• Bloody Exchange Rate

So this is it, my last day Stateside for some time. Months of planning and preparation have led to one final day in Lexington before an overnight flight delivers me and the Mrs. to Heathrow and the United Kingdom. It’s sure to be an incredible journey, one of which will be adventurous, rewarding, rainy, rowdy and maybe even a bit romantic.

Having secured tickets and press credentials already for a few matches, the search continues still for more. A large portion of the journey will be split between London and Manchester because of the wide variety of football on offer between the two cities. Scotland, specifically Edinburgh, will be seen while a week in mainland Europe still promotes possibilities.

Since this trip marks my first to the UK, myself and a few others deemed it appropriate to log my experiences for EPL Talk as a sort of continual commentary over the course of the next month. Although I don’t have a definitive blueprint for how experiences will be logged, those interested in following the trip can check EPL Talk daily (although daily updates are unlikely), follow EPL Talk on twitter, or follow my personal twitter account to receive updates.  

Final Thoughts Before the Trip

Spending a month away from your home definitely requires a lot of planning. The understated reliance on convenience really comes into play as days continue to erase before the trip revealing those random items you need, forgot you needed or can’t figure out how to pack.

Although there are deals to be found, let it be known that London isn’t the cheapest. Hours of searching were needed to find that perfect place (which I never found) while the British pound still outweighs the dollar by some measurement. Take for example the initial currency conversion I conducted a few weeks ago where $100.00 returned to my pocket £60.00.

Start adding incidentals, pints with Laurence McKenna, match tickets, programs, food, and Oyster cards, and one starts to see the £ multiply itself while sleeping. As sickening as the exchange rate is for us Americans, it’s been a known fact filed away neatly in the back of my mind for some years. It’s safe to say the Yankee dollar will be the last thing on my mind for the duration of this trip.

My thoughts will largely be occupied with the friends I meet, the football I watch and the cultures I experience. While I’ve got the rest of my adult life to scrimp and save, now is the time to branch out, to see something different and to study my passion of football before the opportunity runs away never to show its face again.

Throughout this series of posts, I look forward to feedback, ideas, suggestions and I’ll even attempt to answer questions, should they arise.