¶ UK Travel Planning Podcast Episode 56
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast . Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website , tracy Collins . In this podcast , tracy shares destination guides , travel tips and itinerary ideas , as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation .
Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages , from historic castles to beautiful islands , and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns .
Hi and welcome to episode 56 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast . This week I am really happy to have guest Catherine Johnson on the podcast to talk about her trip to the UK in May . I was looking to meet up with Catherine in London , which was fantastic , and her family Catherine agreed to come on to the podcast . We did do a previous recording of this .
I'm going to be totally transparent and unfortunately the sound was not great . I think at the time there was a hurricane warning for you , catherine . Is that right ? Tornado warning , tornado , that's it , tornado warning . Unfortunately the sound was a bit iffy , so we're doing it again , but it's always a pleasure to talk to Catherine .
We did an itinerary consult for you guys last year and we get on so well , so it's always amazing to chat to you and you're obviously also in our Facebook group , which is fantastic . So , catherine , without me kind of hogging the show , why don't you introduce yourself and kind of tell us where in the states you're from and who you went on the trip with ?
We are , as you mentioned , a family from Chicago . We're outside Chicago in the suburbs and we went two weeks in May my husband , my adult daughter and myself and I do think our trip had huge success . Because of the consultation we did with you and Doug , we felt very organized .
Thank you , and I know you say you're very organized anyway , so it was lovely when somebody said that they're so organized that we were able to help you even more .
Because you know it inside and out and that was our first trip to the UK , so it was hugely helpful .
And I know it was a very important trip for you , because it's somewhere that you've dreamt of going for a long long time Since I was seven . I know , I know , and so it was everything that you dreamt of .
It was perfect , honestly , and I keep telling people how did we get two whole weeks in the UK without any bad weather ? It was sunshine every day , and I can't believe it . You were so lucky .
You were so lucky . I mean , the weather was amazing . I only flew back at the beginning of July and I think the weather's not been as great actually , but I know May and June were amazing . It was really warm and hardly any rain . I don't think you had any rain at all .
No , we did not . We saw a little bit of a drizzle , like maybe five minutes of raindrops , while we were sitting on a bus in Scotland . So other than that , that was it . It was fantastic .
So give us a quick , a kind of brief overview of where you went when you were there In London we did all the basic big tourism things , but we took your advice and did not only stay in London , because we were there for two weeks , so we would do about every other day we would do a trip out to the country or to another part of England which was wonderful
, because England is so much more than just a big city and then we did take the train up to Scotland where we stayed for three nights , and that was again . I'm in love with Scotland now you have to go back and see a bit more . Yes , I do .
You got a good little , a little taster there when you went up to Scotland .
That's exactly what it was . I feel like we got a perfect . It was like a almost like a charcuterie board of England where we got a little bit of the best stuff , and it makes me want to go back for the full meal now . Oh yeah , I can imagine .
And I think that's , you know , doing exactly what you do , spending the time sometime in London . But also getting out is really important , and I do say that to people . You know I love London , I enjoy visiting London , but you know there's so much more to the UK than London , you know .
And getting out of London as well , it gives you a bit of a respite from the city and the busyness as well and gets you to see some of the countryside .
And it was also good for our steps , getting our steps in . We got a little bit of a break . We'd get to sit on a train for an hour and it was great . We needed it physically . We needed that downtime .
Oh , absolutely . So . You've already mentioned kind of you know that you we had the itinerary consult , so any other resources that you found really helpful for planning your trip , your .
Facebook group was hugely helpful , and the website , obviously , and then the podcast . We kind of did it all . And then I was thinking about this believe it or not , my daughter kept sending me TikToks . Oh yeah , and she was like we have to go here , we have to try this . I need to see a Highland cow , so TikTok .
And then you guys basically was everything .
Maybe UK Travel Plan needs to be on TikTok . Oh my gosh , it is a whole other .
It could be used for good , but it's a lot .
Finding the time is always the issue . I think with it . But no , so that's great and we kind of aim to put you know , give as many resources as we can and we're hoping to get some YouTube videos on Again . It's just fine in time . But you know I love that you use the Facebook group and the website and obviously listen to the podcast .
The podcast were wonderful , very helpful , and they were a good variety of topics , like you can look about trains , or about the Highlands , or about the countryside and the Cotswolds . It was wonderful .
Brilliant . Well , we'll continue to develop . There's going to be lots more out planning the podcast out for the next few months . So there'll be lots of trip reports and also some tips from different places like Edinburgh and Bath We've got planned and a lot more .
So , yeah , we try to put the variety there so that we can meet lots of different interests , because obviously it depends where you're going to visit . So I'm going to ask you because I know this was a favorite part of your trip , so I'm going to kind of interject with the . I know you took some private tours with some of our partners .
Loved them , victoria and John particularly . Yes , shout out to those . So would you like to just chat about those particular tours that you took ?
So we went to the Cotswolds with Victoria . We took the train . She was so easy because she told us exactly what train to get , on what time , what station . She met us there Comfy car , she had bottled water and it was very , very easy to get along with her .
And the thing I appreciated a lot about her is she spent time getting to know what we wanted to do , but also what we wanted to get out of the day , instead of just a itinerary from us . I said we wanted to experience this and experience that , and then she filled in with the details , because she knows the area . I don't , obviously . So that was great .
She gave us a taste and overview of the Cotswolds and she's amazing , she's such a lovely , lovely person .
And , yeah , the Cotswolds is , it's a large area .
So , to try and it's huge kind of do you know , we often get people say , I want to go to the Cotswolds , I want to do the Cotswolds in a day , and it's like , well , that's impossible to do the entire Cotswolds , but I think doing it the way that you did was the perfect way to do it , in that you , you know , you spoke to Victoria and she was able to
work out the best itinerary that would meet your taste and interest .
She was very easy to communicate with , and the other part too is it was kind of uncertain how it was going to be getting in someone else's car and spending an entire day with them . But she , along with John , who we also did a tour with him beyond easy to talk to , easy conversation . It flowed well . She asked the appropriate amount of questions of us .
It just felt like we were with an old friend . It was wonderful , it was very relaxing .
Brilliant , brilliant . Well , I was lucky as well to spend a day with Victoria and with Doug , and I spent the day with Victoria and had a wonderful time . And again I spent the day with John in May and oh we loved him too it was one of the highlights of my entire trip . spending that . I mean , obviously I love Victoria , so highlight that .
Obviously spend a time with Victoria as well , because she's so wonderful .
¶ Recommendations for Private Tours in England
But I went with John to Heaver Castle , which is somewhere I'd always wanted to go to , and I just had the best day . It was just the weather was amazing , john was amazing . He knows so many people at the different weather item moat and Heaver Castle introduced us to people . It was just like brilliant , absolutely brilliant .
They were both people I would in a heartbeat return to do a day with them , no questions asked . I have told so many friends about them and I'm like if you go there you have to talk to these and I know you have a lot of affiliates that you work with . Those are just the two I happen to know . And so what did you do with John ?
With John , we went to Arendelle Castle and I picked it strictly on the looks of the place . I knew nothing about it . We ended up absolutely loving our day .
My daughter said it was the most castle-y castle we visited in the whole trip and my husband loved spending the day with another dude , I think and we talked the whole way home just about things that had nothing to do with specifically the castle , because we did all the castle things at the castle . The drive home .
We talked about the government and how do house taxes work , and just cars and importing things and finances and like what did your garbage get taken out ? And he's like , oh , the rubbish bin , it was just .
It was so interesting to hear about just normal everyday life and you know you know what I always think that's such a privilege when you go anywhere that you get to meet somebody who lives in that destination , and that's truly kind of immersing yourself in a place and discovering what it's like for somebody who lives there , who's , you know , that's their life .
That's completely what it was a full , immersive experience that was completely educational , from the historic end part when he told us all about the castle and walked us around and talked to . He knew like everyone who worked there .
He's clearly has done homework and his built relationships and that benefited us but then just getting the everyday life that I find fascinating of different . It's a different culture . We're all English speaking , but it is a different culture .
Absolutely , absolutely , and being able to that's what I say . It's kind of it's been able to ask those questions and find out about those details that you know you're not going to do if you go on a larger group tour . You're just not going to get that with the guy Correct , you can't .
So that's kind of the privilege of being able to take one of those private tours , you know , and that's why I highly recommend to people if that's what you know , if you're going to go and this is a trip of a lifetime , you know book with these guys , because it will really make a difference , it will make the holiday for you really .
I thoroughly agree , and we have talked about returning in a couple years and we all the family agreed we're rebooking , we're going to spend another day with both of them because it was worth every single penny .
Oh , that's perfect . So I know you . I'm also going to mention another tour . It mainly it's one that that I also did in London with Walksters , which was the ceremony of the keys , and I know you also took that too , and I've talked about it on a number of podcasts and , to be honest , it takes a lot to impress me . I've traveled all around the world .
I've done lots and lots of tours and lots of stuff . I love all the Walksters , I like that , the small group , but this chair in particular for me , I don't know it , just it kind of touched my heart . I don't know , I think it was British , and just being able to experience the ceremony of the keys with that VIP tour was just something amazing .
It was a very , almost majestic feeling , but also a very almost sacred feeling , ceremony , and for Americans I would liken it to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that we have in Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC . Just a very reverential ceremony , but not boring and so packed with history and such deep meaning in all the details of the tour .
We loved the one-on-one time with the Yeoman Warder , we loved being inside the tower without anybody else there and we loved getting we had like VIP status , like we stood closer to everything .
We stood on another side of the street from the people that I think got like the $5 tickets that they released that you have to wake up at 3 in the morning to buy if you're in America . It was a very I would say almost sacred . I don't want to overuse that word , but I do feel like it was that kind of ceremony .
It just . I felt it was such a privilege to spend the time with Yeoman Warder as well .
I mean I've been in the Tower of London .
I don't know how many times , but been able to spend that time with Matt , who was our Yeoman Warder on the tour , for him to explain and tell us about history of different places and the tales that he told , and we were very lucky that he had the keys to the chapel .
So we spent ah good , I would say half an hour in the chapel , which was something I'd really wanted to do on other visits , but it's always so busy you just can't get the chance to do that . So that was fantastic and I think you had . Did you have the Raven Master on your list ? We did .
Yeah , chris , yes , yes yes , we had him , and so we found out even more about the Ravens . That was just more generically covered in a daytime tour . So he told us he's like , look up there . He told us we're to look for the one Raven that they couldn't catch .
And it was just great hearing the details and hearing the story about in the Tower they had a , they had a special toilet for Hitler because they were hoping to catch him during World War II . I also had no clue that Sir Isaac Newton lived at the Tower of London . These are details I just never knew Exactly . There's so many things from him .
Yeah , so many things you learn about that you didn't know . So that's amazing .
As a side note , you can also take amazing photos at dusk because the tower bridges lit up . Holy cow , that was . I got some good pictures and you had only people in there .
That was the other thing that just kind of blew my mind . It's like there was just you know him , and then 14 of us and one hundred , and you know I've never been at the Tower of London . There's not been hundreds of people , thousands of people there .
You know I've done the opening ceremony and you get that time alone then to watch that ceremony , but then as soon as the doors open , it's just full . It's full of thousands of people , Absolutely , absolutely . So I know those were three , three highlights for you .
We loved them .
We'll talk a little bit more about your highlights , but just ask you how you got around when you were kind of traveling , obviously , because you went to London , you went out to do some tours I was through a journey of Victoria and you went up to Scotland , so I think you took the train , we took the train , we took the overgrown train we took .
Only a handful of times Did we take a cab , but mostly we use the tube .
It was incredibly easy to use and the people that work in the stations were so helpful and the best thing we did was pick up a little pocket size , almost like a directory of all the tube lines , so we could follow along and get to know the system and the app that we used CityMapper .
You recommended that there's very little cell service when you're inside the tube stations , but somehow CityMapper still works and every single stop it would tell you get off at the next stop and then it tells you exactly which staircase to take or where to go for the next portion of your traveling . So the tube was so easy to use . Oh , it is .
We would tap in and tap out with our credit card and it was simple .
Excellent , excellent . And then tell me about your train ride up to Edinburgh .
Oh , that was beautiful that was so nice we chose I just made a comment about this in the in the your Facebook group we chose to do first class because that was a spurch we decided to make and it wasn't that much more expensive .
It really wasn't that much pricier and we just got a nice comfy chair at a table and the views are spectacular , Just spectacular . It looks like something out of a movie with you know the seaside and the , the sheep and the grass , and I took so many pictures out of moving train window .
Oh , it's lovely , you know . I mean I have done that journey so many times and I'm originally from Northumberland , so , and we always say to it , does smiles now , because so many people in the group and we hear us often people will say oh yes , you need to sit on the right hand side , and that's .
Doug says that all the time and it's like right , and that's the thing .
If you sit on the right hand side in the direction of travel from London to Edinburgh , you get fantastic views , fantastic views of the Northumberland coastline Because you told us to and I'm so glad you told us to and also it was I was able to try something called a flapjack . On the train they said do you want a flapjack ?
I was like , well , in America that's a pancake . I'm assuming you're not offering me a pancake for a snack . So I said yes , because I just want to know what it was . It ended up being a sweet treat and it was good .
Yeah , oh , good , good . So is it a hot pancake in America ? Yeah , it's a hot pancake , okay , okay , so that's interesting . So how would you describe a British flapjack ? How would you compare ?
it . A British flapjack is like a dense rice crispy treat that has some dried fruit in it .
Yeah , that's very tasty , very tasty with a cup of tea With my hot coffee . Kind of put you on the spot there . We
¶ British Flapjacks and Accommodation Experiences
have got a couple of actually talking about other podcasts . If you guys are listening and you're interested to find out about British food , we have got another podcast about British food and we've also got a podcast about travelling from London to Edinburgh as well that Doug and I did about how to make the best of that trip .
So I will link to those episodes in the show notes as well . So let's talk about accommodation . I know you had a little bit of a disaster in London .
I've stayed at a lot of places because we travelled a lot . We had a few issues , personally , with two different Airbnb's that we rented and we found ourselves 10 days before arrival with no place to stay . So we ended up finally taking your advice and we looked into a part hotels in London . We ended up staying in the most fantastic place that we loved .
It was across the street from a tube station , it was convenient , it had air conditioning and it was bigger than a hotel room , and it also had a washing machine and dryer . Well , a washing machine and dryer . That's one compartment which I didn't know it was going to be one thing .
We're going to talk about that , aren't we ? In a podcast to come .
I learned , but it ended up being fantastic . We loved where we stayed and then , when we were in Scotland , we stayed at an old hotel right across the street from the Waverly train station and that was lovely and they gave us a beautiful room overlooking the old town . What's south Newtown . It's all so old .
It all seemed old to me . It depends on which direction you were going , but Waverly is in the new town . We were looking at the castle . I don't know . I have to look at that . I have to figure out where that hotel was , but it's kind of where the station is .
If you walk directly out of the station and you've got a Scott Monument on the left , that's Newtown behind you , going up the Royal Mile , and the castle is at .
Old Town . So we stayed in Newtown in a very old historic hotel Looking at Newtown .
Well , that sounds perfect . I'll get the names of the accommodation as well . We'll put links into the show notes as well If anybody's interested in booking those . So we've talked about some of your favourite places and favourite experiences . So obviously we've talked about three different tours . What else are there standouts for you ?
I think what stood out to us was also , not only this year , one of the keys but eating at the Brixton prison , ah yes , which ended up being a very unique experience , completely safe . I've never , ever once , felt like we were in danger because you are going into a working prison to have some of the best food of our whole trip .
I wish we could have taken pictures , because you're not allowed to have your phone or your camera or even a smartwatch . You can't have anything , but everything is locked up , very safe . You go through airport type security to get in and the whole program that they have is something I am so supportive of and in favour of . It was called the clink .
The clink at Brixton Phenomenal food . Had Yorkshire pudding there with my Sunday roast dinner .
So I'm going to have to definitely find out more about this , because this is something that I've not experienced before .
So it's something that I'm definitely going to add into my future itinerary , and I'm sure they'll be interested in this , because quite often people will ask us as well about different experiences that you can have , particularly in London when people have been . You know , if you've visited three , four times , you might be looking for something different .
So I think you know having that as a different experience and again it's something different that you can do and it's also supporting a very important program as well , as you say .
A very good program that's been around for over 10 years and they've had great success . So it's nothing new that you know you're trying out , it's established and it was .
I recommend it . I highly recommend it . Other things that you can recommend Okay , t , we went to T .
I have to talk about T . When we were in Bath we went to Sally Lund's Because he told us about the Sally Lund's Bun , so we went there and had . When we first arrived in Bath that was our breakfast and it was amazing and phenomenal and we came home with like the Sally Lund proprietary T blend because that was our favorite .
But then in London we decided to splurge and it was a planned splurge , it wasn't a last minute splurge . We had T at a place called Sketch which was super bougie and super wonderful and I understand now why everybody Instagrams this location and you have to go . You need to go .
¶ Sally Lunns, Sketch, and Food Experiences
And you see , what you can't see if you listen at this podcast is my face , which is very sad because Catherine invited me to join them at Sketch and unfortunately on that day I had something else scheduled which then got canceled .
I was so sad when I heard that .
So , albert , I'm so glad that you had an amazing time there . It does look beautiful because it obviously used to be pink and now it's yellow .
I think the ambiance adds to it , but it was also the impeccable service . The amazing food and I did tell my husband we had a . He's an accountant so he counts every penny .
And I just said two things you absolutely cannot make any comment about the cost of this while we're there and you can't like complain about any of the food , because he's kind of a burger and hot dog kind of guy , not a tea kind of guy .
They had so many options of food and if you like something they kept bringing it to you , so it wasn't all you could eat , all you could drink . We left there so full we had to bring our Victoria's sponge cake home in a box . I met you afterwards , didn't I ? And that was wonderful that we walked around the flowers show in Chelsea . It was wonderful .
Went to Harrods . That was great .
It was busy , though it was busy , it was hot . I remember that was busy and it was hot . But the Chelsea flowers show , all the exhibitions in the shops , was that was fabulous , beautiful . I'll put some photos in the show notes of that , because that was , that was lovely . I might have a lovely kind of stroll around , didn't I ?
And it was so great to meet you .
I know Put a face to her name and it was so nice . I feel like all friends . Honestly , catherine , I feel like I've known you forever . It's like funny how you just click with some people , don't you ? Yes , well , you're very easy to get along with , thank you .
I'm just going to also just say , if you're listening about Sally Lunds , I'm going to highly recommend . I don't know what you had on your Sally Lunds sponge , but lemon curd is my favorite and we didn't have that .
We had a breakfast one , so we had like a bacon and some syrup and oh , it was so good Because you can have savory or sweet , even a meal as well .
I had the savory , but I took my mom a few weeks ago , because it was her birthday , and we went to Sally Lunds , as always , and we shared a lemon curd one , which was lovely .
It was delicious and it really felt like something out of a movie and if anyone goes there , they have to go to the basement , because that's where they have a tiny little gift shop , but also the original oven that I believe is almost a thousand years old . It's so ridiculously old . No , because they unearthed it Like back from the Roman days .
It really is Be down there , I can't remember .
It's very old , I'll have a look on the website . I'll have a look , I did go down and actually talk to the lady that worked in the shop , not this time when I was back because I was with my mom , but when I was there last year , and I always go to Sally Lunds , just somewhere that I just it's just a lovely place to go .
We went .
this time it was lots of Americans there , so I think it's very , it's very interesting to listen to your podcast . So what other foods did you like ?
since we're chatting about food , we had delicious bangers and mash in Camden town . We went up there . It was . That was wonderful . You also recommended , or I saw you there on social media and then I asked you a bunch of questions . We went to pick and cheese . Oh yes .
That was in seven dials .
Yes , yes , come on , go on . I would have never have thought that cheese would have been one of the best things . They would pair the cheese with a sweet or a savory oh my goodness , the Gouda with a little bit of a handmade salted caramel . Oh , it was so good , isn't it delicious . My daughter occasionally still talks about it Weeks later .
She's like I remember that so it was so good , Doug absolutely loves to go there , and so when he was over we didn't get time to go , so I haven't I've kind of didn't tell him that I went twice when I was back .
But it was so good , it's so good and I like to have a little glass of port with my cheese and just yeah , and you can get a grilled cheese sandwich , so it can be like a meal which my husband loved , yeah , and . I say it's a good thing . It's a good thing , and I remember when I said that you were like oh no , I'm definitely going to go there .
So yeah .
And we did .
Like you enjoyed it . So I was looking at my fridge today , which sounds like a weird sentence , but it's full of fridge magnets and all our fridge magnets that we bought in the UK are on the one fridge that we have the main fridge . So what did you buy when you were in the UK ?
OK , I bought two things that I love . I bought Windsor Castle Gin because it's made with rice , it's infused with raspberries that are actually grown in the gardens at Windsor Castle and , based on the label , I wanted to buy that . So I did buy that and I'm so happy .
I traveled to the UK with those liquid travel bags that are padded and you can put your alcohol in it . And then also in Scotland , I really wanted to get some Harris Tweed because I know that's been made in Scotland for well over 100 years or longer . It's been quite some time hundreds of years , I think .
So I got a backpack with some real authentic Harris Tweed and I was very careful to look to make sure that it was made locally , not like shipped in from somewhere else . The other thing I did that ended up being a great souvenir is I would purchase a lot of postcards from the places we went , but I wouldn't buy
¶ UK Travel Tips and Souvenirs
postcards that replicated the view that I could take in my own picture .
I would try to get an aerial view or maybe a view of something that you couldn't get close to , and a lot of places like Windsor Castle , the Jane Austen home in Chawton , even let's see Tower of London , scotland a bunch of places had very specific location stamps that had , like St Paul's Cathedral on the stamp and we would send a postcard home to ourselves
and I would have my husband and my daughter write a line or we would say something on the postcard Like best thing I ate today was cheese . I'm still struggling with a 24 hour clock or things like that just our own little memories . And it just last week . We got another postcard in the mail .
Oh , it's been fun to get those . Yeah , I love that . I love that idea . I just think I'm going to New Zealand next month for a month , aren't I lucky ? I'm very excited , oh nice , so I'm going to do that . I'm going to do that Because I've never thought about doing it and I just love it .
And I could say you've been back a while and the postcards are still coming .
Yes , my sister in law texted me she just got one that we sent her from Scotland . Oh , that's lovely . I was like , well , that took a while , but at least she got it and it's a bit worrying about how long it took man the postal system . I don't think the problem is on your end . Okay , it's on our end .
I'll be honest I don't know , Honestly , in Australia we might wait for about two years to get a postcard . Honestly , you're not the fastest in Queensland , I have to tell you . But okay , so that's really good . So you've got some fast . Have you cracked open any of ?
the gin . Yet I haven't . I'm actually waiting for my son and daughter and lot to come in . Oh , okay , we have some plans to enjoy . I did open the whiskey . Yeah , I bought some whiskey . I will say this . Here's a tip I read . I believe someone in your Facebook group made a comment . They said ask about alcohol .
Before you buy it , Make sure it's not exported to America , because I'm not going to buy alcohol overseas . Come home and find I could buy it here . Yeah , exactly so all the alcohol . They have little mini bottles of whiskey that I bought for my family .
It's only sold where we purchased it , Like the Edinburgh Castle it's only sold there , so that was a great tip I got from your group .
That's really good and I did buy when I was over . I did buy lots of little miniature gins because lots of different places now they do all sorts of gin , so you can you know different places that I was at and gorgeous bottles as well . A beautiful bottle . So I did buy a few bits and pieces .
You know a little bottle of gin which Doug brought some back from me and for me when he came back , before I did , and so my daughter got some , so she was very happy with those .
It makes a very happy gift for many people .
Absolutely , absolutely . So is there anything else you can think about that you want to show about your trip , catherine , before I would say a couple random little things .
One of the best tours we did was the Verger tour yeah , westminster Abbey , which is something that doesn't seem heavily advertised , but when you're there and you purchase your ticket , or you purchase your ticket in advance and you get in with your QR code I went to the table and I asked , or the check-in desk and I asked if we could buy a Verger tour .
Yeah , it's called .
I think it's 10 pounds per person and it's worth every penny . That was . We got to go into places that the public didn't get to go into when they're listening to their headphones , oh yes . So it was a personally led tour by somebody who is an employee of Westminster Abbey and that was a great , really good tour .
The other thing I started doing is I would ask employees I did this at Tower of London , I did this at Westminster , I even did it at Buckingham and I also did it at Windsor . I would ask the employees what should I not miss when I'm here ? What do people tend to skip over ? And we got some fantastic , fantastic answers .
That's a great thing , because they know their attraction inside and out Absolutely . And you can't cover everything . You just can't cover everything in the time allotted because I probably need six months more to come back .
I know well . I've spent three months last year , three months this year and most of the rest of my life and I still . There's still places that I'm gonna start with . There's always something to learn there's always something to see .
I'm so fascinated Absolutely .
Well , it's good , because then you'll be planning to visit again and again we actually are .
We actually are Just really excited .
So just to kind of sign off from this episode , but I know we are gonna be doing another podcast soon , but this one about your trip . What would be the one tip that you would give to anybody visiting the UK for the first time ?
I would say don't overpack . We packed what we thought we needed and then we paired it down . From there you will want to come home with souvenirs . Yeah , absolutely so . We only brought what we couldn't replace , like medications or our glasses . Beyond that , like , buy shampoo and buy even a toothbrush , toothpaste , cotton pads , whatever you need .
You can buy that in the UK . And then we used it and we threw it away before we came home because I wasn't gonna travel and pay to bring my little bit of toothpaste back to the States . So I would just run over pack and when you , what you should pack is comfy footwear .
Oh 100% .
Don't break in footwear in London . Bring comfy footwear and function over fashion . Oh , absolutely 100% . No one looked at my feet and I wore what I needed to wear to be comfortable and not get blisters , and I got over any fashion faux pas real quick because I was comfortable .
Absolutely 100% . You've got to be 100% comfortable . Really nobody really cares . It's pretty laid back .
We saw everything over there .
The range was very wide , so just be appropriate for the occasion , but beyond that yeah , if you're gonna go the right company and do check what you need to wear .
We did each bring one nice outfit . Everything else was mix and match , everything matched everything else and we rotated , I think , through five t-shirts on the whole trip T-shirts like tops , like nicer . You know , we didn't .
We were very careful not to wear like big logos and names of things , because that just looks more casual and we wanted to not stick out .
Yeah , yeah .
As tourists ? I'm sure we did , but we were hoping to not . I think the accent might give it away so like yeah . So as soon as I opened my mouth they're like ah , yeah you . Actually , the first time I was in a coffee shop and someone asked me how I was doing and I said , oh , I'm doing great , how are you ?
And the man looked at me like I had three heads . I don't think he was looking for an actual answer , I think it was more of a or how you do you probably get you You're ?
you okay , you okay . That's what he said . Well , austin , and I found that actually when I moved to Australia , that was really interesting , because I just go are you okay ? You're you okay , you're right , you're right , you're okay . It was you , you're okay .
You're all right . I'm like I'm doing great . How are you ?
And this is kind of like stare , it's a casual greeting , you're right , you're okay , it's more just a hello .
So you don't need to respond , it's actually answer . Well , I answered one time and then I shut up .
It's okay , but that's a common one , that you're right . You're right . I think it's particularly I tend to I don't say it as much now . I've got the habit , not sure because people kind of looked at me and , yeah , more wide . Well , I don't want to look very well , is something wrong with me ? Do I have something on my face ?
No , you look fine , it's just , I'm English and we say that I don't want to say that anymore . Well , I made the mistake of answering . Oh , it's all right , you know , I'll do it . I'm sure when I go over to America and I've been a few times I'm sure there'll be times when I'll have answered things inappropriately or said the wrong thing .
Sure , you know , it's one of those things and it's one of those things , doesn't it ?
We were talking about earlier . It's like you go to a new culture and you know we speak the same . We speak the same language . We all speak English , american English , english English , accented English . Me from the north , you know Australian English , whatever , but you know it's still different culture .
It's a very different culture , way of living in , different traditions and different foods and different . You know . I mean the British were just brilliant at queuing , you know . Yes , yes , it always fascinates me . I go out of the places and it's kind of like a free-for-all .
And then in the UK and it's like , if you don't queue , and you don't queue properly and line up and it was the American word you will get side-eye . You will get people looking at you kind of like , and you might get somebody challenging you . Chance is probably not being English , but you will get the looks .
I will say brilliant at queuing . You are correct , Nobody does the little chit-chat thing . No one talks with each other in line and in America , by the time you get to the front of the line , your best friends with the person behind you . That was that did not happen as much .
No , not as much . We tend to be a bit more reserved . But anyway , we're kind of going on to the next podcast , because Catherine is going to be joining me . So in last week's podcast , episode 55 , I did a bit of a kind of UK versus US to prepare US visitors , really , but also wherever you're from , for some of the differences that you can expect .
So Catherine and I are going to be in a future episode to talk a little bit more about , kind of these cultural differences , the things that may have taken Catherine a little bit by surprise or you weren't expecting , and obviously some of those things I don't even think about because I've grown up in that culture , so they're not even things that I consider .
And so I did obviously do the podcast episode 56 , 55 , this is episode 56 , and chat a little bit about those things . But Catherine and I are going to be on soon to chat a little bit further , aren't we ?
Yes , I can't wait because I just yes , we're all speaking the same language , but the cultures you said are different and I loved exploring those differences . I loved immersing into the British culture . It was beautiful .
And I'm going to love chatting further with you about all of those , but for this episode , this episode 56 of the UK TravelPodcast , I'm going to say thank you very much , catherine , for being on the podcast .
Thank you for helping make our trip as beautiful as it was , because you and Doug in the itinerary consult was the best kickoff to our trip .
Aw , thank you so much again . Thank you so much , Catherine for coming on . So you can find all the details of everywhere and all the places and the tours and the hotels that Catherine talked about in this episode at the show notes at uktravelplanetcom , forward slash , episode 56 . You can pop over and join our Facebook group . You can book an itinerary consult .
We have got limited availability . I will I'm going to be very upfront about that because we are going to be traveling again , but we are putting some . Hopefully by the time this episode comes out we'll still be saw appointments available , but do pop over .
So if that's something that you're interested in , or even should us over an email if it's something you really really want to try and fit in . Otherwise , you can support our work by , you know , sponsoring the podcast , which a lot of people do , including Catherine do . So thank you very much for that , Catherine .
You know it was a huge shout out to our sponsors . Everything helps us to continue to produce all of this free information to help you guys have the best UK vacation that you possibly can . So that just leaves me to say for this week's episode happy UK travel planning .