Surgical Strike Day Trips from Edinburgh

Anyone who has traveled in Europe knows it is expensive. As a study abroad student, it can seem daunting if not impossible to make the most of being in Europe.

If you are already paying for accommodation in Europe in the form of longish term student housing or you have the ability to stay with friends for free, consider taking day trips to defray the cost of traveling. What do I mean?

Say you have 300 pounds that you saved or borrowed from your parents to travel in Europe. You could either blow all of that on 

• a weekend in London, Prague or Oslo

OR

• a day trip to a castle 20 miles away

• a day trip to a ruined abbey 30 miles away

• a day trip to a fashion museum in a quaint village 45 miles away

• a day trip to a railway museum and afternoon tea 40 miles away

• a day trip to a royal hunting lodge

• a day trip to a famous lake and beautiful spot

What I am saying is that you can make that 300 pounds go into 6 day trips or 1 weekend away by cutting out the cost of overnighting.

behind: Dunnattor Castle, near Stonehaven

This analysis is based on the idea of a couple - a guy and a girl, or two girls/guys - traveling together and that each day trip would cost no more than 50 pounds - which requires you to take a picnic and use non-1st-class public transport. 

Doing solo trips, you might be able to do a day trip for 20 or 25 pounds and even get a cup of coffee.

Cut out the cost of dead time

Doing day trips will almost definitely give you more hours of sightseeing. 

A lot of what we spend money on is where we sleep, which is 'dead time' as far as soaking up atmosphere, learning interesting facts and actually seeing Europe is concerned. No matter what hotel booking websites say, your hostel or b&b is not going to be your favorite part of your trip.

Traquair House

European Capitals - the right way to see Europe?

You want to go to London, Prague or Oslo? You've spent your whole life wondering how big 'Big Ben' actually is, or it's your dream to see Prague at midnight, or your grandfather was from Oslo and said it was the wonderful beautiful city in the world? That's fine. If that's really what you want to do, do it! 

In my experience, most people think they have to go to European capitals to do Europe properly. If you are going in the summer however, Rome with the heat of crowds might be unbearable, whereas the Scottish Borders would be perfect.

Off the beaten track

A lot of people who travel come away wishing they had actually spoken to more locals, gone to an authentic pub and knew something about the culture they visited.

The best way to do that is to avoid the major tourist traps and do the lesser-known sites. Go for lesser-known cities (Edinburgh rather than London, Bayeux rather than Paris, Bath rather than London) or even better - villages you've maybe never heard of for example Peebles, Berwick-upon-Tweed or Stonehaven! Every village has its own story and you can often find hidden gems nearby.

Some of our best experiences have been exploring ruined castles, fairytale woodland, and rolling countryside that was basically in the middle of nowhere.

You might be surprised at the amazing opportunities within easy shooting distance of your university or study experience.

The other nice thing about day trips is you can wait till the weather is right. Who wants to waste their entire week of holiday in Skye during a week-long deluge? Spread out the fun and choose your timing to commune with nature. Or if you're limited for time, choose places like Edinburgh which have a good mixture of indoor and outdoor activities.

Day Trips with Kids

When I was little I was a phenomenal brat and the situation inevitably exploded epically after 3 hours. My parents came up with the rule that we could never be away from home for more than 3-5 hours. This strategy was labeled 'The Surgical Strike.'

Holy Island, Lindisfarne

My kids aren't nearly the brats I was as a kid and they can do about 6-9 hours without flipping out. I know because that's the point on our international flights that turns.

There's nothing you can do about international travel taking a loooong time but there IS a solution for family holidays. The Family Day trip is our vision of the Surgical Strike.

Pros to the Day Trip model of family holidays:

• never away from home longer than 6-9 hours (though now that my youngest is almost out of the Terrible 2's, we can do 12 hours if there is icecream, naps, play parks, friends, or other distractions)

• saves money that might have been spent on hotels/B+B's/caravans/self-catering cottages

• kids sleep better in their own beds

• you can pack the kids' favorite snacks and a picnic, saving on food spending (without a car, we would never be able to pack enough food for a week's holiday anyway - not unless we took a massive suitcase on the train)

• you can choose good weather - if you book a week's holiday in Skye in a cabin and then the weather report is slated to be terrible, there's nothing you can do; whereas if you are hopping on a train or bus to go 10 or 20 miles away, you can wait till the last minute and check the weather forecast, almost guaranteeing good weather (almost because this is Scotland and it rains here - a lot)

• you can assess kids' moods on the morning

• you can spread out the fun to pace your kids

Cons:

• You are limited to about 3 and a half hours' travel

• It can be a loooong day if the roads or rail lines are unexpectedly closed or delayed on the way home

• You may procrastinate and never get around to doing it as it requires laying out the clothes the night before and checking the weather forecast and then the next day getting up early, making a picnic and getting out the door before 10 am.

I find with the kids, the more adaptable the situation is to their needs, the better. The Surgical Strike Day Trip model for family holidaying works that way for us.

Also see:

Arniston House - 13 miles from Edinburgh
Traquair House - 29 miles from Edinburgh

Abbotsford - 40 miles from Edinburgh
Stirling - 42 miles from Edinburgh
Dunfermline - 45 miles from Edinburgh
Lindisfarne - 70 miles from Edinburgh
Bamburgh - 76 miles from Edinburgh
Sweetheart Abbey - 80 miles from Edinburgh
York - 200 miles from Edinburgh

What I am telling my little sister about traveling in Europe this year or what I wish I had known on my first solo trip

I made a lot of mistakes on my first trip abroad alone. I got terribly sunburned. I forgot things at the place I was staying. I over-packed. 

Europe has changed a lot in the last few decades but particularly with the influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the East over the last few years. This has huge ramifications for single women traveling abroad. 

Here are my top tips for any single gal:

• Wear sunscreen as normal - I did not realise this but it is possible to get sunburned in Scotland and other European countries but YES it is.
• Take usual prescriptions - a lot of people's trips have been ruined by forgetting their prescriptions. I knew someone to come to the UK who was allergic to something, and spent the whole trip sneezing and with watery eyes. 
• Wear head scarves - not like Muslims, like elegant French ladies or Audrey Hepburn 
  
• The drinking age is 18 rather than 21 in some European countries - always question why a dude is buying you a drink, what he wants, etc. 
• Not everyone in a pub is deeply suspect and it might be okay to trade email addresses with someone (I wish I had for my husband instead of making him run searches on my name for two months on Facebook)
• Wear a security pouch with most of your money and personal identification info on you - it's always worth keeping your change in a separate jacket pocket so it's easy to pull out when you are getting on the bus
• If you have to catch a late night train or bus by yourself, try to spend the dead time in a well-lit Internet cafe or see if your b and b or hostel will let you wait in the common room till it's time to go. 
• Try to set up door-to-door transport if you can afford it and if you would have to walk more than five minutes by yourself in semi-dark or dark streets - i.e. order a taxi
• If you do feel under threat, go beserk and scream and make a fuss
• I wouldn't judge anyone who decided to wear a fake wedding ring but I don't think that will protect you from the real baddies
• When in doubt, travel to Scotland, which is much safer than most of Europe
• Take care when using atm machines - I would say don't use them at all if you can help it
• Take student id - it may get you discounts on tickets
• Fly in and out of airports with regular flights to your destination - that way if you get delayed, it will be hours not a whole day that you have to wait around - I once planned a 5 day trip to Scotland but got delayed in Memphis for 24 hours, so I effectively lost 20% of my trip
• Take a backpack instead of roller suitcase - something that has happened several times to me is on small connecting flights they force everyone with carry on luggage like wheelie cases to 'gate check' at the last minute. They say there is no space in the overhead compartments. If you have a backpack then you can promise to keep it on your lap or under the seat in front and thus avoid your luggage being taken. Often the delay of unloading 'gate checked ' bags is the difference between making your connecting flight or not. If you check a massive suitcase like I did, I guarantee you will not wear or use the majority of what you pack and you'll have to haul it around with you like a millstone round your neck. You can't just nip out for a long weekend to Prague if you feel so moved when you have a ton of stuff. It's much better to run out of something and 'have' to buy a scarf or some memento in Europe, rather than bring everything you think you could possibly use.
• Pack light - clothes you love, can sleep in, etc
• Learn to hand-wash clothes in a sink and hang on a radiator or rail to dry. It's easier than trying to find a laundromat on a whip-round tour. It means you can also pack lighter. On a road trip in France once, I brought only two or three outfits for each person and just washed anything that got messy in the sink every night. Some b&bs have heated towel rails - these seem to have been a fad about twenty years ago - and those dry your clothes super fast! You can also ask if your host has an airing cupboard, which is a closet where the boiler lives and hence is warmer.
• Research the destination before you go - I always draw my own map even if it's not exactly to scale, and fill the backside of it with taxi numbers, American consulate numbers, and credit card cancellation numbers.
• Check in with family regularly - the best thing my professor made us do on our trip abroad was to blog. I think we had to blog every day but I can't quite remember if it was 4 times a week or what. It helped me remember my trip better and I also have a reference to meeting my husband before I knew it was him. He found the blog reference with his excellent stalking skills which I am very grateful for or we would never have seen each other after that pub. 
• Find grocery store - this can save you a lot of money. In the UK, it is 10 to 20 times more expensive to eat out than to eat at home. A bowl of lentil soup which I could make for under 20 p will go for 5 quid. I could make a Mexican feast for 8 people for 10 pounds but the shops will sell one measly plate of enchiladas for 12.50. I could go on but basically just find a grocery store. Or bring zip lock bags full of coffee and other essentials.
• Wear dark sunglasses to avoid the problem of making eye contact and smiling at Mediterranean men and them seeing this as invitation 
  
• Never go out at night without a group, preferably including two muscular young guys. If you are wondering why google the Cologne and Hamberg attacks, where girls were systematically separated from other girls or even boyfriends to be sexually assaulted or raped by gangs of immigrant men. Most days of the year this won't happen but it is better to be safe than sorry.
• Never go out with something low cut, open-backed or showing thighs-down if you can help it. Unlike Christians who take responsibility for lustful feelings and whom Jesus told to pluck out the other eye if it leads to sin, Muslim men get angry at immodesty and then use the anger to attack the girl and often molest her. Talk about blaming the victim. If they like how you look and think they can get away with harassing you, they will. A lot of the Syrian 'children' brought to safety are now out-of-control 19-year-olds without parents in a foreign country. Think about it.

It is a wonderful opportunity to get to travel. Just be sure to be prepared and wise if you are a single girl traveling alone!