Budget

For my budget of this trip I will need to bring money for the activities I would like to do, shopping and just have money on me just in case anything happens. My flight is going to cost about $700 so that isn't too bad. I won't have to pay for hotels or anything like that, so its just money for things I want to do and things I will want to buy. I will bring about $400 for activities, in case I want to do anything that isn't on my blog that I think is interesting while I am there. I will bring about $500 for shopping, $400 for miscellaneous money and I will most likely end up taking my family out for dinner or something while I am there so I will bring another few hundred dollars for that because I have a lot of family there. So in total I am estimating that I will need to budget about $2000 for this trip, but if I need more money I will get my dad to wire me some money or something and I will pay him back. 

Ameneties

When I am in England I will be staying with family, like I have said before so their houses will be clean and I will not have to worry about staying at a hostel sharing a room with many people. I will need to bring a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, cologne, shower products and all of my face wash and all that stuff.  I will have access to clean water the whole time I am visiting England.

Activities

While I am in England I would really like to go watch my favorite soccer, or football team Manchester United. There is a tour of Old Trafford where you can go into the dugout where the players bench is, you can go into the players lounge and you get to watch a game. The tour is 20 pounds which is about $35.

I would like to go to Soho, downtown London to see what it's all about. It looks really cool in the pictures online so I would like to just go check it out. 

When I'm there in England I want to go sight seeing and all of that good stuff, but to completely honest, I am taking this trip to go see my family that I never get to see and spend some quality time with them. I'm sure they won't have a problem taking me where I would like to go but I am mostly taking this trip to spend time with them.

My Accommodations ~ England

As I have mentioned earlier, I have a lot of family that lives in England so I will be staying with them the whole time I am there. My family lives in many different cities such as, Wallington, Carshalton, Surrey, London and Leicester. 

Access ~ England

When I'm in England I will be using public transit to get around when I need to, so buses, trains, taxis and the subway. But I will be staying with family so I will most likely be with them the whole time and they have cars so most of the time I won't need to take transit.

Cultural Attractions ~ England

While I am visiting England I would like to go see 'Big Ben', Big Ben is the big clock tower at the Houses of Parliament in central London. The clock tower got the name 'Big Ben' because the largest bell inside the tower was nicknamed that, the bells original name was the Great bell. The tower is 96 meters high, only UK residents are allowed to climb the 400 steps to the top. I just want to go to see it, it wouldn't bother me that I couldn't go up the tower.

Also when I'm in London I would really like to go see Buckingham Palace. The palace is the Queen's official residence in England. It was built in 1705 for the Duke of Buckingham. The palace will not be open to tourists during the time I will be in England but I would be quite satisfied by just seeing the outside. While at the palace I would like to watch the Changing the Guard ceremony, it is free to watch and is about 45 minutes long.

While I am in England on vacation I would really like to go see the Stonehenge, I want to see it because I have seen many pictures of it and it looks very interesting. The Stonehenge is one of the most important prehistoric monument in all of Britain. It is estimated that the construction of it took more than 30 million hours of labour. It was finished about 3500 years ago. The cost to go is 7.50 pounds, which works out to be around 12 dollars. This is a biophysical attraction.

Biophysical Attractions ~ England

When I'm in England I would like to take a drive out to the county side to see the trees and wildlife. England is very old so the trees are thousands and thousands of years old, I think it would be interesting to see big trees like that! I have heard from my grandmother that the country side in England is very nice and there are many walking paths that go through the forests and golf courses.

Travel Motivators and Barriers ~ England

Some of the things that make me want to go to England are my family, the architecture, the different cars there, sports and seeing where the royal family lives. I am really excited to go watch a Manchester Untied game, they are my favorite soccer team!  The only thing that would really turn me away from going to England would be the rain, I really don't like rain. Other than that I will really enjoy this trip.

Climate During Visit ~ England

I will be taking my trip in June, so I researched the climate for that time of year and here is what I got. In June the average temperature high is about 20 degrees Celsius and the average low is about 13 degrees Celsius. Most people have heard that it rains a lot in England, so I had to check how much it is going to rain while I'm going to be there as I know it will. The average precipitation for the month of June is about 45 (mm).

Culture Shock ~ England

The language in England is English if you didn't know that already. So for me as a Canadian traveling there there will be no language barrier. In England they have the same types of restaurants as we do in Canada such as fast food restaurants, Thai food, Chinese food, etc. I have heard from my grandmother that fish&chips in England is the best in the world so I'm looking forward to trying that! They drive on the left side of the road so that will be different and a little hard to get used to, I will probably end up getting into the driver seat a few times instead of the passenger because I won't be used to it. I am looking forward to this trip because I want to see my family and I have only been to England once when I was about 2 years old so I don't remember anything, so it will be a fun and interesting vacation.

Arrival Accomodation ~ England

When I arrive at the airport I will take the train from Manchester to London where some of  my family lives, I will have my great uncle pick me up at the train station. I'm sure hoping that they will not be charging me to stay at their place for a few days. It will be nice to see the family there as I haven't seen them in years.

Health and Safety Advisory ~ England

There are no mandatory immunizations or vaccinations for traveling to England, but travel insurance is highly recommended. While in England if you get sick you are covered under their non-emergency treatment so you can see a doctor. Also, be aware of getting sunburnt because you can still get burnt through the clouds and on the water especially. Tap water is alright to drink while in England unless posted not too.

Travel Warnings and Advisories ~ England

There are no serious things going on in England that will affect travelers at the moment. But as always when traveling to another county other than the one you live in, you always have to be aware of what is going on around you and be aware of the people around you as there is always people trying to make money off of travelers. Things to be aware of when traveling to England are mostly little petty crimes such as pick pocketing, purse snatching and mugging, all of these are common in high tourism areas and on public transit.

Visa Requirements ~ England

There is no visa required for Canadian travelers to go to England unless you are staying for more than 6 months. If you are only staying for less than 6 months, as I will be, you are considered a visitor so therefore I will not require a visa for going to England on my trip in June 2012. In England you are allowed to drive with your full G license, as long as it is valid, for up to a full year of being in the country.

Currency ~ England

The currency they use in England is British Pounds (GBP). However most places will often accept EURO, YEN and sometimes USD, with the proper exchange rate of course. It just depends on where you are going to be shopping, but it is always best to carry British pounds because you never know if the store you want to buy something from will accept any other currency. The current exchange rate between Canadian dollars and British pounds is somewhere around $1 CDN = 0.64 GBP.

Flight Details ~ England

Departure - Toronto 
Arrival - Manchester

Cost of flight round trip: $683 (taxes inc.)

Date: Wednesday June 6 Time: (22:20)

Airline: Air Transat Flight number: 208

I found this great deal on Expedia.ca. I knew it was a good deal because my family is always going to visit other family that lives in England and they rarely get flights this cheap..so I decided to book it.