Penultimate 'See You Later's and Money

I have just got back from a brilliant week in Wolverhampton with Alex (boyfriend). However, we had so many mini trips that I almost feel like I've been travelling and Texas is still 5 days off! 

Firstly, we went to Birmingham. I fell into the awe of the Bullring and then over Chinese I was surprised with tickets to see Wicked for that evening. The show was absolutely fantastic! The characters all played their parts really well and I was glad Glinda was supposed to be annoying because I could not stand her! We then met up with our friend from uni, Jack for a 'see you after Christmas' (still weird and a bit horrible to say) drink in good old Whetherspoons; it was great. 

We then spent a day and night in Shropshire. I know that it is a county but I can't be more specific as went from a gorgeously country church through a copious amount of fields to a marquee in the grounds of a citadel for his cousin's wedding. The bride was beautiful and the food, music, drink and people were all on form for a fantastic day! 

Finally, we went to Bridgnorth which is not somewhere I've ever felt the need to visit but I'm glad I have now. It was lovely, quaint market town with lots of character, trains, a castle that's partially fallen down and cosy Costa that's great for people watching. 

I arrived home to the cash amount of American dollars I have ordered. I have decided to budget my money monthly and not put it all into dollars/on a travel card immediately as I know what I'm like, I'll probably spend it all in one go on cowboy attire and BBQ. 

I found moneysavingexpert.co.uk (recommended to me by a friend and I now recommend to you) to be a massive help in making my decisions about from whom to get my cash and my money. In the end I ordered my cash from the Co-op. They do free delivery on amounts of money over £250 and the money arrived promptly after I completed the bank transfer. I got $497 for £299.51 which was one of the best exchange rates. The card I have chosen is the Ukash card and according to moneysavingexpert.co.uk it is basically the best. It had the best exchange rate, the fewest amount of charges (I repeatedly checked for hidden ones) and seemed the most simple to use. The only current downside to it is that it is yet to arrive and I am flying out on Monday, however I am sure it will be here no problem. 

I hope this is somewhat helpful, as always, don't hesitate to ask me about anything :) 

And So The 'See You Laters' Begin

So the emotional stage of saying, 'see you at Christmas' to the people closest to me and then sitting, thinking and freaking out about the fact I am going to be away from the people I rely on the most until DECEMBER has begun.

Caitlin (a good friend of mine from uni and a fellow scouter) decided to throw a bit of a 'party'/get together last Saturday. We had all our friends meet us in Baa Bar which worked out great! We could hire an area of it out FOR FREE then spread into the main section when everyone had arrived and have a dance! Perfect mix of chatting, laughing and dancing! It was a really good night and then we could move on down the road to the centre of Liverpool. We went to Mojo, Heebie Jeebies and Tribeca, basically three places you HAVE to go to on a night out in Liverpool. Mojo let's you dance on tables for goodness sake! It's great.

(instagram.com/laufrancesmccann13)

Then today I had a lunch date with another great friend at the Brookhouse (a great studenty pub in Liverpool). It, like Saturday, was so bittersweet. On the one hand I had an absolutely lovely and enjoyable time but on the other, I was heavily reminded that when I said bye to her I wouldn't be saying hello again until Christmas. It's so weird. 

Everything is becoming very real. Not that I have avoided the reality of going away at all, I'm thriving on the whole adventure of it but there, as always with big events, it's difficult to fully accept they are going to happen until they are happening. I was the same when I was faced with leaving home last September to go to Keele and most of my friends were staying at universities in Liverpool. I was so excited yet terrified at the same time. However, this time I can look back at how amazingly everything's panned out in terms of relationships with going to Keele and use that to give me confidence when going to Texas. Also, the fact the my boyfriend and friends from Keele don't leave near me, I've already had lots of practice with long distance relationship so hopefully it'll all continue to go well; I'm praying so! 

Vaccinated for Vacating...

Just a quick note about getting all my necessary immunisations.

First word of advice: check with the country you're going to what exactly you need then go straight to  a travel clinic rather than your doctors. I did it the other way round but found out that one of the major tests I needed (one for TB) could only be done at a travel clinic but after waiting for appointments etc, it took a week for me to find this out. Also, check online if you need clearing from a doctor to get certain tests, I didn't so my appointment took about 15 mins long that it should. So save yourself the hassle.

Second: do it all asap. True to form, I cut it a bit fine with mine as I got the results of my TB test today, 3 weeks before I am flying. It's great that it came back negative because if it had been positive, I would have needed another needle and they say you should have them at the latest, 2 weeks before you go so yeah, sort it out quickly.

Third: if you're afraid of needles, don't be and by all means have no shame taking someone with you. I have tattoos and piercings so it's fairly clear, I'm not bothered by needles but whilst in the waiting room I saw someone older than me take a parent with them to get a vaccination - no shame!

Final piece of advice: ask about side effects of the vaccinations you're having. One of the ones I had was a meningitis booster which left me tired and a bit feverish all day. It was fine as I had no other plans for the day but I'd have had it before a day at work I'd have been in trouble.

Last thing's to do now are sort accommodation and have a final night out to officially say 'see you later' to my closest friends!