Duty Free Monday

Thinking Japan soon enough

Nobody in my family has ever been to Asia (I think) unless it was because of the armed forces. Japan after one more trip to Europe is highly likely. The food, vending machines, the cultures. I look forward to getting lost in Tokyo and maybe Kyoto. ;)

The Return

I haven't updated this in forever. Europe was amazing. Gearing up for my next trip abroad. PARIS.

Leaving for Europe!

Off to Europe I go. Pictures to ensue shortly.

Duty Free Sundays!

I realize that this picture is of Japanese whiskey, but damn they look tasty. Strange that the Japanese make the best whiskey in the world, well, it's not strange. Anyhow, I'll be in Europe less than a week from now.

6 more days from today!

This time next week I'll be on a British Airways flight on my way to the Netherlands. I'm currently watching Cloverfield (for the 100th time) and drinking a Sapporo Reserve.

Duty Free Tuesday!

10 more days till I leave for Europe. Johnny Walker Blue, one day she will be mine...

Duty Free Monday!

There is a picture of a duty free shop at Tokyo Narita, will all of my favorite whiskey on one shelf. Hopefully London Heathrow has the Suntory Whiskey (top shelf far left).

18 days till Europe

Been lifting weights like mad. Trying to get buff before I leave. Had to book another hotel. In Utrecht. A nice hotel near Utrecht Centraal. Some place to get some rest before I start class the next day. 6 different flights, 3 different hotels, an apartment, 3 countries. Probably a 4th hotel in Belgium overnight, unless they put us up in the dorms. Anyhow, ready to leave!

25 days till Europe

I'm currently watching Slumdog Millionaire and getting pretty tipsy. I'm ready to leave for Europe already! I leave in 25 days from today. I'm already ready for my next trip. I think Asia is next, then Africa. Then I'll start going back to Europe before returning to Asia and Africa. I'd like to go to the Middle East somewhere in between as well. So, drinking and posting on a blog deleted my whole entry, so I'll update later when I'm getting closer to Europe....

London Heathrow Plan C

Another duty free post. I am considering this plan C if the other two options don't work out. However, I will be looking for foreign whiskey at London Heathrow. Whiskey you can't get here in Oklahoma, but here is another alternative.

London Heathrow Duty Free PLAN B

Just in case there isn't any Suntory Whiskey at London Heathrow, here is my plan B. Suntory, a Japanese company, makes better whiskey than any place in the United States. Funny. Plan C to be posted shortly. In the mean time, here is a picture of Plan B. Which is above.

Duty Free Memorial Day!

For some reason I'm really excited about buying some liquor this time at the duty free at London Heathrow on my way home. I'm pretty sure I'll be buying two bottles of Suntory Whiskey, hopefully they'll have it! If not, some foreign whiskey that one cannot get here in Oklahoma. Suntory makes my favorite whiskey in the whole world, Yamazaki. Suntory is also the whiskey that Bill Murray was advertising on the awesome movie Lost in Translation. Now, look at the picture above and tell me that isn't sexy as hell.

40 Days till Departure for Europe

Just counting down the days till I leave for Europe. I found out the other day that between landing at Amsterdam Schipol, getting the train to Utrecht and getting a ride to the place to pick up my keys for my apartment, I'll only have an hour to do all of this. Well, they said to just call and they'll wait for me, but we'll see how that goes! I'm just ready to be living in Europe for 3 weeks. I might try to do the 20 dollar trick at the airport to see if I can get a free upgrade to Europe. I'm really excited about flying on British Airways. I think on my day of departure back to the United States, I'm going to head to London Heathrow about 4 hours before hand to hang out. The usual check-in time on international travel is 3 hours ahead, but I'm going early so I can take a ton of pictures of the airport. I had a crappy film camera last time I went and didn't take a single one of the airport, it won't be the same this time around. I got an upgraded camera and memory card as oppossed to my last digital camera, so there will be pictures galore. I plan on either posting daily pictures on here or just a recap, I haven't decided yet nor figured out if I'll have wifi at my apartment in Utrecht. My first London hotel has free wifi, but the second one doesn't. Either way, loads of pictures to be posted.

Been out jogging twice a day in order to drop some pounds before I leave, it's wearing me down!

Is it July yet?

I'm so ready to leave. My job is boring and people in bars are so cliche. I'm tired of doing what I do, which will go unspecified. I've been looking at Google Streetview for the last few days doing the virtual walk up and down the streets of London surrounding my hotels and can't wait to get there. I haven't even looked into Utrecht and it's streets. As soon as my professor sends out the information on where I'll be staying I'm all over it. I've just now started to write my 8 page paper for my one credit hour I've enrolled in this semester. I just want a C and move on. I'm capable of making an A, but I don't care at this point and I'm a little pissed they made me take one credit hour. My professor is the best professor ever so I'm not worried about it. I'm just so ready to leave for Europe already. I need this vacation/study abroad like it's nobody's business.

On a side note, in regards to my normal life. I've been up and jogging/walking every morning and have switched my diet drastically. I'm getting back into drum and bass again and hopefuly I'll be reading soon enough for fun. My life is finally swinging back my way asides from my car always taking the piss.

British Airways Flight #2

After extensive research I booked a flight from Amsterdam to London. I wanted to take a train, but it's just cheaper for me to take a regional train from Utrecht to Amsterdam (which is connected to the airport) then take a flight from Amsterdam to London. It was about 126 USD, then I figure in the 6.50 Euro to get to Amsterdam from Utrecht, then the Heathrow Express is about 12.50 pound. Still a 3rd of the price for the Eurostar and all of it's connections. So I got a few more BA miles towards my Executive Club membership. I'm nearing a free flight to Europe to use in the future. Exciting, I know.

The Flu and the Media

Where do I even begin? The media is taking this flu thing way out of proportion in regards to the United States. It's causing pandemic because, guess what, PEOPLE ARE MORONS. People are freaking out about a strain of the regular flu. Here is my response and how to prevent yourself from getting said flu:

1. WASH YOUR HANDS. Every single time I use the bathroom in a public place every single guy walks by me after using the restroom without washing their hands. Yeah, I'm serious, every single guy. That is first off, disgusting and second off, really unsanitary. Just take 2 minutes and help us all out who do wash your hands.

2. TAKE YOUR VITAMINS. Poor diet is also significant to said flu virus. Take a multivitamin and couple it with some extra vitamin C and zinc.

3. CALM THE HELL DOWN. If you are a normal person, you would already have decent personal hygiene, have a decent diet and are going on business as usual.


As far as travel goes, there has been a number of reports stating that if you are booked to fly to Mexico you can change your ticket by some airlines from May 6th and some great airlines giving people till May 20th. Hopefully this doesn't take a bit hit on the travel industry because they are already in dire straits.

Media, you suck. ABC has been the only station that has good coverage and isn't causing any panic in my eyes. Good for them.

Booked!

I haven't really thought about posting on my own travel blog lately. I have booked flights to Europe and back. I spent a good 30+ hours looking for hotels to stay in. I've finally got those booked too. Yes, plural. I booked 6 nights at a cheap bed and breakfast, then 4 nights where I wanted to stay. Both in close proximity to a tube stop, i mean literally a block on one and about 100 feet on the other. I think next trip to England I'm going to hit up Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool.

The study abroad stuff is all taken care of as well.

I'm just ready to leave now!!! July can't come soon enough!!

Re; Connecting Flight

I called British Airways yesterday to talk to them about my connecting flight at London Heathrow. They said that it would be flagged if I didn't have enough connection time. My luggage is going straight through, but I'll still have to go through customs, hopefully it doesn't take an hour. All is good hopefully.

Still dealing with my car though, which will most likely cut into more of my travel budget. Not cool.

An hour and a half at Heathrow Terminal 5

I made a huge mistake on my connecting flight to Amsterdam via London Heathrow. If I did the math right, I only have an hour and a half to make my connecting flight to Amsterdam at London Heathrow's Terminal 5. I arrive and depart in the same terminal, but I might be cutting it close. I've been searching the internet to find out if I need to go through customs first before connecting, but I thought I'd only have to go through customs on my final destination, which is the Netherlands. The British Airways website and the London Heathrow websites do not provide enough information on this subject. I'll keep searching on the old internet to see what I can come up with, because well, I just have that kind of time.