#Over60femaletraveller – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Well what started as a 6 month trip around UK ended up being a UK trip with many diversions. My previous trips to Europe were planned to meet family in Italy or a Transatlantic cruise from Florida to Barcelona which was a diversion from my USA roadtrip. This time, knowing I had 6 months so close to Europe, it was difficult to not experience places so close. I also needed to leave UK several times to not overload on the magnificent history of the place. I had to have a break and that was something I am glad I did so every time I returned I appreciated their historical magnificence even more.

Another reason I did so much, I am not sure how much longer I can travel in this way, lifting 20kg and 10kg bags into trains, up and down escalators, up stairs (the stairs in UK homes are killers) so tried to do as much as I can now. The cruises in between each trip to UK gave me time to reset and not live out of a suit case for more than a week. AND trying to keep my luggage within those weights was a feat in itself. The picture above shows my luggage for this trip and I would like to add that I am very proud of myself that I left London with the same weight of luggage from Sydney. Not sure how many people can do this after a 6 month trip.

A summary of some of my travel is below and I have included some pricing as many have asked about costs.

Flights = 15

I flew with Singapore Airlines from Sydney/Singapore/London return. All internal flights in Europe I travelled mostly with RyanAir.
1 March Sydney to Singapore
Singapore to London
1 April London to New York
24 April Barcelona to London
25 April London to Luxor
2 May Luxor to Cairo
4 May Cairo to London
27 May Copenhagen to Edinburgh
13 June Liverpool to Valletta Malta
23 June Valletta Malta to Paphos Cyprus
13 July Paphos Cyprus to Krakow Poland
18 July Krakow to Berlin
31 July Prague to Stansted London
1 September London Singapore
2 September Singapore Sydney

Cruises = 7

I booked my cruises through vacationstogo or through my NCL consultant in Florida or through Passion For Cruises for solo travellers. All the cruises included alcohol and internet. Some included additional perks such as speciality dining and $AUD75 credit towards a tour in every port. Something to remember when cruising, everything is included: entertainment, meals, alcohol, accommodation and travel. The cruises I did averaged around $200 per night. The most expensive was the River Nile cruise but I think the reason is selfexplanatory.
2 April/17 April New York to Barcelona Trans Atlantic NCL Epic $AUD3000 (Balcony)
17 April/24 April Barcelona Mediterranean NCL Epic (inside)
25 April/ 2 May River Nile MS Emilio $2200 (Balcony)
8 May/18 May Europe: France Germany Norway Denmark B2B NCL Getaway $1500 (Balcony)
18 May/27 May Balkan Baltic NCL Getaway $1200 (Balcony)
1 August/13 August British Isles Emerald Princess $2300 (inside)
13 August/25 August Canary Islands MSC Virtuosa $2230 (inside)

Trains = 15 (these do not include the numerous trains and tube within London and surrounds)
Watford to London/Watford £22 return
Watford to Bletchley Park/Watford £18 return
Watford to London £22 return
London to Canterbury/London $30.60 return
Heathrow to Salisbury £42
Salisbury to Southhampton £10.90
Edinburgh to Newcastle £23
Newcastle to York £13.00
Newcastle to Southport (£48.40
Southport to Liverpool £7
Berlin to Prague (£40)
London to Southampton (£39.00)
Glasgow to Edinburgh (£40 return)
Southampton to Bath (£22.20)
Bath to Chippenham (£6.50 return)
Bath to London (£59.70)

Countries and islands visited 28
England
Scotland
Ireland
Orkney Islands
Shetland Islands
Canary Islands
Madeira
Italy
Malta
Cyprus
Egypt
USA
Estonia
Denmark
Sweden
The Netherlands
Spain
Norway
Sweden
Czech Republic
France
Portugal
Corsica
Poland
Germany
Bermuda
Tenerife
Gran Canaria

My accommodation when not cruising was found either through Airbnb or Booking.com. I will add my accommodation at a later date.

I imagine most people would choose something very different for their first day in the UK. But, I am a little different. I took the Number 8 bus down the road from my airbnb, into Watford Junction (£3 one way and found out later that I can get an all day pass for £4), where a Harry Potter shuttle bus takes you to the studios.

Entry is £49.95 and seems a little steep, although the sets are very elaborate.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the people who dressed up in their favourite characters. Their joy at being at the studio was a pleasure to experience.

This gentleman oozed delight at being here

I spent 4 hours enjoying all the displays. It is fascinating to see how much work is involved to produce something like Harry Potter. Some of the memories of Harry Potter brought on tears. I remember going to the first movie with my friend Sue Biber. We were worried that the movie would not live up to the book. When the doors of the Great Hall opened, tears started in my eyes as they had captured the Hall exactly as I had expected. Today, walking into that Hall brought on those tears of joy once again.