My husband’s and my trip to London is only 21 days away and I cannot wait. My mind has already started whirling with what we will do there, will it be as fun as it was last time, and how will we afford it. We bought our tickets back when my husband’s business was doing better than it is now and were in a more financially stable situation. At this point in time… not so much. But, we can’t get a refund for our tickets… they’re already bought and paid for so we might as well just enjoy the trip.

Our plan is to try and do London on the cheap. We’ve already accepted it’ll be a lot of “fast food” like Burger King, which happens to be across the street from our hotel, and a lot of just walking around neighborhoods “site seeing.” Sounds pathetic, but I imagine that’s where a lot of the fun will happen. In all of our trips it’s the stuff we’ve done off the beaten path where our stories have sprouted from. For instance, last year we went to a chalk mine that billed itself to be very historical. We toured these twisting and turning tunnels by this tiny old man I was certain would get us lost in the dark or kill us. At one point he took our gas lamps away from us and left us in complete silence, beneath a carving that was supposed to be a druid sacrificial alter (which it was not, by the way). Then he walked back to us talking slowly. I was reminded of Sméagol in the Hobbit.

This go around there is only one thing I have to-have to do and that is go to Oxford. I would particularly like to do it on my birthday. My main purpose is to visit the grave of C. S. Lewis, my idol and the man who inspired me to be a writer. Other than that… I’m basically just along for the ride.