If you’re like me, you’re living for that next adventure. There is so much to do and see outside of your own backyard, but finding time and money to get there can be a challenge! Aaron and I have made it our life’s mission to do fun, new and interesting things every year (and it has been a challenge to live that #frugalLife and make it happen!). This has absolutely depleted time in our lives to go visit family (sorry y’all!), or go back to our old stomping grounds (Arkansas- we miss you!), but it’s a personal choice. Life is short, and we want to spend the (little) time we have outside of work to explore new and unseen opportunities: we want to travel. We live in this American system of limited time off of work, and unfortunately that’s the time and space we have to operate under currently. We do have bigger hopes and dreams, and maybe we’ll get closer to more freedom- but, for now, this is what we have. (My rant about the system of having a career with little to no work life balance could go on for days.)
So, to celebrate our six year wedding anniversary (11 years total of putting up with each other!), and my upcoming 30th birthday, we are doing a Euro-trip! TBH, the main point of this trip was my deep desire to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for my 30th birthday- but everything else is icing on the cake! It all came together so quickly for us, and worked out so perfectly! We’ve been planning this trip for a few months, and we have pretty much pegged down dates in each city, transportation and a few activities along the way (but still planning the deep-details!).
It all started with a bottle of wine, and an impulse purchase of Cursed Child tickets in London. Originally we were trying to see the show at its new home in New York, but we kept “losing” the lottery to buy tickets (there was this whole system, which never worked in our favor). So, I began casually (note: it was not at all casual) trying to convince Aaron we should go to London and see it. “We could fly direct…how expensive could it be?….they have fish and chips!….etc.” Well, turns out, it only takes one bottle of Pinot Noir (caviar, midsize car, Myanmar) and a deep conversation about how much I love Harry Potter (like, a whole lot. He does too though. It’s not weird…) to convince him. We were on the computer looking at dates with tickets available, which were much depleted, when I panicked. “IF WE DON’T BUY THEM NOW THEY’LL ALL BE SOLD OUT!” To be fair, that panic was warranted. We were trying to accomplish this trip between our anniversary (May) and my birthday (July): AKA, peak travel season. So, we bought the tickets! We then were able to cash in all of our credit card points (Thanks Chase Sapphire!) and get two round trip tickets for around $200 (YEAH, YOU READ THAT RIGHT). Everything else began to fall into place after that. We are so excited about all the fun things we have lined up, but we are still pulling in recommendations (and more)! If you have some “bucket list” items for London, Scotland or Ireland to share- please do! Here’s our city vacay-lineup
- DAY 1: ATX -> London
- Overnight Flight (Melatonin, HALLLLLP)
- DAY 2: Arrive in London @ 10:00 AM
- DAY 3: LONDON!
- DAY 4: 9:00 am Take the Train to -> Edinburgh (kings cross station)
- (Arrive in Edinburgh around 2:17 pm)
- DAY 5: Edinburgh!
- DAY 6: More Edinburgh (….OR, Scotland day trip? Hop on a train?)
- DAY 7: Edinburgh -> Dublin
- Fly to Dublin, and spend the day doing things around town!
- DAY 8: Day trip to Northern Ireland (Giants Cause Way +,with a group, 13+ hours)
- DAY 9: Dublin!
- DAY 10: Day trip to Cliffs of Moher + Dublin around town
- DAY 11: Dublin -> Cork -> London
- Fly to Cork from London in the AM
- Leave luggage at the airport, and take transportation around to see Cork + touristy things
- Late flight to London (9 PM)
- DAY 12: London!
- Leisure/lazy Morning
- HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD PARTS 1 & 2! (STARTS AT 2:00 PM)
- DAY 13: London! (or possible day trip to Stonehenge….or somewhere else that’s dope?)
- DAY 14: London -> ATX
- Fly out @ 12:00 PM
We’ve received some tips on food/activities in/around Dublin, but have been relying on TripAdvisor/the internet at large to recommend London & Edinburgh things! So, if you have been, please send advice! Some of my London items include all the touristy things (The London Eye, the changing of the Royal Guard, all the fancy Royal places, Tea Time, fish & chips, double-decker buses and the likes.), but I am looking for must-do’s and hidden gems! I also want to know what amazing (and outdoorsy) things I should do around Edinburgh. Outside of the Royal Mile, and some Harry Potter pilgrimage items, we haven’t planned any activities for our stay there! So: bring. it. on.
We know we are being very ambitious with our day trips and plans, but when we travel we try to maximize. We are currently teetering on the edge of doing a Scottish day trip (somewhere close, travel by train from Edinburgh) or just spend an extra day hanging in the city/general surrounding area. The same thing goes for our last day in London: we can see some more sites/hang OR we could venture to Stonehenge or somewhere else we’ve never been! Now open for opinions!
We are beyond stoked to live in (and around) the land of Harry Potter for a few weeks- wish us luck! Where are you going next???? I think I’ve got my eye on Iceland…..or Hawaii…..or Greece……so, we shall see!
Happy Wanderlusting,
-Morgan Messick
Morgan Messick is a Pop-Culture fanatic, Podcast Host, Booktuber & total #BookBabe living in Austin, TX with her Husband and two dogs — Scoop & Eleanor. She aspires to grow her #TBR pile, do all of the hiking, travel as often as possible and make a joke at every turn. She utilizes laughter and yoga for daily medicine, thinks that Harry Potter is magic for all ages, and truly believes Die Hard is a great Christmas movie (SO DEAL WITH IT.)
Catch her musings here, and around the web — links in the “about” page!
Morganizedmess.com 