The 10-day trip with my family to the UK greatly broadened my horizons, just as other countries I have been to. Travelling in a loop from London to Cardiff, to Edinburgh, then back to London, the weather was better than I thought. Notoriously rainy, the weather was mostly sunny during my stay. The unexpected moments of stumbling on a running trail, taking beautiful street photos, or hurrying to get the train ticket before the train leaves the station made the trip more memorable.
Before the trip, I had a checklist of expectations in my head. As for the cuisine, known mostly for dishes such as Fish and Chips and English Breakfast, I was eager to try these two iconic dishes. As the UK is known for sudden rain and cold temperatures, I had prepared myself for both. In addition, the UK was also known for its high cost of living. In London, I had expected the tube stations and system to be quite intricate and efficient, given its long history.
Through the trip, I had realized that not all of my expectations were met. Having stayed at different hotels and eaten the same English Breakfast every day, I found the dish slowly becoming less delightful. For a whole week, I was served the same food (Sausage, beans, toast, etc.), which eventually became harder to swallow from the repetition. By the last day, just the sight and smell of the sausages and beans had made me lose my appetite. Having fewer opportunities to try traditional English food, I expected Fish and Chips would surprise me with some complicated or unique flavours. However, it was not what I thought; the price for one portion was 15 pounds, and there were no condiments served alongside it, such as lemon or tartare sauce. The fish itself was great, but the batter had turned tough and chewy by the time it reached the table, leaving the dish dry and bland.
During my stay, luckily, because it was summer, it was sunny for most of the time with minimal rain. In addition, the days grew longer since the sun only started to set at 10 p.m, allowing more time to travel around and explore the city.
However, the Tube experience in London was not what I expected. Stepping off the train from Oxford to take the London tube around the city, I was met with dirty, dark stations and extremely expensive one-way tickets. It took me a lot of time to find the station entrance at street level and find the correct platform to go to. This all made it harder to navigate to the right line. Along with that, the trains I took during the stay were quite loud and were not as efficient as I thought they would be.
But this trip wasn’t just a string of unmet expectations; there were some wholesome and memorable moments during the trip that I will remember forever. Firstly, in every city that I stayed in, I always woke up early to run and explore the city. Staying in Cardiff, a very small city, I expected my run to be verfy short and boring. However, my dad and I stumbled on a running trail. Although the trailhead looked short, leading us through a small park and past a parking lot, the further I ran, the more I found myself immersed in nature. A verdant canopy of leaves provided shade for me while running beside a cascading river, and the smell of grass hung in the humid air. The rhythmic sounds of gravel rolling with every step I took filled the air. That unexpected run reminded me that some of the most meaningful travel experiences aren’t found in famous landmarks or carefully planned itineraries. Sometimes, they begin with taking a different path and allowing yourself to be surprised.
Another moment was meeting my friend in London, whom I haven’t seen in 5 years. Since we hadn’t seen each other in so long, we had a lot to catch up on. Exploring a new city with someone who knew the city well made me feel like the time my friend lived in Vietnam, only this time, our roles were reversed. Under my friend’s guidance, I discovered both iconic sights and hidden gems that I would never have on a guided tour, such as grabbing food at Borough Market and having lunch in the King’s College London grounds. I was very glad to meet my friend again, and we’ve already promised to meet again.
Looking back, the UK I experienced wasn’t the one I’d pictured before boarding the plane. But it was the unplanned parts, like the hidden trail in Cardiff and the weather that turned out far better than expected, that stayed with me the most. Maybe that’s true of most trips: the things you think beforehand sometimes turn out how you imagined, and the things you stumble into stay with you the longest.
