I’m done packing. I’m done wrapping Christmas gifts. I think the house is ready for its near abandonment. And yet, that typical feeling of I must be forgetting something is washing over me by the minute. Am I really ready? After all, I am the person who has gotten a half hour from the house and turned around to come back because I couldn’t remember shutting an upstairs window. While this isn’t a constant phenomenon, it does happen often enough that I try to form clear memories of things like locking doors, turning off things around the house, etc.

But it’s not just the house. I’m trying to pack lighter for this trip than the last one (yet I’m there longer). So, I’m consistently wondering if I really have everything. Thing is, I still think that I’m going to dump a few things from the bag before I leave next week.

And over the next couple of days at home, I figure I’ll be ironing out some of my extended plans in Scotland. Since I have a Britrail pass, I want to make use of it. Some of it may be short trips. Perhaps in the direction of Glasgow and Stirling, but I really think I’m more likely to take a short trek up to the Kingdom of Fife (I want to go to Dunfermline) and maybe then over to St. Andrews. Perhaps even up as far as Aberdeen. If I go that far, it will probably be the Sunday after New Years (which means I need to check the train schedules – may not be operating at full). While I may take other day trips, most days in Edinburgh, I’ll want to be back by nightfall for the Hogmanay celebrations.

The trip back to London and those last days are still somewhat up in the air. I plan to stop in York. Supposedly the train station there has left luggage lockers. The UK rail website maintains this to be a fact, but a few friends have said they had trouble finding lockers in the UK with security being increased in the past years. We’ll see. If I can dump my bags, I’ll wander the city for a few hours. It will just be a taste of York either way.

In London itself, I hope to catch London Walks’ Jack the Ripper tour this time. Maybe I’ll try to see a show this time, but it’s not a must, just a maybe. I want to take a BBC tour if I can line it up. Kind of a fanboy desire after years of watching shows such as Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, and all the legion of BritComs. I figure sometime while I’m there I’ll have to wander through Trafalgar again. Maybe this time I’ll see some of the gallerys there. My plans are all, obviously, fluid. I have things I want to do, and may do. But I’m not pegged to certain things certain times or even at all. A certain control freak side of my nature winces a little, but I think the carefree side is winning. I’m loving that there are so many possibilities. I won’t come back feeling sorry I didn’t get to do X thing while I was there. I should come back with a wealth of happy experiences.

Back at the homestead

Meanwhile, my Mom has a cold. I feel so sorry for her being sick so close to the holidays. I remember many childhood holidays spent like that. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that neither my Dad nor I catch it and that she has a swift recovery.

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