhat-limited mobility.) Slightly terrified of getting used to things being on the "wrong" side, but if I start out in a smaller town (Leeds or Brighton) and make sure I have an automatic, I should be OK after a day or so's practice. Just hope I don't smash things up while I'm learning!
I can't believe we're actually doing this, though. First--and probably only--time for something this big. I've never done a three-week vacation before, never crossed the Atlantic, never been on a plane for more than 6 hours, and the only foreign country I've spent more than an afternoon in is Canada. So. Yeah. Big deal for me. *wibble*
--
This massive adventure is being funded by the fact that my contract got extended, and now goes through the end of June. Frankly, I'm slightly annoyed at the prospect of working this job for four more months, but having something like this to look forward to is making the deadly boring days a little less so. And there's something more to look forward to as well: Even with the expense of the trip, we'll have a fair amount left over. Factoring in some more cash we expect at the end of the summer, and we can get the adoption stuff started as soon as we get back.
That's part of the reason for the trip, fwiw. Once we get a small human, I won't have the bandwidth to manage large-scale travel plus minding the bairn. So we're looking at at least 10 years (aka, when the kid's more self-sufficient) before we could do something like that again. Little trips, sure, but not the around-the-world stuff, unless we suddenly come into a ton of money and can hire a sherpa/nanny to help out. Last fling of my pre-parenthood life? May as well.
Still somewhat flummoxed as to how, specifically, to get started on that path, tho (an option that isn't state care, open or international is proving elusive), but I guess we'll figure it out.
--
Still working here and there on the novel, though the muses have wanted me to play with other stuff lately. I only have a few more chapters to go on the rough draft, though. I can see the end in sight, which is more than I can say for any of the other novels I've tried to finish over the years. It's not award-winning, Earth-shattering stuff, but I do think it's not half bad for a YA fantasy story.
Spose I'll have more time to muck around with it soon now that the first half of my show's new run is over and the next one isn't until late May (prolly when we'll be there, actually.) Or maybe I'll just write more porn and do more stupid vids. ;)
--
Saw a flock of robins pecking at the back lawn this morning. Spring isn't just a distant dream!
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject