The Weekly Photo

Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy

Seeing the old and the new

On my first round the world trip, most of my time was spent socializing in hostels and guesthouses, meeting five hour friends, drinking, and living everyday like saturday. There was always something going on and a constant stream of bodies in and out of the hostels. It was pretty hard to get bored but sometimes it became sensory overload. This trip I am reaping the benefits of all those meetings by staying with friends instead of in hostels. I’ve been on the road for a month now and, except for one night in Salisbury, I haven’t stayed in a hostel.

By traveling two totally completely different ways, you get two totally different experiences. When you travel and stay in hostels, you meet people everyday. Everyday new people come in, old ones go out. I can’t even begin to count how many people I met while I was away. Moreover, many hostels have bars and organize activities. There is always a party going on, there is always some activity to do. It’s never boring in a hostel.

Yet when you stay with friends, there aren’t wild crazy nights all the time, a constant stream of drunken debauchery or a stream of people. It’s more like visiting a friend’s house for the weekend. You spend most of the time hanging out and doing a few things. It’s quieter and more relaxed. You get to “live like a local.” The biggest catch-22 in traveling is that everyone wants to live like a local but few ever do. No one really stays around long enough in one place to do so. When you stay with locals, you see the world through their eyes. I got taken to places I’d never would have found in a guidebook or through wandering on my own. It’s a great way experience to see a city from the inside out instead of the outside in. 

It has been great bouncing around England this way. The setting and tone is different but I’m having just as much fun. It’s different seeing friends in their own environment, away from the hustle and bustle of the road where I last saw them. I can’t say anyone is really any different than I remember, though the working world has toned down their partying. When you stay at hostels, you rarely get to met locals so it’s nice to be able to “live” somewhere and get exposed to England as the English know it.

However, going from house to house has taught me that I don’t like doing it for such a long time. I love seeing my friends but the social butterfly in me yearns for more excitement, more people, and a few more parties. A month has been long enough for me. It’s now time to mix it up with a few hostels just to meet new faces. I’ll always be bouncing between friend’s couches so long as I have friends where I travel too. One of the greatest things about traveling is meeting people you can visit- people who will open up their home to you. However, in the future, I’ll break up these visits more so I can balance my twin desires- seeing old faces while meeting new ones.

The Lake District

The Lake District is located in Cumbria on the northwest coast of England about an hour from the Scottish border. The Lake District is to Northern England what Cornwall is to the south and I can’t figure out which one I enjoyed more.  They’re both so beautiful, I don’t think I could ever pick one. The Lakes are a result of the last Ice Age.  Glaciers receded from here and cut the U shaped valleys that are now filled with water. The Lake District is one of the most visited national parks in England.  We drove up on a Sunday and the highways were packed with people going down south after a nice relaxing weekend at the lakes. Judging from the traffic it is easy to believe that this place fills up with people and going there clearly shows you why.

My friends and I drove up from Lancaster and spent the driving from lake to lake and enjoying the tremendous scenery. Starting up north at Ullswater we made our way south to Windermere.  The further south we went, the busier it got. I enjoyed the northern lakes more because of this.  Ullswater is located in a rugged area and surrounded by mountains, hiking trails, and sheep farms. It was very reminiscent of New Zealand and looked a lot like Milford Sound but without all the ice. Ullswater may be the second largest lake in the district but it’s one of the quietest.  Pooley Bridge village is located at the northern end of the lake and is famous for the little stone bridge that crosses a river that flows out of the lake. The bridge was nothing special but the river is shallow enough to walk across and, despite its cold temperature, had many kids playing in it.  Driving south, we passed mountain after mountain and farm after farm. There’s a lot of sheep in this area and yet another reason why the place makes me think of New Zealand.

We drove through the Kirkstone Pass which provides stunning views of the whole area and a few of the lakes. Little streams trickle down hill and there are a number of swimming holes here. However, once you pass through, you reach the southern part of the district and the more heavily touristed area. Coming out of the pass, houses started to spring up all around, more cars were on the road, and people seemed everywhere. When we pulled into Windermere, we hit traffic and crowds and I longed for the serenity of the northern lakes. We didn’t even stop in Windermere because after driving around for twenty minutes, we realized we just couldn’t find parking. I wasn’t too bothered- I like avoiding crowds.  Interesting fact about Windemere though: the home of Beatrix Potter, who wrote the Peter Rabbit books, is located here.

Not only is the Lake District amazing, but all of surrounding area is too. My friends lived in Lancaster, which was equally beautiful. It’s a populated version of the Lake District but still with all the charm. I woke up to this each morning:

Ancient stone walls sectioned off vast numbers of sheep, green hills rolled on forever in all directions, and tiny English stone cottages dotted the landscape.  This whole area had an “English country” feel that I’ve yet to see elsewhere and coming here definitely took me back a few centuries. The whole area is so well preserved and so perfect, you often wonder if the locals got together and decided to rebuild everything like it was in the 1700s for the tourists. Luckily, that is not the case. People here have just maintained these ancient houses out of their own free will. The house I stayed in was over 500 years old.

Out of all the time I’ve spent here in England, my weekend in Lancaster and the Lake District felt the most English.  The cottages, the sheep, the hills, and the Sunday venison roast caught by a man who wore this:

You can’t get more English than that!

Cheap Ways to Travel Across Europe

Europe is not always the cheapest place to travel around. Transportation costs can cause havoc on any budget, especially if you are going long distances. It’s most ridiculous in the U.K where the pricing method is similar to the airlines. If you need to hop on a train, it can be as (or more) expensive as hoping on a flight. (I’m not joking. It cost me more for a 2 hr train ride than it did to fly to Amsterdam from London.) However, there are still a few cheap ways to travel around Europe:

Megabus- A cheap way to get across the United Kingdom, fares can cost as little as one pound. Even if you don’t scoop up these amazingly cheap deals, you can still travel for a fraction of the cost you can on the National Rail system. Fares rarely top fifteen pounds. Most Megatrains and buses leave from London but you can also get intercity links from many of the country’s main destinations. (As well as major destinations in Wales and Scotland.) It’s simply the best deal around. Travel in the UK is ridiculously expensive and even if you change your plans, you are only losing a pound. This should be your first option for UK travel.

Busabout- A hop on/hop off again service similar to the OZ or Kiwi Experience. You can get on and off whenever you like and, once you buy the ticket, you don’t have to worry about transportation the whole way. There is an onboard guide that can help you with accommodation. They’ll help plan events and tours for you too. Busabout is not the cheapest option on the list but for those looking for something different, it is a good way to get around hassle free while knowing you’ll be around other backpackers. What you are really paying for is a scaled down tour and for the first time traveler, this can be a good option if they don’t feel comfortable traveling on their own.

Low Cost Carriers- By far the cheapest option for traveling Europe, these airlines are so prolific that it helps keeps fares cheap. You can often find tickets where the fare is just the taxes. Companies like SkyEurope, Transavia, EasyJet, and RyanAir offer flights throughout the continent for dirt cheap. It cost me 20 pounds to fly from London to Amsterdam, 25 euros to fly from Paris to Germany, and 60 euros to go from Stockholm to Amsterdam. Book early and you can get tickets for mere pennies.

EuroRail Pass- Getting a rail pass is a good option if you are going to be traveling across vast distances. The European rail system is very good and very cheap over short distances. However, when you start boarding night trains across multiple countries, the rail system becomes a bit more expensive. Rail Passes are a great way to save quite a few euros and are a must for anyone looking to take the trains over long distances.

Use these options and you are bound to save money while you travel around Europe!

England in Pictures

On this fine Sunday, let’s all relax and enjoy the beauty of England.

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