Travelling on trains

In one of my first posts I wrote about how one cannot keep up their appearance whilst travelling on a plane, unless you were in first class or took bountiful amounts of beauty products with you to maintain yourself. Well while I travel by planes, whilst in the UK I travel often by trains because while it takes longer than just catching a plane, it is significantly cheaper, and you can get a chance to see so much more of the countryside than you would above the clouds in a plane.

Be warned though: if unprepared for a train journey, you could be in for a bad time.

So here’s some advice from me to you:

-       Book your tickets in advance! They will be much, much cheaper than if you purchase them on the day of travel. In addition to this, you also get to choose your seat.

-       When picking a seat, choose every preference you desire. Usually I pick a table because you get more room and can sprawl your stuff everywhere instead of at your feet (although be mindful of the types of people who share the table with, they might not appreciate it), and sit facing forwards (although backwards isn’t a huge issue), but one absolutely must choose a window! The best part about travelling on trains is being able to see so much of the countryside, and the countryside is incredibly beautiful heading north into Scotland, so don’t miss out on seeing it!

-       Bring plenty of food and water on your journey, but buy in advance at places like Tesco which are very cheap and offer many specials, unlike the food offered on the trains which prices are based on tourism charges so they will take unnecessary money from your pocket. (Also, since you have a lot of food it is always nice offering some to those sitting on your table, especially if you are taking up a bit of room, it’ll sweeten them up so they won’t notice your mess on the shared table).

-       Wear comfortable clothes. Most train journeys are quite long, so just like you would in a plane; choose comfort over style (or better yet, find comfy, stylish clothes!)

-       Bring hand sanitizer! The sinks don’t work very well, and you eventually feel very filthy once you reach your destination so at least this helps keep you fresh (I forgot mine on my train journey, my hands were hating me for the whole journey and I was filled with regret and kicked myself for forgetfulness).

-       Make sure your iPod is fully charged --- there is nothing worse than having your iPod die on a long journey and you have no other form of entertainment (I always take my iPod with me for good tunes whilst looking at the scenery, and also a book, and my laptop because sometimes wifi is available on certain trains).

Unfortunately, no matter how prepared you think you are for your upcoming journey, things don’t always go to plan and terrible events may occur.

This is the story of my recent train journey that was from London Euston station to Wick, Scotland. I had to take an overnight sleeper train from London to Inverness, and then in the morning catch my connecting train from Inverness to Wick. I left London at 7.50pm on Monday and did not arrive in Wick until 3pm Tuesday – that is how long my journey was. Usually I break up the journey by spending a couple of days in Dunblane with family before heading up, but due to time constraints I had to take the overnight train in order to get to my destination. I had never caught a sleeper train before so was a little apprehensive about it, especially because I was travelling with a cheap fare so I didn’t get a cabin with a bed like everyone assumes they would on a sleeper train, no instead I just had a normal seat and therefore did not have the luxury of privacy but these things happen in life, and you just have to suck it up and not make a fuss. Anyways, when I got on the train it was extremely hot; it actually felt like we had stepped into a sauna. While this may have been nice in the winter months, it was summer and London was in a middle of a heat wave, so it was actually ridiculously boiling inside the train carriage. There were about 12 of us passengers heading to Inverness in that carriage, and everyone else on the train were either in different carriages, in first class, or in cabins. Still we kept our spirits high and thought once the train started to move it would probably cool down. It didn’t. The real problem was that not only was the air conditioner broken, but also the windows were sealed so none of us could open them to get fresh breeze. I was sweating and angry at my choice of clothes as I did not expect it to be this hot, but I just sat there and melted away whilst trying to enjoy the scenery outside. It did not cool down in our carriage until about 2-3 hours later when the sun started to set, and I thought maybe I would be able to sleep all right in the end. Then we received some amazing news, due to a passenger consistently complaining about the heat in our carriage (our carriage was the only one with broken air conditioning) and as a result of many free cabins on the train, we got upgraded to cabins! We were all quite chuffed as we got to sleep in an actual bed instead of seats! Who said complaining got you nowhere, because it got 12 of us an upgrade and we didn’t even say anything! Although, every high peak has it’s downfall on the other side, and this wicked downfall came into my vision the next morning. I found out, after waking up at 8am thinking I’d be getting to Inverness at 8.30am, that we were delayed by 2 hours. Now I didn’t really care so much about another 2 hours, but I was freaking out with worry thinking I would miss my connecting train. Fortunately I made my connecting train on time, and funnily enough this train was warm too, so I was already in a sweaty filthy state, but I had to endure another 4 hours in another warm train making myself even more sweaty and filthy than before. It was worse than flying, if that is even possible (at least planes are always unbelievably cold so there is no chance of sweating furiously).

When I finally arrived in Wick and got to shower in the pure clean Scottish water, I felt fresh again and it was then and there I vowed to myself never ever should I go on an overnight sleeper train, not even if it’s the cheaper option. There is only so many times when I can rough it, and I’ve had enough of roughing it. 

Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance!

Since this is my last week in Perth before my big trip, I've been trying to get heaps of my tasks done as I'll more than likely forget (well actually, just procrastinate) while I'm away from home.

Among my tasks of preparation, I've been getting any last minute accessories and clothes that I'll definitely need when living and studying in Bergen, Norway - I justify that they are necessities, not just an excuse for a girl to go on a crazy last minute shop... although let's be honest, it is still fun!

I've been researching a lot into the lifestyle, culture and particularly the weather of Bergen, and while I thought Edinburgh was the most rainiest place I have so far visited, I know now I am completely wrong after some light reading.

Apparently, the locals in Bergen will never leave the house without an umbrella because there is always the potential it will rain, EVERY SINGLE DAY! In addition to this, I found there is a joke often said that the town has four seasons in one day - so my thoughts to this is I better act and think like a local too.

However...

I decided to add my own uniqueness and be slightly different. Instead of investing in an umbrella, I chose to invest in a poncho! It's lightweight, compact (I can fold it up rather small), it will dry quickly, and the best thing is that it is clear so my outfit underneath is still on show. Pretty nifty I think :)

I did buy something a bit more stylish though, which won't necessarily help with the weather, but it will assist me in the most important aspect about my trip, my studies.

Usually back at my university in Perth, I generally will have a leather satchel bag which I carry all my notebooks and other texts inside, but I carry my laptop separately in a protective case. Although, when I thought about my future studies at the University of Bergen, I thought maybe that's not a good idea to carry it around separately, maybe I should get a bigger bag which has room for my laptop as well as my textbooks. Well I found the PERFECT bag which solves this problem:

While at first glance this bag seems too small, the looks are deceiving and misleading. This bag has a separate zip compartment in the middle especially for the laptop, and it is just like having a protective laptop case with its softly padded interior but having the added bonus of it being attached inside your bag. The bag also includes two compartments, one on either side of the laptop, so I can still put all my textbooks and stationary in there too, but it also has an addition two other compartments on either side of these which have a secure zip - so I can always put important documents in these parts too. I think it will make a very good and loyal companion on my trips to and from university, abroad and perhaps for when I return back here too.

It's like my very own Mary Poppins bag, and no one knows what I've kept guarded inside... except for you, lovely blogger readers.