Did I Forget Anything?

Day after tomorrow we leave for England and Scotland. Most of my packing is done. My Kindle is  charged. My lists are mostly checked off items. The bank actually had British pounds for us. Of course the dogs have no idea their little lives are about to  be turned upside down. I've tried to tell them,  but all they do is lick my face.

One of my friends emailed me that northern England is flooding, so I tossed in a better pair of rain pants. Bottom line is I enjoy being outside. Maybe because of all the mountaineering I've done, I have a pretty fair tolerance for being wet or cold. What I really dislike is being hot. I can alter my clothing if I'm cold. Not much I can do about the opposite. Even if I take everything off, I'm still uncomfortable. And I risk getting a bad sunburn. Heh! Learned that the hard way when I backpacked in a sports bra on an ungodly hot day in the Sierras. I slathered on sunscreen, but guess the pack straps rubbed it off in key places.

I have a nifty item called a Black Widow. It's a camera holster that rides on my hip. I like it because it keeps my digital SLR handy, suspended from a widget that screws into the tripod fitting. Unfortunately, the camera will need to be in my pack if it gets too wet, making it far less convenient to access. I'm hoping for some great photos, though. Great Britain has lots of clouds. And as anyone who's ever dragged a camera anywhere knows, clouds make for great pictures.

I'm also looking at this as an "idea" trip. All five of my novels (well, seven if you count the first two) have had a strong Celtic focus. I'm heading right into the heart of Celtic-land. It will either make me cringe that I got so many things wrong, or give me inspiration. Obviously, I'm hoping for the latter.

When we planned this trip, we started like we always do assuming we'd figure it out on our own. I tried contacting a couple of places in the UK that arrange B&Bs in the little villages along Wainwright's route across Northern England. Even though I made quite the pest out of myself, they never emailed me back. That's how we ended up signing on with National Geographic. I've never traveled that way before: with a group and a guide. I'll be interested to see how I feel about it after this trip is over.

One of the caveats of backcountry travel, at least with people who spend a lot of time back there, is everyone travels at a pace that's comfortable for them. There are pre-arranged meeting spots, usually at the end of the day. And no one really worries about anyone else until you show up at the designated stopping point, it gets dark and they haven't shown up yet. I'm wondering just how this guided journey across the UK will go. I truly hope they won't insist we all travel in a little troupe. I enjoy my solitude on the trail.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to an adventure. I've never been to Ben Nevis or the Lake District or anywhere in Northern England. And I'll be within a stone's throw of Carlisle, where Trevor, a major character in my Transformation Series, hails from.

So, no blog posts until I get back. I just realized I could have written a few and had Blogger post them. Next trip I'll take advantage of that.

What are some of your favorite places? If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?