Opinions, people?

[deird_lj]

[Poll #1532947]

Comments

[shapinglight]

I'm biased, though. I'm hoping to go to Writercon UK this year and I'd like to meet you.

[deird1]

That's my dilemma! If I go in August, I'll have (at most) a couple of weeks, but I'll get to meet half my flist!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Course you could come to Writercon UK and then come and visit us all, so allowing you to stay for a month then as well...

[deird1]

Unfortunately I'm going to be mid-uni course at the time...

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

That was a hard choice. As you can see, I didn't do too good at it.

Writercon would be amazing and a week and a half in England would be sweet, if perhaps a bit rushed. So I ticked that.

Then my frugal nature took over and said "A MONTH!" and my fingers ticked that too.

[deird1]

That's the thing. It costs so bloody much to travel to England, regardless of how long I'm there for. In some ways it'd be much more sensible to wait until I can spend longer there...

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I want to reply but I need more information like how often do you travel and where have you been before...

[deird1]

I've been to Germany. Ten years ago.

And New Zealand, when I was eleven.

And Singapore airport...



The thing is, travelling outside of this country costs a mint. And I've never really been able to afford it. I am, however, dying to see England (and most of Europe, eventually). And Writercon would mean getting to meet lots of LJ people, too!

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

You really wouldn't like England in January. Either come to WriterCon UK or stay home and save your money.

And you might not be able to do much running around in January either - you could end up having to sleep in a coach stranded in snowdrifts, or be stranded in the lounge of an airport closed by snow, or similar.

[deird1]

Better than Australia in January, anyway!

*hates hot weather*

[lilachigh.livejournal.com]

What exactly do you want to see in UK? Coventry is so central that you could base yourself there and I'm sure that between us we could work you out a time-table to see things you want to see. Kenilworth, Warwick Castle, obviously. gillo would tell us where else is easy to get to.

[deird1]

Heh. Everything? :)


I'm a history buff, so historical stuff (of almost every variety) is fascinating. And at some point I need to go to Harrods. And then there's Stonehenge. And I want to stand outside Downing Street and eat half a Yorkie Bar (long story). And I want to go to a British cathedral of some variety, because I'm pretty sure they're different from the ones I saw in Germany. And a whole lot of little villagey stuff. And white swans. And The Mousetrap. And a couple of castles. And squirrels...

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

You could always come in January and organise a Mezzacon to rival Writercon? Or spend your month here traveling round and visiting everyone in your flist. Possibly unannounced. ;-)

[deird1]

Heh. Be careful what you suggest. You might end up opening your front door to an acubra-wearing Aussie chick holding vegemite in one hand and a suitcase in the other...

[quinara]

Given the temperatures you are accustomed to, you may well freeze in January - and if you get bad luck (/a winter like this one) you're transport will be buggered all to hell and you'll actually have five days travelling around and the rest of the time eating Burger King on train platforms.

Not that I have ulterior motives for taking this view. No no no.

[deird1]

I survived winter in Germany...

(And actually, IME, I'm better at very cold temperatures than I am at Australian summer ones.)


Not that I have ulterior motives for taking this view. No no no.

Of course not. Not at all. :)

[ib-stormcaller.livejournal.com]

option D(i think? - not counting random tick boxes :) )

Go to Writercon, and spend a month, maybe 2 running around... But go in 2011.

[deird1]

Spoilsport. :)

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

I gather writercon is in Coventry?
Given you've never been to England... here's what I've done.

London: did this with Dad, so all the historyish stuff. We did W. Abbey and paid extra to take the Treasury Tour, which was totally woth it and beats Madame Tussauds any day. The Tower Bridge tour was good, The Tower of London was great, Hampton Court was gorgeous, the British Museum was great, St Paul's was great. Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park, etc, etc are just fun to be in.
Of course, all the other stuff that Dad isn't interested in was more tricky to arrange. Like - he took me to Speakers' Corner but didn't tell me that it's only really one day of the week that people talk there. >:(
K and I are DESPERATE to see The Globe Theatre, which hadn't yet been rebuilt when I was there.

Plus, you can do day trips from London and get to:
- Windsor castle
- Oxford
- Cambridge
- Stratford
- and even further like Canterbury or Portsmouth or Hastings if you wanted to get carried away...

I lived there for 6 months and got three weeks off over Christmas plus 1 week in London before coming home.
- Maidstone - place to stay, no company during day, one outing to a castle. Not so good.
- London - place to stay, no company during day, London shops to visit, nice guy to talk to all night and go to pub with. Pretty good.
- Somerset - place to stay, nice guy to have romantic walks with, family to have Christmas with. Pretty darn good.
- Edinburgh - place to stay, friend to spend days with, also pretty good.

- 5 days doing: York - Manchester - Liverpool - Cardiff - Oxford - Stratford. Hostels evey night. Yummy sightseeing ... by self.

That was quite enough to be going on with. I couldn't have coped with any more time alone.

Although they were yummy places to see, I got much more out of just being there, things like shopping in Norwich, or having a weekend in... town I can't remember offhand, or just BEING IN ENGLAND WITH ENGLISH PEOPLE AND PLACES AND DOING THINGS TOGETHER.

In summary, don't go to England by yourself unless you're intending to live there for a while. There's no point in going for a month by yourself, you'll be bored. But if you have the chance to be there living doing stuff with fun people, TAKE IT TAKE IT TAKE IT. Go to Writercon and see everybody then spend a week and a half sightseeing, and base yourself in London. You will have a BALL.

[deird1]

So that's a yes, then? :)

Still eyeing my bank account dubiously, but I just might go...

[mabus101.livejournal.com]

I said America, cause it would be great to actually meet you, but really you should probably go to WriterCon and spend a week-and-a-half running around England. And you'd probably just go to Florida if you came here anyway. ;)

[deird1]

No, I really wouldn't. :)

Florida sounds utterly boring, for the most part. The main appeal seems to be the weather - and I can get that here...

[klme.livejournal.com]

Mid Uni course is the reason you can't go longer??? Pfff! People cope with that. Tell them you'll be away. Get someone to email you the stuff. Catch up when you return! Come on!!!

[deird1]

Well...


I'll look into it.


(What is it with my family all going "Pfft. Screw the bank account. Ignore the uni course. Go on holiday!"? Are you guys all very stoned?)

[silveronthetree.livejournal.com]

What a difficult decision. I only voted for the second option because I don't know what Writercon UK is, and longer is always better if you are travelling that far.

Whatever you decide, you should come and visit Oxford. It is very pretty and historical and it is also halfway between Coventry and London.

[deird1]

Behold: Writercon UK

It's a convention for fanficcy people. Many of whom are on my LJ flist.



Whatever you decide, you should come and visit Oxford. It is very pretty and historical and it is also halfway between Coventry and London.

Oooh...

I really should.

[padawanspider.livejournal.com]

It was a tough choice between "ticky!" and "woo! another ticky!" but I believe I made the best and most constructive choice.

Just to be contrary, though, if you go to England in August you won't have to suffer through a month of dreary England winter weather.

Ooor you could wait until the next Writercon when you don't have to get back home on account of classes.

[deird1]

It was a tough choice between "ticky!" and "woo! another ticky!" but I believe I made the best and most constructive choice.

Hee! Silly person.


I'm still not sure what I'm going to do...

[gillo]

I'm very much with the coming to England, and will throw tantrums if I don't meet you whenever you come, but it would be really cool if you came to writercon. You could stay with me a day or two as well, which would allow you to stay longer...

[deird1]

Oooh...

(I might actually end up checking with flisty people about couch crashing. Thus making things affordable. Although it's not that that's limiting the time I can stay - I'm in the middle of a uni course, and I'm not sure I can afford to miss more than one week.)