Booking button pushed faster than a speeding bullet!

After a few squares of dark chocolate to fuel my discounted accommodation booking finger I set the task to book in all our overseas accommodation before those cheap (yet not nasty) rooms disappeared.
It was a good thing that I did do it 6 months in advance as a lot of the hotels and B&B's in our price range were getting thin on the ground.

I rather like the chase of trying to find good discounts and great sites in good spots, but, as you can appreciate, many of the towns will be totally new to us so I am really booking blind.
I have no idea what I might be getting us hags into!

I have looked at trip advisor and checked locations on maps, checked wifi availability and checked free parking on site (not several blocks away) and have tried to tick all of those boxes.

As much as we like a deal I wont compromise on getting total shit holes to save a few $$$ extra.

I'm no longer 25 and can sleep rolled up like a centipede and wake up in the morning looking like an angel.

Us menopausal hags need a little comfort - a close toilet, a mattress that has a bit of give and clean sheets.

But our trip is now booked in full -

We start by landing in Birmingham
we then travel to Stratford Upon Avon
then its to Snowdownia in Wales
then we are getting into the wilds up in Scotland in the isle of Skye
across to Inverness
then to Edinburgh for Halloween (squeel)
we then head to Whitby
then Harrogate so we can go back to Knaresborough and visit Mother Shipton's Cave and York
down to Cirencester in the Cotswolds
and Glastonbury
ending back in Birmingham.

A few days here and a few days there - in total almost one month at around $1700 per person in accommodation including breakfasts at all locations/ free parking and in most cases free wifi.


Now that all of that is set I can really take a look to see if there is anything special I have missed as we can still make changes with free cancellations in many of our spots.

Most bookings were done through booking.com or Expedia after looking at maps and trip advisor and really checking out what the places had to offer.

We were recommended to try some YHA sites but found that they were still expensive unless we wanted to share - and we werent.

If I have gas and need a quick toilet visit ...well you understand!

There is a time of the day when us hags need to take off those bras and get into our old lady undies and that is not a sight that should be seen by the  unprepared public.

Doesn't Take Much to Get Me Excited!

The mysterious black magic of looking for hotels on line!

Miss Hag #1 is off enjoying herself in Melbourne while Ms Hag #2 (yours truly) is trolling Booking.com and Expedia for reasonable accommodation deals which mean that I dont have to sell a kidney before we leave in October!

The conversation last night was hilarious as we tried to work out the first half of our holiday so that I can start looking for rooms.
She was in Melbourne and I was in Newcastle - she had a map as huge as a double bed and I had three Lonely Planet Guide Books.

Unfortunately some of our route depends on whether we have to cross water at any time.
I get vertigo.
Badly.
Very badly.
Getting on a boat/ferry or anything that moves on water is a huge no - no.
I would rather slit my own wrists with a blunt razor!

So after a bit of trauma and making sure that any boat journeys would last no longer than 2 minutes we agreed on a course of action and then the fun began - I LOVE searching for accommodation.

Now not always am I successful at finding a good spot  (AKA the "GLASGOW INCIDENT"..which we shall not mention!)...but mostly I don't do too badly.

Some of the must haves are twin beds (not a double - even a big double) as Gayle has a tendency to drink water at night and she ha,s on one occasion, tried to drown me when she tipped her bottle on my bed and promptly fell asleep, whilst I awoke from a dream where I swear was sinking into an ocean...only to realise that half of the bed was totally wet and Gayle went on snoring. It took me a moment to work out how I got from that ocean to my bed and where the hell was I?

LOVE YOU TRAVEL BITCH!

Another must have is free parking - its amazing how much parking costs when its not available at the hotel/accommodation. We also fell into that hole in Glasgow (at the place that shall not be mentioned) as the parking was half a kilometer away, past bars filled and overflowing with drunk Glaswegians while us two menopausal hags pushed our enormous suitcases through the streets in abject horror at the end of our hormonal tethers.

Another thing we want is preferably a toilet is not IN the bedroom.

Yes..this is what we had in London at the Ibis in Whitechapel on our last journey.
Our bathroom was a glass cube in the middle of the bedroom.
If it wasnt so funny it would be rather terrible.

Our clothes had to be laid on the floor in front of the "CUBE" as there were no hooks inside.
We would undress throw our clothes out, use the toilet, whilst singing loudly and then turned on the water to shower.
To add to the glorious ambiance....when you turned on the shower it had disco lights!!
Amazing...back to the 80's!

We were LIVING THE DREAM MAN!!

So I am sure there will be more surprises as the hotel photos end up not being what we actually experience.
but then..if all was perfect it wouldnt be half the fun.

THE HAGS ARE OFF AGAIN!

WELCOME TO THE 2 HAGS BLOG.
We have made the big decision after thinking about it ever since we returned from our UK trip in 2015 to head off again.
It was so much fun we just had to do it.
Hell...who knows what the future will hold and since we can still hold on to our bladders and can walk up a flight of stairs without too many groans its best to take the leap sooner than later.
Us two hags are best friends who have been travel buddies for years.
We know our points of stress and know when to leave the room.
We know when we are at boiling point and think the best way to take in  life is through humor and not taking oneself too seriously.

Menopause does not mean that life is all hot flushes and dry fannys. (Too much information?)
We should be thankful we have lived this long without anything falling off or falling apart!
And for the rest...well there are pills for almost everything now so the solution requires a doctor's visit.

Yes, we snore.
Yes, we cant walk as far as we could when we were 25.
Yes, there may be a few extra nightly visitations to the loo.

But really, while the brain is still functioning we owe it to ourselves to get out there and enjoy life.

Gayle, HAG#1 is the younger HAG.
Divorced with grown children who really dont give a toss what she does is a midwife currently working in the Northern Territory in a place that is a dot on the map.
She tells me the place doesnt even have fresh bread and she reckons all the fruit and vege at the local supermarket must be whatever fell out of the boxes in the trucks that carry food across the red centre.

Gayle is trying to earn a enough to buy a small place for herself and really 'get life'.
She has seen death and bought life into the world - that makes her pretty special.

Me, I am HAG #2 the older HAG.
I am lucky I have my bestie to travel with because my husband is not well enough to travel after a work place injury that makes his life one pain loaded misery. Lucky for me I have his blessing to go traveling and leave him behind. My two girls are all grown up and doing their own thing too and with no grand kids (yet) I am getting in what I can before baby sitting tasks kick in.

Join us as we plan and rejoice in the fantastic opportunity we have to head to England and Scotland.

The point is that just because you turn 50 you dont have to become invisible.

I have done my time looking after elderly parents, now both passed. I have done time looking after my own children and while I have a body that functions I want to see whatever I can - nothing takes the place of life experiences.

I dont want a coulda - shoulda life.

So here we go!