This is just the beginning...

Hello!

My name is Juliette, I’m 18 years old and I’m from Spain.

Right now I’m working as a volunteer at the CRIJ of Rouen, in Normandie, France. My task is “web reporter”, that is being in charge of filming and editing the projects that the CRIJ organizes or takes a part in; these projects will appear later in their social media, so that people can know more about their work. I also have to be informed of all the opportunities for work, study and services you can do abroad, and pass this information to the youngest so they can do it in a simple way.

But today I’m going to talk about a well planned trip I did with another volunteer of the same organization as mine. Her name is Franka and she’s from Germany. We didn’t know each other till two months ago, when we started this service. We really got along well and one of the things we talked about was that we wanted to go to London as soon as we had some days off in our centre.

Finally, two weeks before our little holidays, we booked our bus tickets and hosting place. It was difficult at first to find a cheap means of transport... But you should never give up because after searching with a lot of companies, we finally found a bus that could take us from where we were (Rouen) to Victoria Coach Station, in London, for a very small amount of money. All the connections were included, and luckily it was that way because it really saved us a lot of trouble in finding a ferry and other means of transport once in England.

One of the things that we decided to do was to travel by bus at night. That way, we didn’t have to pay an extra night and could make the most of it during the day!

Then we just had to search for a hostel for one night, since we would spend the other two nights in the bus. We found a cheap hostel on the site “hostelworld.com”. Since we just wanted to sleep, we didn’t pay much attention to the installations or anything, but that really depends on the requirements of each one.

During the preparation of your trip, you will have to keep in mind several things, especially now with the pandemic situation, since each country applies different rules to enter and exit.

For our trip to England, we had to fill in a document called “Passenger Locator Form”, required for everyone that enter in the UK. This document requires also to book a kit COVID depending on the duration of your stay. Then you receive a reference number, which is very important to complete your document. We chose the 2-Day Test Kit since we were staying less than 2 days.

We found all this information in the official site of the government of the UK. There you will find all the steps to follow and the places that are available to take your Test Kit. It’s important that you read all the conditions for getting the test. If you don’t have any address of your stay in England, you will need to find a place that offers as a pick-up point, like a pharmacy or a hotel. For us, it was really difficult to find a cheap one and not far away from where we were staying; because that’s another thing you have to keep in mind: how to get to all the places you want to go (by foot, car, taxi, public transport, etc). Is important to look up into it before starting your trip, so you don’t feel lost in a new country. As a side note, look up to the prices of the means of transport too, and find one that is worthwhile for you. For example, in my situation, I found really expensive the underground tickets in London and I wish I looked before what was the cheapest way to move around there; even though I went by foot most of the time, it’s always good to know all the alternatives as well.

Finally, depending on the way you like to travel, you will have to prepare certain things for your journey. For example, if you plan to walk a lot, take comfortable clothes and shoes (also keep in mind the weather). If you think of having a more relaxed time, you can search for fun things to visit there, like museums or theatres.

One last important thing, according to me, is to know the use conditions of your credit card (if you have one), and if you can use it in the country you are travelling to. Or changing the money if it’s different from where you are from. You should also check your phone line to see if the conditions from where you are from are the same ones in the country you are visiting and if it it’s not going to cost you extra money for using it.

You can check all these things if you want to have everything under control like me, or you can be more free and live in the moment. It depends on each one of us,but I think it’s important to know a few things before travelling, such as the COVID conditions, so that you don’t have a problem that could ruin your trip.

I’m very used to travel and when I visit a new place, the thing I love the most is to walk to every corner of it. Get familiar with the streets, the buildings and the way of living there. I also love to take pictures of everything, so I come back with a little “proof” that I’ve been there. Some of the pictures that I’m gonna attach here are among my favourite from this trip to London, that I so much enjoy and that I intend to repeat countless of times.