The Excitement of Planning My Dream Trip Abroad

By Deborah Gilbert

Join me on my whirlwind journey of planning my dream trip abroad!

What happens when your dream trip is suddenly within sight, but the reality scares the heck out of you?

Ever since my sister and I started our post-graduate degree through the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, we said, if we made it through the program, we would go to Scotland for graduation. One can always dream.

Four years later, September 2025, we received confirmation of our degree. The rollercoaster of our educational journey had concluded. It was a phenomenal program that structurally morphed with the personal events in our lives at the time.

Then, just like that……we were finished!

Graduation ceremony showing on jumbo screen – videographer – unknown, screenshot by Deborah Gilbert

Now what? Giddy jubilation combined with an empowering sense of accomplishment!

Do we call our own bluff and go to graduation?

OMG…Suddenly our heads were spinning with tsunamis of questions and fears. Six weeks to plan our dream trip to Scotland and Ireland, and we aren’t spring chickens (mid-to late 60s)! So much to consider!

The planning began. We spent hours researching airlines, adjusting dates to get the best flights and prices. We live on opposite coasts of the USA and were determined we would meet somewhere in the middle and fly to London together.

Finally, success. We would meet in Atlanta, Georgia. Decision time was upon us. Now or never. Simultaneously we hit the purchase button for our Virgin Atlantic flights! It was done. We were committed.

(For an additional fee, we did include with our tickets an option to cancel. It gave us peace of mind knowing we had an out amongst our initial swirling thoughts of uncertainty.)

Waiting for our flight on Virgin Atlantic – photo by Deborah Gilbert

Now the real travel research began.

We had just committed to 2 ½ weeks of jaunting around the UK and Ireland, with the only obligation being Glasgow on the 4th and 5th of November for graduation! WOW…..our hearts were pounding with excitement and trepidation while we pondered our upcoming adventure.

We both made wish lists of sights and items of importance to see or experience, knowing there would be compromises. So many nights, laying awake, our brains churning the plans and ideas.

Hundreds of phone and text meetings later, we narrowed down the first half of the trip: London, and York in England; and Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness in Scotland.

Our starting point for researching tips and logistics for the trip, were the four books we bought from Barnes-&-Noble: Best of Scotland, Best of England, and Best of Ireland – all by travel guru Rick Steves, plus, a special book by Andy the Highlander, Lochs & Legends.

Preparing for our trip – Photo by Deborah Gilbert

Rebecca capitalized on her analytic capabilities and created spreadsheets with general information as to transportation possibilities and potential off-season tourist sites availability. These later transformed into itineraries.

Our accommodation quest focused on internet reliability for my business video meetings, and rail proximity, because we had decided to forgo renting a car in the UK.

Hiltons are generally reliable and we had accumulated points from other travels, so they were our first choice. We relied on Rick Steves’ recommendations in the big cities for charm and safety.

Our flight had us landing in the wee hours of the 30th of October in Heathrow Airport, London. We booked our first night in the charming Victorian, London House Hotel, which for an additional fee allowed us to check in at 9:00 in the morning. Our plans were to drop our luggage and have the whole day to explore memories from our childhood.

London House Hotel – Photo by Deborah Gilbert

Deep Dive for Details

The next big task was to acquire a clear understanding of the public transportation which we were to rely upon. First up was the BritRail pass, because it had to be purchased before our departure. It is not available in Britain.

The day before our departure, we each bought our BritRail Pass for two consecutive days of travel, the first being London to York and the second was York to Edinburgh, £94 per person.

The confirmation stated there was a processing time of up to two days, which we had not realized. We had no wiggle room for tech issues or processing delays! We needed to activate the tickets the next day.

There are a myriad of passes depending on the number of days you need, and whether they are consecutive travel days or stretched out. Preplanning our trip was crucial for deciding on the appropriate pass.

ScotRail offers both extended travel passes and daily ticketing option flexibility for travel in and around Scotland, many of which can be purchased the day of travel. Making the right selection here also required that we have a rough game plan in mind before proceeding.

The clock was ticking, and the pressure was building to book the rest of our accommodations.

We couldn’t be whimsical because of my internet needs and scheduled meetings.

Our next major booking was York, the medieval town northeast of London. Hot on our list was to attend Evensong at York Minster cathedral, which dates to the Norman invasion, and strolling through the Shambles, a 14th century stretch of town.

Clifford Tower with our hotel in the background – Photo by Deborah Gilbert

Because it was Halloween, hotels were selling out fast! We managed to book a Hilton across the street from Clifford’s Tower, the last surviving part of York Castle, dating back to 1245. With York booked, England was done.

Now for Scotland. Our BritRail pass would land us in Edinburgh on the 1st. We imagined our relaxing train ride, watching the scenery pass by, contemplating how fortunate we were to have materialized our dreams.

Ok, reality check. We were, two sisters, 64 and 69, who have led rather sedentary lives for the past 10 years, working at desk jobs and caring for our elderly mother. Now we were planning this wild trip (for us) of trekking around with loaded backpacks, mobility issues, and envisioning ourselves walking the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, and strolling through castles. Were we nuts?

I guess the answer is YES! Our mantra was, que sera, sera (whatever will be, will be). Flexibility and a positive attitude would make this a memorable trip! So, we kept planning. We were too far into it to cancel now!

For our nights in Edinburgh and Glasgow we stayed in Hilton properties. The Highlands were important to include. Even if only briefly on this trip, they called to us, not just because of their beauty and history, but because our ancestors emigrated from there in the mid 1830s as well.

So next up was Inverness. No big hotels there, so we took a chance on an Airbnb. Once we found one, I emailed the hostess to confirm reliable internet and booked it!

City Centre Belltower Airbnb in Inverness. A unique renovated church on the river front.

Photo by Deborah Gilbert

Another major purchase was travel insurance. Travel insurance covers trip cancellations, medical issues – including pre-existing conditions with the premium policy, lost luggage, emergency evacuation, and repatriation if sadly needed.

Travel insurance gives you peace of mind, particularly given current global and domestic uncertainties, especially since we are in the elderly category.

Travel guru, Rick Steves has an excellent article about travel insurance. Each traveller must weigh their own travel risks to decide whether or not to purchase it. We decided it was worth it, and luckily we didn’t have to use it.

Ireland – Here we come!

The second leg of our trip was Ireland. Our plan was to take the ferry from Cairnryan, Scotland to Belfast, Ireland, stay the night in Belfast, then continue by train to Dublin. For weeks, this was our plan. I searched the accommodations and trains in Belfast. It looked promising.

However, plans have a way of changing. After researching the time and expenses involved for that plan, and realizing that the ferry may not be running at that time of year due to inclement weather, we modified our itinerary.

Part of our Irish trip included the possibility of visiting with our cousins, whom we hadn’t seen since 1970. Our mum had kept in touch with them over the years and in fact had traveled there in 1995, collecting stories and information about the family history.

Our idea was to visit with family and reacquaint ourselves with the area in which our grandfather grew up. We decided to rent a car and pick it up at the Dublin airport.

So next, we booked our flight from Edinburgh to Dublin with RyanAir, and the car with Europcar. One of the reasons we chose Europcar was because they offered full insurance coverage. Our regular car insurance did not cover us driving in Europe.

Americans driving in Ireland, what could go wrong?

The AirBnB we found in Killaloe was a charming ground-level, 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment on the marina. After the owner confirmed internet reliability via email, we excitedly booked it for 5 days. Ground level made it more convenient with luggage and was important as by this portion of the trip, we figured our tired, mobility stressed bodies would need easy accessibility.

Standing on the front deck of our Airbnb in Killaloe. Photo by Deborah Gilbert

Killaloe was centrally located to see our cousins and explore our ancestral communities as well as exploring genealogy records in the county seat.

Dreams Do Come True

The 29th of October arrived. My heart was pounding. This was real. I was returning to my heartland. Other than a brief 4 day stay in London in 2012, I hadn’t set foot there in 55 years.

Dare to Dream. Manifest your future.

My middle sister and brother-in-law drove me to the airport and hugged me good-bye. As I made my way through TSA, I was giddy with excitement. It was finally happening.

On my way to the airport! – family photo

Not only was I travelling to my graduation, I was also celebrating this dream trip with my study-buddy of the past four years, my youngest sister. This was truly a gift. Together we embarked on a long overdue trip to the land our hearts have always belonged.

As I disembarked in Atlanta, Rebecca was there to meet me, having landed there earlier from the West Coast. We were now officially crossing the threshold into our dreams.

The true essence of travel is not to check off a list of destinations, but to embrace the beauty of each moment and to be open to new opportunities and perceptions. We decided our plans were open to suggestions from the universe.

Little did we know, how strangers we would meet along the way, would change our heavily researched trip, and impact our lives.

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