This Scottish Life #1

By: Corrie Borrows

January 17th, 2000

50 days until I leave! I counted this morning…three times actually! 50 days…wow, that seems like so long, or maybe not! I’ve been planning this trip forever. 50 days to catch up on last minute details, 50 days to say goodbye to all my family and friends, 50 days to make sure I’m not forgetting anything. 50 days of these butterflies flying in my stomach. Yikes! I read a quote the other day. “The trick in life is not to get rid of the butterflies in your stomach but rather to make them fly in formation.” Smart words…50 days to teach my butterflies some amazing aerobatic flight formations!

Up to this point I feel like I’ve done nothing but research my trip. It seems like every spare moment has been spent surfin’ the net; browsing the travel sections at every bookstore I could find; living, breathing, dreaming travel. I think that I’ve found every single travel website out there. I’m forming this huge stack of travel books…Women’s Travel, Independent Travel, Europe, Britain, Scotland. I think I’m going through a wee bit of information overload…and yet I still have so many questions.

I found a program called SWAP (Student Work Abroad Program) here in Canada which helps you to get your British visa and acts as a resource for finding jobs and accommodation and basically adjusting to life once you get to your destination. I signed up for the program and it’s been a big help, at least in that I don’t really have to worry too much about paperwork and stuff. I sent my visa application off through them about a week and a half ago. Apparently, through this program you only have to wait 4-5 weeks to get your visa. I’m not sure how that compares to doing it on your own but it seems pretty good to me.

To get a working holiday visa you need to have something that they call support funds (basically just money in the bank to prove to the government that you can support yourself in their country). I guess that’s been the tough part up to now…trying to save up some cash. I’m a typical 19-year-old in the way I spend money. I love new clothes and music and partying with my friends. I have a good job but it’s amazing how quickly even a ‘good’ paycheck can disappear.

Okay, here comes my first piece of advice from experience:

Do not try to save money during Christmas time…especially if you love to shop!!!

I managed to budget myself quite a bit but it was really tough. I spent the holidays worrying about whether I could make my budget work. So, even though it is possible to save money during the holidays, I wouldn’t recommend it!

With that said though, planning a trip near Christmas does have its rewards (This would work for birthdays as well). Almost every gift I received this year had some sort of travel theme to it. My parents gave me a great travelpack, which is something I would have had to spend a big chunk of cash on instead of using it for other things.

I also got a lot of the little things that, though I could have afforded them, I probably wouldn’t have thought about. Things like a sewing kit, luggage tags, travel toothbrush, etc. will be a big help on my journey I’m sure (Just make sure you tell people what you want so you don’t end up with a big giant heavy luggage set or anything else that you’re parents or other older family members might associate with ‘travelling’…No grandma, I don’t need a nice new travelling suit!!!).

So, once I had my passport (very easy to get…at least in Canada if you take it to the nearest office in person – mine took 5 working days to process), my support funds were in the bank (although they only had to be there long enough to get a bank letter), and my visa application was filled out, I set out to my travel company (Travel Cuts…also where the SWAP program is) to set a date and reserve my flight. This is where I think I might have gotten a bit ripped off.

Because I am on the SWAP program I had to book my flight through Travel Cuts which meant no hunting around for the best deal. My flight from Winnipeg to London-Heathrow will cost me $709 (Canadian plus tax). I was going to fly from there into Edinburgh but they wanted $259 and I’ve heard that you can get train tickets for much, much cheaper…plus a nice view. I’m still looking into that (I can’t seem to find out how to purchase these tickets or even what they cost!) but I’ll keep you updated.

I went back to my travel place to pay my deposit and learn that I could have had a flight from Winnipeg to Edinburgh for only $659 (or something like that) but unfortunately, it was entirely booked up for anytime around when I want to leave. Second bit of advice:

Whatever you do, do your homework when looking for a flight.

I assumed that because I was going through a student travel company and am on one of their programs, they would automatically give me the best possible ticket prices with out me having to ask. Don’t assume anything. If I had asked on my first trip into the office, the flight might not have been booked and I could have saved myself some cash. Also, make sure your travel agent knows you are flexible about dates. I was very flexible but didn’t make that completely clear which also may have been why I wasn’t offered a better price!