Jul 2007

I got my visa application back on Friday, and what craziness that approved the application. From August 24th 2007 to August 24th 2009 I will be allowed to work I the United Kingdom for 12 months with the rest of the time spent seeing stuff and not working. It’s a scary prospect in its own way, different continent, different country without all the usual support mechanisms of home.
Also on Friday the details and tickets for my Contiki tour, including a passport wallet, two pass tickets for the London Underground and my travel insurance policy.
This whole trip away thing is well on its way unstoppable way, now it’s a matter organising the small irritating stuff.

33 Days until departure.

Well I have finally done it; I have applied for a Holiday-making Working Visa. With the small to large task of filling out their online form and submitting that. Then printing said form and printing a bunch of other forms and filling them out, placing them in an envelope with my passport, 3 months of financial details with an explanation of the extraneous details on said statement. Final thing for the envelope is a Money Order for the some of the cost to process the application and send your passport back to yourself regardless whether or not it was successful.

So now I wait for it to be returned to me. The processing fee seems a lot like a bribe to me. Anyway power on.

It is 40 days until departure

I have now saved enough money to go to Europe for at least the 3 intended weeks. Three weeks is not enough and as you may or may not know I am trying to apply for a UK Working Holiday Visa. This application is proving more difficult than first expected.
They want in their forms information that I do not have, like where I will be staying during my holiday in the UK and how much money will I be bringing with me. These things can only be answered on the day, with the place I will be staying organised when I am there and money will have access to be determined from my last pay check on the night I fly out.
More irritating still Contiki (those whom I am travelling with around Southern Europe) can not give me the details of my tour excreta until three weeks before I am due to leave. Its is all starting become very overwhelming, but like always... power on.

It is 55 days until departure.