Our next big adventure.... Two years off work and backpacking the world!!!

Sunday after a slow morning from the cocktail party the previous night we made our way to Dover. When we picked up the hire car, we have always paid for the extra insurance to cover damage to the vehicle. They also have another insurance that covers you for tyre, windscreen, loss of keys & breakdown service. It is another $11 a day. I have never worried about it before. We were told if we damage a windscreen it would cost us $1900 to replace. Which is 3x the price in Australia. I decided to take out the extra cover. 30mins into our trip there is a loud bang as a stone bounces of the windscreen and leaves a nice divot on the drivers side. We arrived in Dover about four hours after leaving Bournemouth. Not an exciting drive it was all on motorways. We parked out the front of the hotel which is right on Dover's main beach. Went inside to see if they had any free parking available which they did out the back and over the road behind buildings. We were given a parking permit for o...

Our first day in London was cold and clear. I spent the morning plotting all the places to see on my offline maps for the next 8 days,  thanks to Jason's long list of things to see. Most of the places to visit don't open until 10.00am which gives us plenty of time just to lounge around in the warm hotel room. Before heading into a 2 degree morning. It is about a 10min walk to our closest tube station Kilburn on the Jubilee Line. You can use your credit card on the entrance gates to the trains so no travel card or tickets need to be purchased. We also could of payed with C/C on the buses in Thornhill, Scotland. I was thinking how far more technologically advanced the UK is compared to the US. You may have read from my previous blogs on how outdated payment options were in the US compared to other countries. I have also watched plenty of people paying for purchases and train fares on their phone by tapping. The US was fascinated when we showed them you can tap a card for purch...