Next year in London

[skyring]

Every year I travel around the world at least once to attend BookCrossing conventions. It usually works out that I travel by myself, but the main reason I took this taxidriving job is so that I can afford to take Kerri with me. It’s not just that the fares are doubled, it’s also that she likes to travel in a different sort of style. More of it, for one thing.

My idea of a grand holiday is one where I squeeze as many flights as possible into the shortest time possible, occasionally leaving the airport. I’ve been to Hong Kong four times, for instance, but never left the terminal. On the other hand, Kerri’s notion of the perfect holiday is one where we go to a place, unpack and spend at least a week just doing nothing much except seeing the local sights.

So we’re compromising. Next year the big April BookCrossing convention is in London, and we’re seriously looking at a cruise to the UK, Kerri using up a chunk of Long Service Leave, and me using the generous holiday provisions of the taxidriving industry (take as much time off as you want, unpaid, and maybe you can have your job back when you finish).

Not quite a once in a lifetime trip, but certainly a notch up from our previous holidays. Kerri’s suggestion, and refined after a bit of research. Kerri’s first idea was to catch the Funchal on a repositioning cruise. Fremantle to Harwich via Egypt, 37 days. Cheap(ish) and arriving a few days before the convention.

After checking out the passenger reviews, it seems that people have had mixed experiences, with the short cruises better run than the repositioning trips. The ship is relatively small and old, and the facilities aren’t quite what they might be. Some passengers loved the ship, some had a horrible time.

All else being equal, I’d go for a small ship over a big one, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money on something that might turn out to be five weeks of misery.

I hunted around for alternatives. Some were wildly expensive, some arrived after the convention, some weren’t going via places we wanted. One that stood out was the Aurora, a P&O ship, Hong Kong to Southampton. Arriving well before the con, but I figure we can fill in the time visiting Guernsey, Paris and other forren parts. We can probably spend ten days or so exploring the UK, beginning in Scotland and winding up in London.

Just pencilling stuff in at the moment, and the reality will probably turn out to be wildly different, but it’s fun to dream.

Comments

[skyring.livejournal.com]

The QE2 does the trip a bit earlier, but I raised this with Kerri and she's adamant - she wants Asia, the Middle East and the Med. I might see if I can swing it that we come home the long way, but.