I’m sitting in a bus station near Birmingham, England, at 9pm on a Saturday night, trying to figure out what to write about Texas. Something seems wrong with that picture. I’ve been in England for a week now, and I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to write about the last part of my travels in the U.S. That’s both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, I haven’t had a chance to be bored. Even on days when I haven’t had much sightseeing or traveling to do, I’ve kept occupied with trip planning and such.
Right now I’ve snagged a rare free moment to write. I’m a few hours’ drive from Holyhead, where my bus will board a ferry to Dublin. I’m preoccupied with some financial concerns at the moment. London was quite expensive, which was expected. In addition, my final paycheck from work was never deposited because my former employers gave me the wonderful surprise of sending a paper check to my house instead of making a direct deposit, while I was on the road in Texas and far from any branch of my bank. I’m trying to figure out the best way to solve this issue, while at the same time using less cash and more credit. But of course, my credit card was declined the last two times I tried to use it. I’m far from over the limit; I think the card company must have considered my purchases suspicious, since they’re occurring in a foreign country. Never mind the fact that I used the card to buy my plane ticket to London.
I’m also trying to figure out how much time to spend in each country, and where I can afford to go given the time and financial constraints on me. I’ve decided I want to skip most of the expensive countries and spend more time in the more exotic – and cheaper! – places. So after Ireland and Scotland and Amsterdam, I’m going to skip down to Greece and Turkey. I know there are other cheap countries in Eastern Europe, but I’ve elected to forego them for some ancient history and sun near the Mediterranean. I also want to visit a friend in the ‘bargain basement’ country of Georgia, which shares a border with Turkey. After that, I’d like to see Israel and Egypt before hopping a flight to Spain. I know Spain won’t be terribly cheap, but I can’t miss Spain. I think I can do all those countries given the time I have left (I fly from London back to Miami November 30), but again everything hinges on me being able to contact HSBC and sort out the Mastercard situation.
I’d like to write more about my experiences traveling in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, but my bus is about to leave, so I’ll save that for the next update. I already mentioned my disappointment with the Greyhound system, but trust me, there was plenty to like about the South. I’ll praise that leg of the trip as soon as I have another free moment to write.
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