What to Pack

This is the backpack where I'll pack my clothing and gear for the U.K. trip. My family says it's important to pack light. I like this one, because it has wheels, but I can also lift it, because it's light weight. I told my parents to get me this and my clothes as a going away gift. I know Grandma Lo will give me some money as she always sends it to me in envelopes for trips. 

However, there are no graphics on this backpack, so in that case I will decorate it with some of my favorite patches. I can also buy some during my trip as souvenirs of my travels in the U.K.

GO SPIDEY!

London Patch

The Irish Crusade

Luck of the Irish

Scottish Coat of Arms. The red lion on it reminds me of
the royal shield from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Here is what will go inside:

4 T-shirts

2 Long sleeve T-shirts

5 underwear

5 pairs of socks

1 rain jacket

1 jacket

Warm hat

1 pair of sandals

1 pair of tennis shoes

1 pair of shades

1 cap

1 Smart Travel First Aid Kit 
Click video link to see what is inside

1 smartphone

Water bottle/thermos

Passport

Money Carrier

Adapter

Toiletries in a plastic bag

Rain Jacket

Money Carrier

Smart Travel First Aid Kit

Video of where I am going on my trip...

 I will fly from San Diego direct to London!
From London I will go by train to Glasgow then by train to Edinburgh.

I am going to hop on a bus to Loch Ness and return to Edinburgh.

Then travel by train to Holyhead where I catch a ferry to Dublin.

I catch another train to the South to visit Killarney then back to Dublin.

Go by boat back to Holyhead.








For the last part of my trip I will take the train to Bath then to Exeter. This is a photo of my Dad Rafael when he was my age and went to live with our friends in Exeter. These are drawings he did back then in a sketchbook. I will stay with the same family-Felipe is a painter and has a printing press that I can learn to use. I get to stay there free and they will feed me and take me all over the country side in their car. You drive on the other side in England.

My Dad as a boy in England and his sketchbook

From Exeter I will return to London and fly back home to San Diego in time for Halloween.

Daily Travel Journal Template

Plane Travel:
San Diego to London
Plane Ticket San Diego to London and back $1193.60

Travel costs

Transportation Costs: 
London Pass [3 days]  $79.60
British Train Pass $290.00
Glasgow Bus Tour [2 days] $19.99
Loch Ness boat $11.70
Ferry to Ireland and back $195.60
Irish Rail Dublin to Kilarney and back  $205.04
Dublin Bus [5 days] $25.46
Bus to Kilarney National Park $5.00
Bus to Blennerville $38.00

Transportation Total: $2,063.84

Hotel costs x the nights I stay there

Hotel Total: $2,176.00-oops I made one mistake.
I can sleep on the ferry back from Dublin and don't need a hotel. That means I can subtract $97.00

Hotel: $2079.00

$4142.84 Transportation and Hotel


$1000.00  for food-that is $40 per day for 25 days because when I stay with our friends in Exeter I eat free. I get to save money by eating there and they will take me around.









$93.00-Travel Insurance
I found this for one month.

I have to buy insurance for $93.00

$764.20 extra spending money

I went to Priceline.com to find my hotels. You type in the city and select the number of stars then try to find the price you want. I like to look at the pictures to see if I would like it.

Day 2:
Date: October 2
Location: London
Hotel: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot
Activities: Explore and get used the time zone

London is 8 hours ahead. That means when it is 8am in London it is midnight in San Diego.

Day 3:
Date: October 3
Location: London
Hotel: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Use London Pass to see Charles Dickens Museum, Big Ben and the Old Globe Theatre.


Day 4:
Date: October 4
Location: London
Hotel: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Use London Pass to see Cartoon Museum and take a boat cruise on the Thames River.


Day 5:
Date: October 5
Location: London
Hotel: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Use London pass to see the London Zoo and Pollocks Toy Museum.


Day 6:
Date: October 6
Location: London
Hotel: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: London pass
Activities: Buckingham Palace

Day 7:
Date: October 7
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Hotel: Best Western Glasgow, $93.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Walk around the city


Day 8:
Date: October 8
Location: Glasgow
Hotel: Best Western Glasgow, $93.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Glasgow double decker bus tour.


Day 9:
Date: October 9
Location: Glasgow
Hotel: Best Western Glasgow, $93.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Ghoulish Glasgow Spook Tour, perfect for Halloween as I am going in October.

Day 10:
Date: October 10
Location: Edinburgh
Hotel: Cairn Hotel $99.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot
Activities: Explore the town

Day 11:
Date: October 11
Location: Edinburgh, Loch Ness
Hotel: Cairn Hotel $99.00
Meals: $40
Transportation & Activities: Go by bus to Loch Ness
Take a boat trip on Loch Ness


Day 12:
Date: October 12
Location: Edinburgh
Hotel: Cairn Hotel $99.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Use my train pass to get to Holyhead
Activities: Just get there and relax

Day 13:
Date: October 13
Location: Holyhead
Sleep on ferry
Meals: $40
Transportation: Pay for ferry
Activities: Ferry

Day 14:
Date: October 14
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Hotel: TravelLodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot and go by bus
Activities: Explore the town

Day 15:
Date: October 15
Location: Dublin
Hotel: TravelLodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot and go by bus
Activities: National Museum

Day 16:
Date: October 16
Location: Dublin
Hotel: TravelLodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot and go by bus
Activities: Old Library and Book of Kells


Day 17:
Date: October 17
Location: Dublin
Hotel: TravelLodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot, Go by bus
Activities: See Viking Adventure


Day 18:
Date: October 18
Location: Dublin
Hotel: TravelLodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Go by train to Kilarney
Activities: Tour Dublin Castle and listen to music

Day 19:
Date: October 19
Location: Killarney
Hotel: Asheville House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation:Walk on Foot
Activities: Explore the town

Day 20:
Date: October  20
Location: Killarney
Hotel: Asheville House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Bus to Park $5 [5 minutes]
Activities: Hike in Killarney National Park


Day 21:
Date: October 21
Location: Killarney
Hotel: Asheville House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot
Activities: Hear Celtic Music


Day 22:
Date: October 22
Location: Kilarney, Blennerville
Hotel: Asheville House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Go by bus to Blennerville $38 both ways
Activities: See the Blennerville Windmill


Day 23:
Date: October 23
Location: Dublin
Hotel: Dublin Travel Lodge $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation: Walk on foot
Activities: Go listen to a concert

Day 24:
Date: October 24
Location: Holyhead
Meals: $40
Transportation: Sleep on Ferry
Activities: Wake up and use my train pass to go to Bath and Exeter

Day 25:
Date: October 25
Location: Bath and Exeter
Meals: $40
Stay in Exeter with Dad's friend Felipe Ehrenberg [where he stayed as a boy in the country]
Transportation: Use my Train pass and walk by foot
Activities: See Bath then go to Exeter

Day 26: 

Date: October 26

Location: Exeter
Stay with Felipe
Meals: FREE
Transportation: FREE
Activities:

Day 27:
Date: October 27
Location: Exeter
Stay with Felipe
Meals: FREE
Transportation:FREE
Activities:

Day 28:
Date: October 28
Location: Exeter
Stay with Felipe
Meals: FREE
Transportation:FREE
Activities:

Day 29:
Date: October 29
Location: Exeter
Stay with Felipe Ehrenberg
Meals: FREE
Transportation: Take the train back to London using my British Rail pass
Activities:

Day 30:
Date: October 30
Location: London
Accommodations: Hartley House $95.00
Meals: $40
Transportation:
Activities:

Plane Travel: London to San Diego

Day 31:
Date: October 31
Location: San Diego for Halloween
On Plane I will eat and then back in California with my family

Fantastic stuff about England, Scotland and Ireland

I plan to visit England, Ireland and Scotland, and in all three countries they speak English, but with different accents. In Ireland Irish is spoken but they speak English too. The capital of England is of course London, the capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, and the capital of Ireland is Dublin.

             

KING KONG attacks London!

HOORAY! Our courageous knights have saved the kingdom
of Edinburgh!

I LOVE Dublin!

The region is also called the United Kingdom and includes: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I also want to visit Southern Ireland. My family on my moms side came from England and Ireland.

The populations are:

• England: 63 million people

• Scotland: 5.3 million people

• Ireland: 4.8 million people

LANGUAGE: English
MONEY: Pound sterling
MAJOR RIVER: Thames

The United Kingdom (I like to call it U.K.) is a bunch of islands in the North of Europe. The U.K. is England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The north and west has mountains and deep valleys created during the Ice Age.

Look out! Here comes the ICE AGE!

London is full of famous authors such as Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling who created the Harry Potter book. The books were made into six and two halves of movies.

Welcome to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

In the south of England you will find rolling hills. In England and Scotland there are many lakes, called locks-maybe you heard of the Loch Ness monster. These lakes are long and very deep and Nessie lives in Scotland.

Beware the LOCH NESS MONSTER!

Black and white photo of Nessie

There were lots of invaders like Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans. Much later people came from the Caribbean islands, Africa, and Asia to work. Popular stuff is sports like: soccer, rugby, cricket, boxing, and golf invented here. I prefer the famous writers: William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and J.K. Rowling who wrote Harry Potter. Roald Dahl who is my favorite also lived and wrote books here.There was a king called Henry the 8th who cut off his wifes heads. Kings used to rule with advice from the church and rich men. There used to be lots of colonies of England but they could not pay for them anymore. The government has a monarch-the queen but she does not really have power. She is very rich and lives in a beautiful palace. Lady Diana was a famous princess there. The U.K. has a strong economy and the goverment is called parliament to rule.

Map of the U.K.

Flag of England

   

ENGLAND

England has the most people in the United Kingdom. The other countries tare Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Map of England

Other big cities are Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds.England has some small islands like the Isle of Wight and Hayling Island. The Channel Tunnel connects England and France.Famous English scientists include Charles Darwin and Issac Newton.The longest river in England is the River Thames and the largest lake is Windermere.An English scientist Tim Berners-Lee is the one who made the Worldwide Web.The queen lives in Buckingham Palace and I want to go there.

Flag of Scotland

SCOTLAND

Scotland is located in the North and is part of the U.K.

Map of Scotland

I want to go here to see things like bagpipes and kilts. Scotland shares a border with England and has over 700 islands. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh but the biggest city is Glasgow. Scotland has over 300 railway stations.Scottish drivers drive their cars on the left-hand side of the road.I really want to go to Lock Ness.The thistle is a national symbol of Scotland.

Flag of Ireland

IRELAND
Is an island off the East coast of England and Scotland.

MONEY: Euro
LANGUAGES: Irish and English
MAJOR RIVER: Shannon

Viking invaders began to attack Ireland. They made villages that became soon became big cities like Dublin. The Vikings and Celts fought for a long time and divided the country.

Vikings invade Ireland

One of my favorite movies is called The Secret of Kells. It is about the beautiful books the monks made called illumnated manuscripts. These are very fancy books with covers that glitter like gold.

When I go to Dublin I want to visit the Old Library to see the famous Book of Kells.

I want to hear Irish music at the Temple Bar. I would also like to go to the National Museum and see Dublin's Viking Adventure because I like Vikings. Then I will tour Dublin Castle to catch a play or concert.

The interior for the fancy castle of Dublin, just like Buckingham
Palace.

In Tralee I want to see the Blennerville Windmill because I love windmills. In MineCraft I built my own windmill from the ground up.

Here is the Blennerville Windmill

Here is one of the windmills from MineCraft. Look out! There
are spooky Jack-o-lanterns surrounding it.

I will go to Killarney National Park hiking to look for leprechauns or maybe a pot of gold.

Lucky Leprechaun

I want to see dancers and musicians making Celtic music.

In the 1800s, British laws were not fair to Catholics and they wanted to break away. Around 1950 most of Ireland became a free country. My family has Irish blood and so does my aid Kyle. It is a nation of storytellers. Many famous writers come from Ireland and they are also good at music and sports.The government is an elected parliament that makes the laws and a president like us in the U.S. Farming is big and they used to be poor and had to eat potatoes when there was no food. Now they have many companies and are getting rich.

Map of Ireland

A writer I really like is Jonathan Swift  who wrote a favorite story Gulliver's Travels.The famous Guinness beer is from Ireland. Shamrock, a kind of clover is the national symbol of Ireland along with the harp.

Shamrock and Harp Patch for my backpack.