Spatially Challenged

As a 30th birthday present to myself, I think I've finally decided to give myself the trip I've always wanted: London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh.  10 whole days to do the things I've been dying to do and see the places I've been dreaming about.  Since I've decided on October, I have 9 months to do the planning but since this is all very exciting, I've already started.  Here's the thing...I am apparently spatially challenged when it comes to these things...

After an hour last week, I had a list of everything I wanted to see, and a detailed map of where I needed to go and how I was going to arrive there.  I had train stations marked and in the case of Hay-on-Wye, connector buses since there are no train stations in the village.  I had it planned out to the hour, and everything I wanted to see worked into my timetable perfectly. 

Then I thought, "maybe I should actually look at the rail map and an actual map of Great Britain to see how much it would cost and if my calculations were correct."  This is where the trouble started.  For a country that's roughly the size of a few of our smaller states jammed together, towns and cities are VERY far from each other.  And it just so happens that the 4 places I want to see are EXTREMELY far from each other.  Now that shouldn't be problem because they have a fantastic rail system, right?!  Well they do but the map for the rail system I believe has been concocted by some sort of masochist who really likes his job.  Exhibit A: Stratford-Upon-Avon is no more than 2 inches from Hereford (the closest station to HoW) on the map but there is absolutely NO convenient line that will take you between these 2 cities.  I can't even figure out a loop in which I could change trains...What is wrong with me?!

Then there's the issue of in which order to visit all 4 places.  I pondered this one thought for a good 20 minutes straight with about 100 iterations until my head started to hurt and I gave up.  If I were smart, I'd pick 4 other relatively close knit places and go there but I'm picky and I want what I want.  So while I foresee quite a lot of research and headache in the coming months, I'm positive it will be for the best.

 I was one of those people who never wanted an itinerary, choosing rather to leave travel up to chance, but it seems that with this trip, I'll need to plan to the last second.  Do you think it's too late to hire a personal secretary to go with me?

Hay-on-Wye

I'm sure for any normal person reading this, the words in the title mean nothing.  However, if you are (like me) a un-apologetic book fiend, you may just know that Hay-on-Wye is a county that straddles the border between Wales and England.  You may also know that according to its travel bureau, Hay-on-Wye is "world renowned for books and bookshops."  So obviously it's on my list of dream vacation destinations.  Based on my fascination with all things British AND my love of books, I'm pretty sure I'd be perfectly happy to live out my days there as well (now I just have to uproot the rest of my family and friends too).

You may wonder why I'm choosing to tell you about my love for this quirky little paradise today.  Well, according to my research (when I can't figure out what to blog about, I google this day in history), the Hay Festival began on May 26, 1987 which, if you ask me, really should be a national holiday.  The Hay Festival is a 10 day long celebration of all things Books and Literature.  Authors and writers from around the world come to speak and lecture on subjects ranging from Medicine and Social Sciences to Food and Comedy.  Each year this tiny county attracts about 85,000 booklovers who come to check out 500 different events over the course of the 10 days.  The 25th anniversary of the festival begins on Thursday and just like every year for the last 5 or so, I'll be wishing I was there.  Some people dream of beaches with crystal blue waters.  I dream about lounging with literaries in the English countryside.  One of these days I'm going to get there but for now, I'll have to be content to dream and watch the festival unfold on youtube (yes, we lit-lovers actually do that...)

Click Hay-on-Wye to see just how bookish and beautiful this book-lovers paradise really is!