FAQ

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

I'll be having dinner tonight with some American friends in Fulham, then tomorrow in Islington at an American-friendly British friend's house-warming party, then Saturday another dinner with a friend from home in Marylebone. How English do those neighbourhoods sound??

Anyway, I thought this Thanksgiving I'd offer a summary of the frequently asked questions that I get from people both here and back home. Not sure if you'll find this interesting at all, but hey - all my posts can't be winners.

#1 - Why did you move?
Obviously there'll be many reasons, but for me it was basically that I'd been living around NY for my whole life - never even did a study abroad thing - and wanted to see how I dealt with living somewhere else. I guess you could say I wondered if, with all the rain England gets, the grass was greener.

#2 - Do you prefer NY or London?
A tough one! Both cities are similar (big, lots of action, good culture). What I typically say is that a lot of my old friends and family are around NY, so I have a strong bond with that city, but being able to hop on a plane and be anywhere in Europe within 3 hours is really amazing. I think typically the restaurants are better in NY - at least when you consider value for money. I did see Vin Deiesel shortly after I moved, so felt like I was still in NY.

#3 - When are you moving back?
Dunno mate. There seems to be trouble where ever I live, so I guess I'll play it by ear.

#4 - Does it really rain all the time there?
Not really. My first two summers were great and then the other seasons didn't rain that much but you had to have your umbrella because there always the threat of rain. And it was usually pretty light rain. This year, though, it's rained a lot. It's pretty much been like you hear about - just today I heard people saying how surprising it was to see the sun.

#5 - Is it really expensive?
Yes. But I get paid in pounds, so that helps. I think I basically live about the same as I did in NY, but I've had to compromise a couple of things - I live further out and shop at the supermarket more. So that means less take away and eating out. Partly because of the cost, and partly because the city is so spread out that it's more of a trek to see my friends for dinner. But I do all my shopping in America. I never thought I'd consider clothes in NY cheap. On the other hand, the Euro has strengthened a lot as well, so if I go to Europe that's about as expensive as it was when I moved - but all of Europe is MUCH more expensive for Americans than it was.

#6 - Favorite place in Europe you've been since you moved?
Edinburgh. Particularly the Edinburgh Festival that I went to with my friend Emily and her family. Crazy thing looking back on my blog though - I never actually wrote about that!! I think that was a really busy / stressful time for me, and I just missed it out. Perhaps I'll try to do a retro-spective post (that's one with neon green text). But the festival is absolutely amazing. People from all over the world come to put on small plays, gigs, comedy shows, and just about any kind of performance you can imagine. And since the city is fantastic on it's own, it makes for a really amazing couple of days. But the great thing is that the festival lasts for the WHOLE month of August, so you can just pick a good weekend and go. Of course, other trips have also been wonderful (esp. Prague - where I've made 2 trips but only wrote about 1, Madrid, and Croatia), but since I have to pick I'm going with Edinburgh. Emily should be happy to hear that.

#7 - What's the deal with this blog?
Well, when I started the blog, I said "to keep people updated on what's happening with me". That's a sensible mission I think. Over time, it became less personal (because it's on the Internet), and more of a "travelog" because I think that's more interesting and also a big part of what I'll look back on and wish I had captured better. I'm also using it to try to develop my photography skills, which have a long way to go, but hopefully some of the snaps are interesting at least. I also have asked people to not share this or link to it much. This mostly keeps it off the search engines, allowing me to remain somewhat personal while still having my name on the site. I do know, of course, that it is public, so that's part of the bargain.


What else would you like to know?

Post it in Comments and I'll try to answer in an upcoming post.

Enjoy that turkey!

Cheers,
Dan

Dan's Travel Tip of the Day

Don't forget to check the expiry date on your visa when you travel to India. Apparently it's important.

So, despite claiming here and here and here that I'm verging on becoming a professional tourist, I still make some really dumb mistakes. The most recent of which was showing up at the BA check-in counter all set to fly to India for a week, and not thinking to check the expiry date on my Indian visa. Ouch.

To be fair - I did think the visa lasted for 1 year, and it turned out to be only for 6 months. I can't believe it was already 6 months since I was there last! Well actually, as the nice check-in man noted, it was about 6 months and 1 week. Ouch.

In all though, it turned out to me more embarrassing than anything. Since this was primarily a work trip, my firm counts on people having to move around their travel (though typically because they have important businessy things, not because of silly visa problems), so I had a flexible ticket. I've moved the trip to January now, which actually turns out to be a better time for the team as well. But I was reeeeeeeeaaaaally looking forward to the relaxing weekend on the beach I had planned in Goa. This is the really cool area on India's south west coast you may remember from the opening scene to the 2nd Bourne movie. Hopefully I'll still get to go there next trip.

If you fancy making me feel better, go ahead and post a travel story in the Comments section where you f*cked up as well. Getting it out there really helps the healing process...

But I don't have to wait long to be on a plane again! I'm off this Friday to enjoy the wedding of my friends Rob & Emily. Can't wait! My brother pointed out that I didn't give nearly enough attention in my last blog post to the beautiful wedding that he had last month. Sorry about that! It was wonderful, especially that really funny and touching co-best men speech. I guess I'm moving things on this blog to be more travel focused, and less "my personal life" focused. I imagine you all understand. And the travel is probably more interesting to read about anyway!

Cheers,
Dan