Confidence and Ignorance : United Kingdom

"Not all those who wander are lost"-J.R Tolkein

After graduation and my road trip back to sunny California, I embarked on another great adventure- a month long backpacking trip of Europe with my best friends. I must preface this by stating that normally I am a notorious over-packer, but on this trip I limited myself to my backpack. Traveling for a month out of a backpack going from hostel to hostel was a new kind of trip for me. I had an incredible time and am already looking for a way to do it all over again.

I used this Dueter Pack which is a 40+10 pack. It worked really well for me and I would highly recommend it. I had the smallest bag out of all my friends and I traveled the longest without any problems.

I started my journey by flying to Edinburgh, Scotland. I studied abroad in Edinburgh and I am in love with the entire country. It also doesn't hurt that three of my favorite people are Scottish and let me stay with them. Erin, Emily, and Naomi were three of my flatmates when I first came to Bonny Scotland and they still live together (in a much more posh place).

I was picked up at the airport and immediately whisked into the center of Edinburgh. Erin, Emily, and myself caught up over breakfast and a walk around the city. I unfortunately didn't take many pictures of Edinburgh since I have so many from my residency there.

Victoria Street

We then drove to the train station to pick up Naomi and headed over to the gorgeous seaside town North Berwick. Erin is from North Berwick and was having a barbecue for her birthday there. We indulged in some great scenery, food, conversation, and an abundance of Pimms.

Yes, we are all in denim shirts.

Erin's Gorgeous Ranch

The picturesque North Berwick

Our go to awkward self timer photo

We came back to Edinburgh the next day and went out for a great night on the Cowgate. We stayed out ridiculously late despite having to wake up early to catch the train to St. Andrews.

Getting wild in the streets of Edinburgh

The last time I was in Scotland I missed out on going to St. Andrews. However, Naomi and Emily were not going to let that happen twice.

St. Andrews Cathedral

Cathedral Cemetery

The Castle

Taking in St. Andrews

The next morning I flew into London to meet up with my three best friends from growing up. I had a fabulous time in Scotland and am so grateful to have such great friends there! I can't wait to go back and see my flatties soon.

I honestly love the UK. I have a great time whenever I'm there, the people are great, and the history is fascinating. It was incredible to be able to share one of my favorite cities with people I've known all my life. Gioia, Sarah, Kelsie and I spent three great days in London pub crawling, visiting tourist locations, meeting new people, and celebrating our graduation from college (we all went to different schools). Our trip also overlapped with some other friends of ours so we had a great group to explore a great city.