The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #13 on their list, go somewhere alone.  I did not start off alone as I traveled to the UK for work in December of 2009.  After spending a week in Belfast, I was due to be on vacation for the rest of the year, so there was no need to rush home.  Instead, I said goodbye to my colleagues and spent the next 4 days alone in jolly old England.

I had made limited plans for my stay in London, two trips to the theatre to see Anna Friel in Breakfast at Tiffanys and Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley in The Misanthrope.  Besides that, I had nothing but time to explore the city.  I bought a 2-day ticket for a double decker bus tour, I went to the Tower of London, I took the tube out to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk outside the studios made famous by the Beatles, I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and, of course, I saw Big Ben and Parliament.  I would love to go back and see it all again, if it weren’t for the 8 hour flight and the cost of seats that aren’t sardine can-like on the plane.