August 8, 2004
Woo, just a few more weeks! I'm getting really excited, and getting through work every day just gets tougher and tougher.

Susan and I have both done our "essentials" shopping - camera, film, batteries, shoes, locks, Canadian flags for our backpacks ... that sort of thing. :-) We've also converted some money into pounds, though we both still need to get some Euros as well (for Paris). The passports are all taken care of (we both had to renew them), and now it's almost time for packing lists and last-minute checking. I've made trip notes and tentative itineraries for each stop, and printing out tons of info to take with us. Sometime this week we should be able to pick up our plane tickets from the travel agent. The tickets for Hampton Court and the Tower of London arrived by mail already.

That's probably the last pre-trip update in here, so check back later for pictures and reviews!

June 16, 2004
I think we got everything booked too early - there's not much more to think about! The rental car is reserved. We've booked at a hotel in Glasgow, so now there's only one night where we don't have accommodation taken care of ... that's the night on the west coast, but we've decided we'll pretty much stop wherever we get tired.

Sometime in the next few weeks, we're going to book our tickets for the Tower of London and Hampton Court so that we don't have to wait in line when we get there (plus, paying anything before we arrive is good for me!). I also got my ticket for The Woman in White in London!

Just over two months left!

April 26, 2004
The flight is booked - we are flying Toronto-London (into Gatwick - my first time!), and then back Glasgow-Toronto. We've also booked the lighthouse on the Isle of Skye, and a cruise on Loch Ness!

Things we're currently working on include the rental car for the time we're in Scotland, arranging accommodation in Glasgow, and figuring out where we will stop on the west coast for the night. Our budget is looking pretty reasonable so far - I've got £100 put away so far, plus all the stuff we've already paid for!

Only 4 more months! It still seems like quite a lot, but I have a feeling it will go pretty quickly.

March 13, 2004
Lots of updates since the last time! Originally, we were planning to take the train from London to Paris, then take the train back to London and fly from London to Edinburgh. But, we found a great deal on a flight from Paris straight to Edinburgh, so we'll be doing that instead.

It also looks as though we'll be able to fly home to Toronto directly from Glasgow, without going back through London. We are booking that flight sometime in the next couple of weeks.

We've also added places to stay to Aberdeen, Inverness and Loch Ness, and more ideas of things to do along the way.

February 11, 2004
Welcome to my website for my first trip to Scotland! The trip will take place in late August/early September 2004, with stops in London and Paris before heading north. I'll have some company on this one too, with Susan braving the whole trip with me, and Michelle meeting up with us once we get to Edinburgh.
Check out the links below to see our current plans - I'll be updating as we get more organized!