Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
May 25th 2017, 1:59 am
#16
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Hi, awesome that's a great help, any advice is great. thank you so much. I have written this down on my UK word doc I am putting together.
May 25th 2017, 2:00 am
#17
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
You keep talking about the cost of trains - but if you book a ticket a week or two ahead the price is much less.
May 25th 2017, 2:04 am
#18
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Princess - just back up a little here, please, and give us a bit more information. Tell us how old you are, and what University it was that accepted you for that single semester.
You seem to be very young - maybe too young and inexperienced to be going to a foreign country on your own. (And yes, England is a foreign country, for Australians!) Also, I have to ask: are you quite confident that the university is on the up-and-up? I feel there's something missing in the story... For instance, what academic qualification did the uni require of you? No disrespect, but your spelling and general English usage are not quite up to university standard, I'd have thought.
You seem to be very young - maybe too young and inexperienced to be going to a foreign country on your own. (And yes, England is a foreign country, for Australians!) Also, I have to ask: are you quite confident that the university is on the up-and-up? I feel there's something missing in the story... For instance, what academic qualification did the uni require of you? No disrespect, but your spelling and general English usage are not quite up to university standard, I'd have thought.
May 25th 2017, 2:13 am
#19
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
For a day out in "the country" close to London go to Windsor, just half an hour out of Waterloo station. Windsor is a pretty little town, then you have Windsor castle to explore and Windsor Great Park.
Even closer to London are Richmond and Kew, both on the district line. If you walk up Richmond Hill (the name of the road) you get to Richmond Park, which is several hundred acres of undeveloped deer park, with a couple of hundred deer in it. Kew Gardens is also a good place to visit, and is one of the world's greatest botanical gardens. Both Richmond and Kew have a lot of cafes and pubs. Personally I wouldn't try to visit both in the same day.
Another tip if you have a choice of seats on your flight into LHR, get a window seat on the right side. As the plane approaches Heathrow, so long as the usual winds are blowing from the west, you will get a spectacular view of central London - Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the modern office towers of the City of London - the gherkin, the walkie talkie, etc., St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Sq, the House of Parliament, and the London Eye.
Another tip, learn to walk around central London - you can walk from Buckingham Palace in the SW of Central London all the way to the Tower of London, which is about as far east as a tourist would want to go, in about an hour. I am not saying that you should walk that far in an hour, I am saying it to point out how compact central London really is.
Even closer to London are Richmond and Kew, both on the district line. If you walk up Richmond Hill (the name of the road) you get to Richmond Park, which is several hundred acres of undeveloped deer park, with a couple of hundred deer in it. Kew Gardens is also a good place to visit, and is one of the world's greatest botanical gardens. Both Richmond and Kew have a lot of cafes and pubs. Personally I wouldn't try to visit both in the same day.
Another tip if you have a choice of seats on your flight into LHR, get a window seat on the right side. As the plane approaches Heathrow, so long as the usual winds are blowing from the west, you will get a spectacular view of central London - Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the modern office towers of the City of London - the gherkin, the walkie talkie, etc., St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Sq, the House of Parliament, and the London Eye.
Another tip, learn to walk around central London - you can walk from Buckingham Palace in the SW of Central London all the way to the Tower of London, which is about as far east as a tourist would want to go, in about an hour. I am not saying that you should walk that far in an hour, I am saying it to point out how compact central London really is.
May 25th 2017, 2:16 am
#20
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Joined: Apr 2017
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Princess - just back up a little here, please, and give us a bit more information. Tell us how old you are, and what University it was that accepted you for that single semester.
You seem to be very young - maybe too young and inexperienced to be going to a foreign country on your own. (And yes, England is a foreign country, for Australians!) Also, I have to ask: are you quite confident that the university is on the up-and-up? I feel there's something missing in the story... For instance, what academic qualification did the uni require of you? No disrespect, but your spelling and general English usage are not quite up to university standard, I'd have thought.
You seem to be very young - maybe too young and inexperienced to be going to a foreign country on your own. (And yes, England is a foreign country, for Australians!) Also, I have to ask: are you quite confident that the university is on the up-and-up? I feel there's something missing in the story... For instance, what academic qualification did the uni require of you? No disrespect, but your spelling and general English usage are not quite up to university standard, I'd have thought.
To grow up and do twelve years of school, 10 years of which I had little ability to read or understand comprehension, I think I have done extremely well.
I have plans in the future too, teach or at least to support young/old adults to learn to read. Unless you have been grown up unable to read then you would not understand what I have achieved in life.
May 25th 2017, 2:35 am
#21
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
I have autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and I am alone in the world, yet I am studying a bachelor of arts degree. I am majoring in English which is my choice, I am using this to improve my own understanding of human behavior in general. As for university, it took me an addition 4 years after failing and being expelled from school to enter, and I think/believe I am doing extremely well-considering doctors have written me off as unemployable.
To grow up and do twelve years of school, 10 years of which I had little ability to read or understand comprehension, I think I have done extremely well. ....
To grow up and do twelve years of school, 10 years of which I had little ability to read or understand comprehension, I think I have done extremely well. ....
May 25th 2017, 3:38 am
#22
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Joined: Apr 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 16
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
For a day out in "the country" close to London go to Windsor, just half an hour out of Waterloo station. Windsor is a pretty little town, then you have Windsor castle to explore and Windsor Great Park.
Even closer to London are Richmond and Kew, both on the district line. If you walk up Richmond Hill (the name of the road) you get to Richmond Park, which is several hundred acres of undeveloped deer park, with a couple of hundred deer in it. Kew Gardens is also a good place to visit, and is one of the world's greatest botanical gardens. Both Richmond and Kew have a lot of cafes and pubs. Personally I wouldn't try to visit both in the same day.
Another tip if you have a choice of seats on your flight into LHR, get a window seat on the right side. As the plane approaches Heathrow, so long as the usual winds are blowing from the west, you will get a spectacular view of central London - Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the modern office towers of the City of London - the gherkin, the walkie talkie, etc., St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Sq, the House of Parliament, and the London Eye.
Another tip, learn to walk around central London - you can walk from Buckingham Palace in the SW of Central London all the way to the Tower of London, which is about as far east as a tourist would want to go, in about an hour. I am not saying that you should walk that far in an hour, I am saying it to point out how compact central London really is.
Even closer to London are Richmond and Kew, both on the district line. If you walk up Richmond Hill (the name of the road) you get to Richmond Park, which is several hundred acres of undeveloped deer park, with a couple of hundred deer in it. Kew Gardens is also a good place to visit, and is one of the world's greatest botanical gardens. Both Richmond and Kew have a lot of cafes and pubs. Personally I wouldn't try to visit both in the same day.
Another tip if you have a choice of seats on your flight into LHR, get a window seat on the right side. As the plane approaches Heathrow, so long as the usual winds are blowing from the west, you will get a spectacular view of central London - Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the modern office towers of the City of London - the gherkin, the walkie talkie, etc., St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Sq, the House of Parliament, and the London Eye.
Another tip, learn to walk around central London - you can walk from Buckingham Palace in the SW of Central London all the way to the Tower of London, which is about as far east as a tourist would want to go, in about an hour. I am not saying that you should walk that far in an hour, I am saying it to point out how compact central London really is.
I remember Richmond Park, deers and squirrels running around. I lived in Richmond for a few years before moving to Australia. I like the idea of going to countryside areas and writing/journaling and walking.
May 25th 2017, 3:50 pm
#23
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
May 25th 2017, 4:51 pm
#24
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
I have autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and I am alone in the world, yet I am studying a bachelor of arts degree. I am majoring in English which is my choice, I am using this to improve my own understanding of human behavior in general. As for university, it took me an addition 4 years after failing and being expelled from school to enter, and I think/believe I am doing extremely well-considering doctors have written me off as unemployable.
To grow up and do twelve years of school, 10 years of which I had little ability to read or understand comprehension, I think I have done extremely well.
I have plans in the future too, teach or at least to support young/old adults to learn to read. Unless you have been grown up unable to read then you would not understand what I have achieved in life.
To grow up and do twelve years of school, 10 years of which I had little ability to read or understand comprehension, I think I have done extremely well.
I have plans in the future too, teach or at least to support young/old adults to learn to read. Unless you have been grown up unable to read then you would not understand what I have achieved in life.
May 26th 2017, 1:45 am
#25
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Joined: Feb 2017
Location: https://t.me/pump_upp
Posts: 261
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Hi everyone,
I got exciting news that I got excepted a university in London to study there for a semester. I am very nervous and excited to visit England and hopefully maybe France and Ireland see how I go and money I have too.
A brief history I was born in Bedford UK and moved to the Central Coast Australia AU when I was 7, since I been pinning like a lost kitten to go back to my homeland.
Some sad news, I have lots and lots of family in the UK yet they will not support my trip its like there warning me off coming home, and even went as to say that "I am not British" and "I do not belong there". I kinda felt terribly upset as I was born there to an Irish mother and adopted to English parents and moved to Australia. I feel that England is still my homeland and after studying history at Uni I feel a sense of national identity.
QUESTIONS
Anyways I have a few questions about London.
I know that transport trains and buses to be very expensive. Wondering the London buses "Red Buses" are they the cheapest options? And is there any of saving money like using a weekly ticket or a Opel card (travel card) oyster card to save money.
I feel like I want to explore as much of England and its surroundings as possible while I am there yet I am on a student type budget and sadly the English family is less accommodating than I thought or expected. I might be a little alone but I don't mind.
Thanks everyone
Regards
Chelsea
I got exciting news that I got excepted a university in London to study there for a semester. I am very nervous and excited to visit England and hopefully maybe France and Ireland see how I go and money I have too.
A brief history I was born in Bedford UK and moved to the Central Coast Australia AU when I was 7, since I been pinning like a lost kitten to go back to my homeland.
Some sad news, I have lots and lots of family in the UK yet they will not support my trip its like there warning me off coming home, and even went as to say that "I am not British" and "I do not belong there". I kinda felt terribly upset as I was born there to an Irish mother and adopted to English parents and moved to Australia. I feel that England is still my homeland and after studying history at Uni I feel a sense of national identity.
QUESTIONS
Anyways I have a few questions about London.
I know that transport trains and buses to be very expensive. Wondering the London buses "Red Buses" are they the cheapest options? And is there any of saving money like using a weekly ticket or a Opel card (travel card) oyster card to save money.
I feel like I want to explore as much of England and its surroundings as possible while I am there yet I am on a student type budget and sadly the English family is less accommodating than I thought or expected. I might be a little alone but I don't mind.
Thanks everyone
Regards
Chelsea
Coach & Bus Travel | National Express Coaches
I have put the link in for you.
You can get good deals on trains if you book in advance as already mentioned.
Out of curiosity which university will you be visiting in UK
Last edited by geoff52; May 26th 2017 at 1:50 am.
May 26th 2017, 2:42 am
#26
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Princess. I think you have done fantastically well, and your life has been an amazing success. But I worry for you, and about you. If you were my daughter or niece or friend, I would be asking the same questions. This university you've signed up for: is it safe, and not some fly-by-night operation that might take advantage of you. Anybody in a foreign country on her own for the first time, far from home and family and friends and other support-groups, is very vulnerable. So please don't think that I am somehow uncaring. If I didn't care, I would have stayed silent.
Accommodation may still "with my fingers crossed" be obtainable through the uni, otherwise, I will have to find a share house or flat share once in the UK. My parents are not internet/global savvy and made radical suggestions I pay someone in the UK I do not know for accommodation I can not see. I assure everyone here that I will not under any circumstances enter in such arragments, that is an incredibly easy way of becoming duped. I do however have a strategic plan to stay at a hostel for a week until I can secure a share house or flat share.
Aspects of the tip I want to assess in the coming months are - transport, this can be extremely expensive since I assume Magie Thacher's privatization schemes (I wrote an essay on her once). I have viewed many YouTube videos; people are suggesting flying to Scotland to be cheaper than train travel. I would possibly like to see multiple places in the Uk while I am there.
Myself as a person, I plan things out that regular people do not do. In my past job's others found it difficult to work with me as I had to operate the same and accomplish the same tasks at the same time failing to do so would upset me and I wouldn't be able to function correctly. This is why I overly plan tasks, can be a good thing and can to be very tiring and stressful. Lack of family support is an issue yet it will unfortunately always be this way, so I have to learn to rely on myself.
I have a great university though who do know of my disabilities yet they play to my strenghths. Before attending uni life was going nowhere fast for me now I have a better understanding of many therioes and practices which I am able to apply to hopefully a prosporus career.
May 30th 2017, 1:48 pm
#27
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Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Hi, I got lots of plans to save money, going through most of my life being underemployed mostly at fast food chains I learned to live on little money, taking a snack bar (museli bar) in my handbag and grabbing a coffee or hot chocalate from seven-11 always saves me money in sydeny.
I will hopefully be staying at the uni accomadation or i'll have to find a share house when i get into England, the uni is outside London which is good cause that initself saves money and hopefully if I am able to get uni accomadation that saves money on transport to and from. I think I will be ok but I think I will have to rough it a little because my family will not help even letting me stay there at there places while I secure a share house (which i think is discusting). My parents are kinda stupid they want me to "wire" pay bank deposit money to someone I have not meet and a place I have not seen on the other side of the world securing me accomadation. I see this an easy way of becoming deputed sadly.
I will be deferntly going, I prefer to planout things, I relsie there's is tips and tricks most of them simalr to sydney, here buying an opel card saves so so much money, and eating in sydney is really expensive. I go to sydney nearly every two weeks yet I also have little plans in place like traveling non-peak and saving on food drink in the city and walking between stations to save futher money all these little things can be adapted to England/London.
I will hopefully be staying at the uni accomadation or i'll have to find a share house when i get into England, the uni is outside London which is good cause that initself saves money and hopefully if I am able to get uni accomadation that saves money on transport to and from. I think I will be ok but I think I will have to rough it a little because my family will not help even letting me stay there at there places while I secure a share house (which i think is discusting). My parents are kinda stupid they want me to "wire" pay bank deposit money to someone I have not meet and a place I have not seen on the other side of the world securing me accomadation. I see this an easy way of becoming deputed sadly.
I will be deferntly going, I prefer to planout things, I relsie there's is tips and tricks most of them simalr to sydney, here buying an opel card saves so so much money, and eating in sydney is really expensive. I go to sydney nearly every two weeks yet I also have little plans in place like traveling non-peak and saving on food drink in the city and walking between stations to save futher money all these little things can be adapted to England/London.
May 30th 2017, 2:11 pm
#28
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Joined: Dec 2010
Location: Whitby, Ontario
Posts: 732
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
For getting around by train, I found the Trainline app very useful and easy to use, although buses are usually cheaper. As someone else mentioned, booking in advance usually means good savings - I travelled from London to Norwich last week for about £10 (2 hour journey) on the train - I booked about three weeks in advance but booking closer to the time of travel, it would have cost £52!
May 30th 2017, 8:15 pm
#29
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Posts: 21,140
Re: Traveling Back to the UK after so many years
Hi there PT. Lots of excitement in your future, isn't it great to have something to look forward to!
Regarding accommodation in London, have you thought about renting a private room on a site like airbnb? Just a bit of background so you know who I am: I'm a 58 year old Aussie who's married to a Brit, and am currently living in England on a spouse visa. I've used airbnb a lot in my travels and really like them, mainly because none of your money is passed on to the host (person who owns the property) until you've arrived and are happy with the place. The site is also very strict with security, and takes a copy of the host's passport among other things. I don't have any connection with airbnb or any of the other accommodation places you might want to look at, I'm just an old chook who likes to help out with advice when I can.
I had a quick look at airbnb shares in London, and saw one that charges around AUD$1,100 per month if you're staying for 6 months. That's for a private room with your own ensuite bathroom, but there are plenty more there for you to look at. Payment for long term accommodation is made monthly, which helps with the budget a bit. Here's a link to the one I saw if you're interested in this type of accommodation https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/37893...-28&s=P_vcm5X9
I visited London a couple of weeks ago (I live on the Wirral peninsula, up north) - did quite a few touristy things such as a coach trip to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Loved it all, but was quite glad to get back to my sleepy little part of England!
Anyway, best of luck and don't hesitate to post any questions or concerns you have here, we're (mostly!) a nice bunch
Regarding accommodation in London, have you thought about renting a private room on a site like airbnb? Just a bit of background so you know who I am: I'm a 58 year old Aussie who's married to a Brit, and am currently living in England on a spouse visa. I've used airbnb a lot in my travels and really like them, mainly because none of your money is passed on to the host (person who owns the property) until you've arrived and are happy with the place. The site is also very strict with security, and takes a copy of the host's passport among other things. I don't have any connection with airbnb or any of the other accommodation places you might want to look at, I'm just an old chook who likes to help out with advice when I can.
I had a quick look at airbnb shares in London, and saw one that charges around AUD$1,100 per month if you're staying for 6 months. That's for a private room with your own ensuite bathroom, but there are plenty more there for you to look at. Payment for long term accommodation is made monthly, which helps with the budget a bit. Here's a link to the one I saw if you're interested in this type of accommodation https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/37893...-28&s=P_vcm5X9
I visited London a couple of weeks ago (I live on the Wirral peninsula, up north) - did quite a few touristy things such as a coach trip to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. Loved it all, but was quite glad to get back to my sleepy little part of England!
Anyway, best of luck and don't hesitate to post any questions or concerns you have here, we're (mostly!) a nice bunch
