Just four months since my first visit and I’m again boarding a red eye en route to England. I barely skated through bag weight checks (literally at the max 22lbs max) plus a sling bag, so thankfully didn’t get hit with a painful $75 feet this go around. And my luck continued, as I drew a cozy window seat near the back of the plane with my middle seat partner finding an alternative prior to actual takeoff.
After catching a few zzzzzs, I was semi ready for 7 hours of exploration during my layover. I had researched two unconventional options – navigating the complicated bus system on the outskirts to Stonehenge or take a combo of trains/busses to Pooh Corner to indulge my childhood fantasies.
The other challenges I faced were transferring from Gatwick to Heathrow airports, so storing my bigger book-bag wasn’t an option plus there were limited options open on Sundays. And I should mention the bitter cold (~10 degrees less than usual) February weather reminding me how spoiled us Floridians have become.
I quickly determined that my first choice was going to be a bust, as it was almost 2 hours one way & the bus schedules weren’t conducive to an American on a very specific mission.
So I took a combo of trains to the end of the line in southeast London, in hopes of catching the bus route to Hartfield in East Sussex. My lunchtime arrival didn’t help, as the lack of options forced me to call an uber with hopes of getting me the last 10 miles to my destination. But after waiting for 3 different drivers and ultimately being cancelled by all, I unfortunately had to abort this mission.
Sidebar……If you know me, my birthday is shared with Winnie the Pooh so as a child I was obsessed with Pooh and friends rather than dolls. Can you believe I still have my very first oversized stuffed animal & it is even sporting an ash stain on its forehead from a church special day that I wanted to share? And working for Disney for 15 years, I spent way too much money on collecting anything and everything I could find of this chubby little honey loving bear. My home office even has 400+ Pooh beanie babies all dressed in unique outfits!
So I missed out on a cup of hot chocolate in my very own Pooh Bear mug at the Team Room, shopping at the on-site store, prancing through the 100 Acre Woods near the Ashdown Forest and walking through the Pooh’seum showcasing the life of author A.A. Milne.
To finish my journey, I rode the complex networks of trains and finally made it to Heathrow without really accomplishing much but chowing down on some ramen noodles.
Moral of the story – I don’t have too many travel blunders along my wild journey of life, but every now & then a plan doesn’t come to fruition & I’ve learned just to shrug it off!
FearlessAdventures 