Hello, Everyone!
I am feeling mighty ambitious today, considering my husband & I just flew in back home from being in Scotland for four full days this morning! We had to wake up at 4:30am to get out of our hotel and to the bus stop by 5 to get to the airport on time! More on where we went to come, so stay tuned!
This was our first time flying out of one of the smaller airports in England, and oh my was it interesting. Today, I thought I'd share with you our experience getting to and from our destination, and what we packed for our trip.
Since we did not take a honeymoon after our wedding, we decided to instead take it around the time of our one year anniversary. We found super cheap tickets via
Ryan Air to our destination. Things we learned from booking through Ryan Air:
1. They will charge you for EVERYTHING. You want to sit next to your significant other? You'll have to pay between £5.99-£10.99 per person to sit next to them. You want to carry on that large luggage bag? Oh you'll have to pay for that too. Want food or drink on the plane? You'll also have to pay for that. They literally charge you for everything, so be prepared.
2. You have check in online before your flight to print your boarding pass. If you don't check in and print your own boarding pass, you'll be charged a fee for that as well.
3. UK standard size carry on is literally half the size of the U.S. standard carry on size. So to blend in a little better and look like you know what your doing, use the correct size carry on, or use a backpack. Your only allowed your carry on and one personal item (ie: your purse).
We flew out of London Stansted Airport. Here are some tips we learned from this airport:
1. You need to arrive at this particular airport AT LEAST 2 hours prior to take off. Once you have arrived at the airport, and you have checked in online prior to your arrival and have your printed boarding passes in hand, you must go straight to security if you are carrying on. If you are checking your bag, you have to drop it at bag drop before heading to security, as usual with any airport.
2. Something we were not aware of and we over packed for, was the liquid allowance. If you are wanting to carry on, you are only allowed a 7"x7" clear baggie with ALL your liquids in it. Let me reiterate that: ALL your liquids. That means, deodorant, hair products, body products, and makeup. They are very strict on this policy so make sure that you can fit everything you need on a daily basis in that bag. If your significant other has room in their bag, by all means, add in anything extra that you need to their bag. Another tip if you are running out of space in your liquid bag is to skip bringing shampoo and conditioner. I know, this is strange. I did not wash my hair the entire time we were gone on this trip, and I just brought baby powder with me. Put it in your hair at night if you know you'll be greasy in the morning, wake up and your hair looks like you washed it the night before, and you'll have lots of added volume!
Another good tip too: I did not pack a straightener, or curling iron on this trip. Instead to save room in my carry on, I watched a ton of easy braided hair style videos on YouTube before we left. It actually helped during the day because it was windy everywhere we were and it kept my hair out of my face, but it still stayed secure and cute all day!
3. Be prepared to huff your way through Stansted Airport. Once you get through security, you walk through an entire "high street" to get to the lounge where you then wait until about 30-45 minutes before your flight is suppose to leave when they finally announce what gate your flight is leaving from. Then you huff it to the gate when they start boarding pretty quick after its announced. Luckily they have pretty good food and a few good shops to stop at if you need to kill some time before your gate is posted.
4. I was surprised to find out that even though we were going to another country within the UK we did not have to show any sort of ID or even use our passport. I was a little confused as to why they didn't even ask to see our ID at all. It was the most strange airport experience I have ever had needless to say!
5. If you want to leave your car at the airport parking lot, it will cost you quite a lot of money for just a few days. We paid for 4 1/4 days and it was roughly around £53. I about fell over when I saw the prices. You also should book this online the week of your trip. Or, if you can find someone willing to take you to the airport, even better for you!
Here is what I packed for our trip:
My husband and I both took regular sized gym/duffel bags on our trip. This was everything I had originally packed when we left. If I were to downsize even more, this is what I would include on our next trip down to the basic necessities (at least in my opinion):
Toothbrush, toothpaste, baby powder, tissues, wet wipes, facial wipes (not pictured), deodorant (not pictured), Naked palette, weekly pill pack, passport, 7"x7" baggie, bandaids, small sachet for hair ties, jewelry and bobby pins. Phone charger, Fitbit charger, body wash, face wash, moisturizer, razor, lip gloss, mascara, concealer, bb cream in a tube, and a few necessary makeup brushes/sponge.
Optional things you could include if you had enough space:
Mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, lip balm, eyeshadow palette, lotion, cough drops and perfume.
This is some of the necessary things I brought a long on the trip and I am so thankful I did:
My phone. If you have Three cell phone service you can still use your phone in a handful of different countries without being considered "roaming" and being charged upteen amounts of money, which is wonderful! Sunglasses, a magazine, my travel notebook and pen, an easy canvas tote with a zipper. I brought a fleece jacket and my rain jacket so I could layer if need be. Lastly, my monopod and my DSLR camera (that I used to capture these photos). I can't go on vacation now without it! It makes my photo quality so much better.
As my husband would probably tell you now, that I am way too over packed in the clothing department. Yes, I did bring two pairs of shoes, only because I bought these booties at TK Maxx a few weeks ago, and I am in love with them. I was glad I brought a nicer pair of shoes for when we went to dinner in the evenings to wear something different from my tennis shoes (or as the Brit's would say, trainers).
I did have to end up buying a pair of jeans from Primark because the first day we were there I completely ruined my outfit by spilling coffee all over myself. 'Twas not fun. Luckily I rinsed my clothes in the sink at the hotel in cold water and the stains lifted out! So note to the wise- always pack an extra change of clothes just in case! Especially if your staying in a hotel. I also had packed the necessary undergarments, not pictured of course.
In order starting with the left row and going top to bottom:
Jeans: Primark. Jeans: Levi's Outlet. Harry Potter PJ's: Primark.
Tank Tops: Charlotte Russe. Plaid Top: Gap. Stripe Top: TK Maxx. Pink Top: Target. Black Tank: Old Navy.
Sweater: Banana Republic Outlet. Sweater Zip Jacket: Modcloth.com. Black and White Jacket: H&M.
Booties: TK Maxx.
I hope this post helps those of you out who are getting ready to travel within the few months and are flying from the small airports around the UK and Europe.
Happy Travels!
-A
