A new found respect for narcoleptics

Although I didn't truly feel like I was travelling until my boots hit the pavement at the Gatwick train station, it would be unfair to start blogging about my 'adventure' from there...

My last day in Vancouver was an intense circuit of expensive cab rides and stressful scheduling. So much so, that I left my beloved Ipod behind (moment of silence please), had a spat with one of my better friends, OH and discovered that I had gotten the date wrong in telling my friends in London when I would be landing. I'd say the last mishap was probably the most disconcerting (considering a six year old could have read the ticket correctly) because according to London time, I was supposed to have already met the two friends downtown 3 hours before. I made the discovery at lunch right before heading to the airport thanks to Angie and Ilona, so luckily I was able to mitigate the damage. The damage to my friends' confidence in my survival skills however, might take a little longer to restore:P

Once I landed, it was on to security and customs. Customs gave me a bit of the stink-eye concerning my lack of itinerary and proof that I would be leaving the country. It was literally a litany of questions in which the customs official was hoping I would answer 'yes' and all I could truthfully say was 'no'. Consequently, there was moment of bated breath in which I thought he might ask me to turn around and take my sorry self back from where I had come from. Luckily he opted for the lecture and basically said I had better have some sort of plan for the next border or else it wouldn't be so pretty.

Then it was on to Hammersmith in the west end where I met up with Phav's friends, Mark and Stuart. I've been staying with them for two days now and it's been a godsend in terms of getting my feet wet RE: the whole travel mentality. They and their roomates/friends been amazing in terms of showing me around and more than hospitable with their home. Today is my first day on my own actually. I've booked it out to Oxford to see a bit of the campus. A German pushed me to bring my runners, so I've mapped out a ten k run around the parks which I'll start inow.

OH and the title of this post??? I haven't fallen aspleep at the internet cafe yet but it keeps happening at the most inappropriate moments and in the most uncomfortable places and positions:( Honestly almost mid conversation one time (I don't think he was too impressed) and then basically everytime I sit down for longer than an hour.

On that note, it's time to get a move on:)