What Worked and What Didn’t

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In the winter of 2021–22, I was itching to fly. It had been four years since I’d stepped onto a plane, and elsewhere was calling my name. My mom had been suggesting a week-long sleepover for my son that summer, and the moment she confirmed, I said yes—and immediately started planning what I’d do with a week to myself.

I budgeted my upcoming tax return and started browsing domestic flights.

At the time, my sister lived in Wyoming—an 18-hour drive away—and I’d never been out to visit her. Once I started pricing things out, the cost of getting there alone floored me: $1,200 roundtrip. Once I added in a hotel stay and a rental car from Salt Lake to Afton, I started to question how badly I needed to see the Rockies again.

On a whim, I checked flights to Europe. “London’s probably the closest,” I thought as I typed Lambert to Heathrow into the search bar. Sure enough—it was $400 cheaper, with hotels. The lure of something new pulled me right in.

Five months later, after trying not to obsess over my trip every day, I boarded a plane to London via Atlanta.
I would love to say it was smooth sailing from there, but let’s be honest…what every goes perfectly? I definitely made some rookie mistakes on my first international trip.

What Worked: An Oyster Card

I am big on walking, and found no issue with walking to sites such as the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and so very many beautiful parks within walking distance of my hotel (I stayed at the National Royal Hotel). With that being said, I did put in almost 15 miles a day on foot every day of my trip, so if you aren’t keen on all of the walking, I highly suggest investing in an Oyster Card, which allows you to use most all public transport methods in London, including those famous red double-deckers. You can load up funds as needed online, as well; the recommended amount is £15 per every 2 days of travel. After my second day in a row of over 38,000 logged steps, I was glad to be able to hop on a bus and not worry if it would affect my budget, since the funds were already there, and if I had known about how much pain the rental car would cause me, I would have really appreciated the value of the Oyster Card a lot more.

What Didn’t: Renting a Car

As an American who had never left the country, I had no frame of reference for the public transportation situation in the UK. I’m the type who drives separately to every event because when I want to leave, I want to leave right then. I knew I wanted to see as much of England as I could, and I really didn’t trust myself to get everywhere on time using trains or buses. Plus, taxi and Uber prices in NYC had shaped my expectations, so a rental car felt like a no-brainer.

Spoiler: it was not.

When I arrived at the airport to pick up my car, I found out I had accidentally reserved a manual transmission. Getting an automatic at the last minute cost me an additional $400—plus a solid round of tears.

So, if you’re still set on renting a car, please do the following:

Triple-check that you’ve reserved an automatic transmission, especially if you’ve never driven stick.
Confirm this at least two weeks before your trip.
Use a rental platform that clearly shows transmission type

With That Said—Driving on the “Wrong” Side Wasn’t the Hard Part

If you’re worried about driving on the left, don’t be. I adjusted quickly. Sitting on the right side of the vehicle helped me stay mentally flipped, and I just followed the traffic in front of me. If you’re a confident, alert driver, you’ll likely be fine. My advice?

Don’t overthink it.
Roundabouts will keep you on your toes.
Use Google Maps with voice navigation (so you can focus on the road).

If you aren’t a strong or confident driver, though, don’t drive in the UK. You need to stay calm under pressure, especially when navigating narrow village roads and fast-paced roundabouts. A single lane road in the UK with parking on both sides? Yeah, that’s still going to be a two-way road.

What Worked: A Single Day in Paris

Notre Dame, under construction

Nearly 2 years after the historic church caught flame, it was still under heavy construction when I visited in 2021

This one is going to be polarizing, and that is okay! I am a firm believer that no vacation style is perfect for everyone. On the flip side, no vacation style is inherently wrong either. I like to have a touch of spontaneity woven into my carefully planned trips, and the best part of this was that while it certainly seems spontaneous, it was just as planned as everything else I did this week.

“You just can’t do Paris in a day!” said all the critics.

Look, I get it. I certainly did not experience everything Paris has to offer in my 36 hours there. That is not up for debate, and I would never claim to have gotten the full experience. But I have lived in Saint Louis my entire life, a much smaller city, and have yet to experience even this city to the full potential it has to offer. Visiting a town, city, country…it isn’t about grabbing every experience, smell, and sound that you can while you’re there. Vacationing is about experiencing what you can with whatever time you have.

Did 36 hours in Paris leave me desiring more from the city? Absolutely. I have dreamed of going back ever since I left. I basically salivated over the Paris Olympics (I didn’t watch for the sports, I watched to catch glimpses of my own memories).

Did I miss out on sights in England to budget time in Paris? Sure.

Do I regret the experiences I had while there? Not once. I enjoyed every moment I had and left with an appreciation I hadn’t known before. I wouldn’t change anything about that.

Verdict: Worth It, Would Do Again

What Didn’t: A Morning Train out of Paris

I will be honest, sometimes I can be a bit too optimistic. When I booked my train ticket back from Paris, I knew I would want to be back in London ready to move onto my next destination as early as possible, but I didn’t take into account how exhausted I would be. So when I booked an 8 am train ticket out of Paris and woke up at 10am, I was pretty freaked out. I don’t think I’ve ever moved as fast as I did from that hotel back to Gare du Nord, even though it was clear my train was in England by the time I was out of bed.

Fortunately, getting on the next train was as simple as going to the customer service desk and trading my ticket in. It was free, there was no line, and the staff were super friendly. Still, if you plan to do a micro trip elsewhere in Europe in the middle of your trip I recommend one of the following:

Give yourself time to sleep in before the morning train
- Pro: Less rushing early in the morning, more sleep
- Con: you lose more adventure time
Leave in the evening
- Pro: Easier to time correctly
- Con: Less sleep, less chance to experience Paris at night

Gare du Nord, interior

I took this photo in the relieving moments after changing my ticket time.

What Worked: The London Pass by Go City

The London Pass gives access to so many different museums and attractions around the city and beyond. I used it for the Uber Boat, the London Zoo, and a couple Cathedrals. This is definitely something I did not utilize enough on my trip, and when I go back will be more intentional about taking advantage of what is offered through it. From Escape rooms to food tours, museums and experiences, you can fill days worth of activities.

On that note, if you are only going to spend one day using the card, it might be better to pass on it. For a single day, the pass comes out to £89 for adults and £44 for kids 5-15. You might be better off just pricing out the tickets of things you want to see and see if that comes out to less than the card. When you add additional days, the value really goes up on the card.\ Alternatively, you might choose the Explorer Pass and choose how many attractions you want to see.

Long story short, there are multiple options to fit an array of needs, so be sure to look into things a little deeper to make the right fit.

The London Eye and County Hall

This was across the Thames from where the Uber boat boarded

What Worked: Get Your Guide

I used Get Your Guide to help me purchase tickets, and honestly I fell in love with this app on this trip. I mainly used this app for Paris (The Louvre) and things in London not covered by the London Pass (The London Eye) I was able to skip most lines and book tickets for the exact time I wanted to be in each area, and all my tickets were stored in one place. Plus, I was able to add them to my Apple Wallet so I didn’t even have to open the app to get the ticket later.

Pro Tips:

Always carry a portable charger so you don’t lose access to your tickets
Update the app each morning. I missed the Tower of London because an update hit right before closing and I couldn’t access my barcode
You can purchase tickets through attractions directly, like the official Musée du Louvre website, but I had trouble creating an account and getting my card accepted as an American on many European sites. Get Your Guide was much smoother and kept everything in one place.

Final Thoughts

I think the best way to summarize everything I learned from this trip was that when you think you’ve planned for everything, plan for ten more scenarios. Even then, you’ll never have planned for everything, so stay flexible and roll with the punches. The worse thing to don on a vacation is let the things you can’t control ruin everything you’re experiencing around you.

If you are ready to explore what your next adventure looks like and don’t know where to start, click here to schedule a free 10-minute consultation where we will help you prioritize and organize your thoughts!

Happy Travels,

Corey

What I Learned from a Solo Trip to London (+Paris)