You could let jet lag ruin your vacation, or not

Jet lag is the worst.

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve traveled more than four or five hours by plane and had to adjust to more than a couple of hours time difference. I guess I forgot how shitty you can end up feeling when your internal clock is screwed up. The worst part is knowing there’s not a whole lot you can do except wait it out and give your body time to adjust. Unfortunately, that usually means missing out on certain activities so you can take it easy while your body recovers from the strenuous travel.

I’m jealous of my friends, who were able to get up at 6:30 this morning and jet off to our scheduled tour of Oxford, Warwick Castle, Shakespeare’s birthplace and the Cotswolds. I was looking forward to meandering the cobblestone streets of the famous college town, of wandering through the historic castle, of getting a bit of Shakespearean history, of viewing England’s countryside. But I know my body and I know if I had pushed on, I’d pay for it later and probably not get to enjoy all the other exciting things we have planned these next five days.

So instead, I took it easy by myself, getting some extra, much-needed sleep, then puttering around the hotel room slowly, before heading out into the city in search of sustenance. I ended up finding some in a delicious gluten-free bakery, Beyond Bread. Sure, I’d rather have been snapping photos of picturesque buildings and scenery with my friends, but the traditional English brunch I had was delicious, as was the muffin I took as a snack for later (which I’m currently enjoying with my peppermint tea).

After filling my belly and perusing a few stores, I took the long way home and walked the streets near Buckingham Palace, getting a few more photos in to add to the ones we snapped last night once the tourists had gone home for the day. I bought another adorable Alice in Wonderland tea mug from Whittard to add to my collection. I explored the hotel’s courtyard and people-watched in the lobby. Even though I didn’t get to do exactly what I planned on doing today, I still enjoyed being back in london and being on vacation, without having to worry about work or the trivial tasks of being an adult. I could just sort of be in the moment, whether that moment was fast-paced among the bustling tourists at the palace, or low-key sipping tea with my feet up.

Jet lag is the worst and I hate it. If you’re someone who suffers from it when traveling, you probably hate it, too. But it’s okay to succumb for the first day or two and take it easy on yourself. No one will mind if you need a day to rest and recover. And if they do, you probably shouldn’t be traveling with them to begin with. At the end of the day, only you know what your body can handle, so listen and be gentle and give it what it needs. Those landmarks and tourist attractions aren’t going anywhere; they’ll still be there when you’re good and ready to enjoy them.

I may have missed out on a great tour today, but I’ve got plenty more to look forward to the rest of the week. Like the Harry Potter studio tour tomorrow. So come at me, jet lag. Give me your best shot.

Just touched back down in London Town

My friends and I arrived back in merry ole London yesterday morning, and already we’ve crammed quite a bit in to the two days we’ve been here. After getting to our hotel, the St James’ Court, yesterday, we headed back out towards the edge of town to ride the Emirates Air Line. While it wasn’t super exciting from a touristy standpoint (there were really no notable sights to see from the sky that make London the city it’s known for), and it was slightly terrifying when the wind picked up (swinging from a cable car over the dirty Thames is not how I want to go), it was super cheap at about £4. I think it would be a lot cooler had they built it closer to the city center, but there are probably reasons why they didn’t, and it’s a good excuse to travel farther to the outskirts than you might normally do.

After puttering around Westminster for most of the day, we decided to regroup at our hotel (which is super swanky and probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in as an adult paying my own way) and then head to the West End to catch a show.

The abbey of Westminster.

When we studied abroad here ten years ago, we made it a habit to just show up to the ticket window just before showtime and score whatever last-minute discounted tickets were left. While we didn’t get super cheap seats like we were accustomed to back then, we were still able to score dress circle seats at the last second for Waitress starring Katharine McPhee.

The show was great. Unfortunately we made the decision to see an almost three-hour musical after an extremely long travel day with no nap and some serious jet lag. Let’s just say we all caught some shut eye at one point or another during the show. Still, it was entertaining with a very talented cast. Definitely worth the money and time spent.

After the show, we took a very European approach and decided to have dinner at 9:30 at night. I’d never understood why they wait so long to eat dinner until now; it becomes sort of necessary depending on what other scheduled events you having going on. Although I can’t say I enjoy eating so late, at least I can begin to see why they do it. With my recent dietary restrictions (no gluten + no dairy + no sugar = a difficult task of finding somewhere to eat), we settled on a Mexican restaurant near the Adelphi theater where Waitress was playing.

The restaurant, Lupita, had a lot of really tasty dishes, and I was extremely happy with my gluten-free and vegan quesadillas I was able to enjoy. But man, the service. I don’t get why every restaurant I’ve ever eaten at in Europe seriously sucks when it comes to the service. Maybe it’s the lack of motivation, since European servers don’t work for tips the way Americans do. But seriously. If I have to flag you down after 20 minutes of being completely bone-dry on my glass of water, we have a problem and I hate you. It makes it extremely hard to like your restaurant if the food is good when the service is so terrible.

Today’s choices were slightly better (although not by much). We got some much needed sleep after our long flights and skipped breakfast, instead forging ahead right to lunch at the Thai restaurant Patara. The food was delicious (they even had a gluten-free menu!) but again, the service was less than mediocre. Luckily, I decided to treat myself to a tasty gluten- and dairy-free macaron (yes I cheated with the sugar but who cares?) from Laduree, so I quickly forgot how annoying the service at lunch had been (although I definitely appreciate the special menu, and how they made sure to tell me not to eat the appetizer they brought for the table, which apparently turned out to be incredibly gross anyway).

We did some light shopping at all the best stores (Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, Topshop, and of course, Primark) before ending our day with some delicious sushi at Sticks’n’sushi (which was able to provide me with gluten-free soy sauce).

We were even able to sneak in a quick nighttime visit to Buckingham Palace on our walk back from dinner (who knew Buckingham Palace was so close to our hotel on Buckingham Gate road, am I right?).

Though there’s still so much to do the remainder of this quick, 9-day trip, I feel like it’s finally starting to sink in that I’m really back in this city that captured my heart all those years ago.