Hey guys!

Welcome back to Part 2 of London-Scotland 2017, This part of the trip is about getting to London and what I did before I checked into the Hotel.

All week I had one big thing on my mind and that was; Should I go to London as who I am as female? Or go as male where I could chill out and not worry about anything but possibly regret it later on? It was just 24 hours before I made my mind up that I was going to take the risk and go as male. With all the bags it made perfect sense to go as male and also I had to think about my skin and knowing if I did go as female then I would have to take my makeup off to then shave and reapply it for the night out.

Anyway at 6:10am my train arrived I got on the train and thinking it will be like most first class Virgin Trains where it would be spacious with those lights you get on the side of your table and people coming round with drinks etc... I was soon disappointed. Instead I had to go to the shop when it opened and then claim it by showing them my ticket, I got a chicken wrap with Caesar Sauce which was nice and a Galaxy hot chocolate which was also great. I must admit the train journey was indeed extremely quick compared to most times I've been to London. Then again I had two games on the go, Casino Inc – The Management game on my laptop and Football Manager on my PSP.

What I'm used to having

We arrived in London a little early that expected and was around 8am when I arrived, struggling with all my luggage I knew that I had to find somewhere to store all my things and quick. I looked online for storage places which was between £6-12 per bag… I had 5 bags with me and all was very heavy so I decided to take a gamble and ring my hotel and see if they had any storage facilities till I checked in, the good news is that they did and was free of charge, which I couldn’t believe. So I set off with all my luggage but I couldn’t help but look around and most of the People I saw was carrying at least two small suitcases with wheels on them compared to me which was one large travel case, laptop bag with all my tech, backpack full of makeup and my camera, a bag full of my coats and another bag.

Within around 30 minutes I was there, I put my bags in a room that was secured and I was able to set off. There was always one thing I planned to do and this was to waste time more than anything and that was to visit Arsenal’s stadium, it’s a ground that I’ve always wanted to go to… Unfortunately, they were away during my visit, I did have a second chance which was the F.A Cup draw... which they were also drawn away, but it didn’t stop me from going to have a look around.

I picked probably one of the worst routes to go mainly it was a long route, I could have caught a tube which would of  been one stop but I didn’t and I kept going. I wanted to pass the venue of where I would be going which was O2 Islington which was pretty easy to find. I took in all the building that I would remember, such as the Sainsbury’s, the Vue cinema which I almost went to see a film. I kept going thinking I would find a kfc… I did but it was closed. 

I loved the stadium it looked great and was massive, walking round it seemed longer than the train journey but then again I was in extreme discomfort as I need a trip to the loo. Highbury I was shocked at as it wasn't really a nice place... well the way I walked in it wasn't but it was great to get out and explore.

I got back to the Hotel about 11:45 which I had a nice walk but was tired. Thankfully I had a great hotel receptionist that was awesome. I decided to take peoples advice I was given on various social network platforms and decided to declare I was trans not full time and they will see me going to and from as male/female. The Hotel receptionist was great and reassured me that it was fine and in London you can get away with pretty much anything, she checked my room on the computer and said my room was ready and I was checked in early so a win all round.So I went in my room and unpacked… boy was that a chore with the amount of stuff I had, I soon hit the hey for a power hour.

For this part I'm going to leave it there as this post will be too long otherwise. Join me in a couple of days when I talk about meeting up with an awesome trans girl and my night out around Camden and what else I got up to.

I can’t wait to share more with you all, join me in a couple of days for part 3 of my London-Scotland 2017 Trip.

Thanks for reading

Sarah

Hey guys!

On this post, I get my Versailles tattoo spruced up! And we talk about London! 

Yes, January on this blog it’s all about London and going to watch my Favorited band called ‘Versailles’ and what I plan to do while I’m there, but what I’ve not spoke about is the preparations. My train is at 06:09am and I will arrive in London around 08:17am. Now as we know I’m not full time as female yet which means the two choices;

Going as female;

02:30am/03:00am Getting up and Bath and full shave

04:00am get ready with makeup

05:30am last min checks

06:00am be at the train station ready for the train

06:09am The train sets off

This could be a hard part of the trip if I get too warm I will sweat under the wig and have nowhere to go and cool down.

08:17am Arrive in London

Spend 3hr 43mins in London with all my luggage and there will be a lot.

12:00pm (Midday) Check in

This is where the problem is! I might get asked questions because I won’t match the card and name I paid with.

12:10pm (hopefully)

I will be in my room and would have to get unpacked and also I would have to take all of my makeup off to shave my face again then to reapply my makeup.

14:00/15.00pm Out to London

Looking round London quickly for nightclubs to go to. As female that is it loads of hard work.

As male;

05:30am Wake up

Check that I have everything

06:00am Arrive at train station

06:09am Train sets off

08:17am arrive at train station and look for bar or source of entertainment and kill time.

12.00pm Check in at my hotel

12:10pm Unpack and run bath

Will have a full body shave and apply makeup

2pm off out I go

There is so many pros to go as male than as female, I would less likely run into any trouble and misunderstanding with anyone at the hotel. I would be seen for how I’m presenting more and with the luggage it will look more genuine… There is one big thing in the way though REGRET.

Even though it will be easier to go as male it would just work out better for me to present female when I arrive in London, the issue is. Will I regret not being myself and travelling as female? This will probably not happen again or not for a long time anyway.

It’s a case of Connivance Vs Pride.

What makes it hard was I rang to hotel as I thought it had the self-checking services which it turns out it doesn’t so I would have to talk and out on my own it’s something I don’t want to do. All I can do is wait and see how I feel.

Now one thing I have pride in myself it’s my Versailles Tattoo that I have and the band saw it when they last came. there is one issue... That was in 2011 which means that my tattoo has faded it’s kind of grey rather than black, the band is refreshed and I thought I should do the same with my tattoo… So I did.

The Tattoo was first done by one of my besties father which will always live with me as it was seen by the band and this will never leave me, also they  might not see my tattoo this time as the band have this weird V.I.P package which I couldn't find anywhere and when I tried to sort it out it said I had to be a resident of Japan?????  Anyway, I wanted to do something else to my tattoo and spruce it up a bit and for this I needed a professional, which for me I didn’t want just anyone do tattoo my most important tattoo. For this I was to trust a friend I’ve known from High school, a person that tattooed names like Steve-O (jackass), Bam Margera (Jackass and another one of my Idols) and Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Rugby) to name a few. The person had to be Chris Burwin.

Top right: Sam Tomkins. Middle Left: Steve-O. Bottom right: Bam Margera (Before his issues)

My Tattooist is also Trans, which we decided to both go as female, it's awesome that she can just go as female to work and not give a rats ass. I have to say what a choice I made for going as myself and going to Alchemy Tattoo Studio it was awesome as no one in the shop was bothered and the staff was great and was offered a drink a few times which I decided to have water. It was a great experience so if you want a tattoo place that is LGBT friendly Alchemy Tattoo Studio in Wigan is the place to go.

And finally I need a new dress and I need some new boots… Okies not boots but every footwear post I do I’m on a never ending quest for the best. So my 12-hour search has started and if the arrive on time I can’t wait to show you.

Will be posting about my trip to London and Scotland

Thanks for reading

Sarah

xxx

London

Hello and welcome to today’s post and is another special post and it's to do with planning a trip to London. I’ve been to London a good few times and stayed over most of them, but I’ve never really done longer than twenty-four hours. I’ve been to Wembley to watch two NFL games with the New England Patriots which are my favourite team and with Wigan Athletic twice in the FA Cup Semi Final and the Community Shield and once to watch my favourite band Versailles at Islington which I have the bands name tattooed on my arm.

This time it’s not just a trip and staying for 24 hours in London, it’s for 3 nights and four days, but it doesn’t just stop there. The reason for my trip is to watch my favourite band for a second time… Versailles are back!

Last time went with two girls that I worked with and they're awesome, and it was a trip that I will never forget, because I was with people I liked and the band that I loved but we got to meet them and it has to be one of the best moments of my life, but it wasn’t just that which made it the best moment but having to share that moment with them and also to celebrate it together. This time I will be going to the gig alone which is sad but at the same time I’m used to it, but then again you don’t really talk or interact with anyone at gig really once it starts. When the music starts I get into a trance sometimes so deeply the world just doesn’t exist.

My last Versailles gig was in 2011, and the year after they released and album didn’t come to the UK or even Europe I think and decided to split and to do different things until last year 2015 they announced that they were coming back! Since coming back they didn’t really release much information, a new album but it was just a collaboration of songs they did plus a few new ones but not something you can call new album but hell they’re coming back and it feels awesome.

So it’s a gig and spending three nights and 4 days there, so what’s so big about it?

Well its massive for me because the last time I was in London l I never really knew about my gender or myself, I never really felt anything because I was this unemotional asshole that was forcing any feelings I had at all away, this time I have options to go as female or go as male… or screw with the reception at the hotel and do a mixture.

Anyway 29^th December came where I had something I was missing in my bank account and that was money so I could book my hotel and train tickets. When I look for a hotel I generally don’t care what it looks like as I’m pretty much just put my extremely baggy jeans on, band tee-shirts, hoodies and most importantly chains kind guy. So booking a hotel this time had to be different.  My requirements are pretty simple though. A massive reception desk so I don’t have to interact with the hotel staff, A self-check-in and a well lit room and a bloody good mirror. Seriously how hard can it be?

Why do I need all these?

I’ve decided that I need to build myself up for next year as I’m yet to do most things independently. I’ve caught a bus on my own and waited on a park bench but that is it. So the choices I’ve decided on are to set myself up and be female if I want to.

Why the big reception area?

This is because ‘if’ I decided to check-in as female/venture out as female etc I don’t want to interact with people I’ve never met. For me it’s about baby steps and putting the foundations in place which many people don’t understand, once the foundations are set then you can do more and build up. With a bigger reception area I don’t have to walk near the desk and for the staff to say “Hi” or “goodnight” etc. I know that might sound moody of me but I don’t want to talk back to them really with my untrained voice.

A Self-Check-In?

This is quicker and apparently it will give me a key so that means it is quicker (unless the thing breaks) or most importantly if it does work it means I don’t have to talk to anyone.

This isn't the ones at my hotel but will be similar.

A well lit room?

I plan to pack both sets of clothes which means over 10 days’ worth of clothes as I might need to come back and change if I want to meet up with someone and go out for the evening I will want to go smart/smart causal. I will need to pack male shoes/trainers. Which I only have one of each or as female god knows how many boots and shoes (depending on the weather) I will need dresses, skirts, tops, makeup (I have loads of it), bras, underwear etc. For my male side jeans tops and if I find a gym I can pay for one or two sessions/maybe a jog some track suit pants. That is to name a few.  Anyway A well lit room is just for doing makeup and the mirror? Well I don’t need to talk about that.

Which hotel did I pick?

The stay in London isn't just all about Versailles as they're just the one night and after how I felt not going as female to the Bullet For My Valentine gig was massive. One thing I forgot to mention was Distance. I plan to go to the event as female so I will be wearing heels probably my boots for this and I tend to go to que up early also which means standing up for about 4-6 hours so I will need comfy shoes where I won’t want to take them off while I’m in the venue.

So I decided to go with Travelodge: London Kings Cross Royal Scot. It wasn’t too far and had everything I wanted and I decided to go all out and go for a double room, which mean I would get;

A king size bed,

A bath and shower, Some with wet rooms (I should get a bath which I prefer so I can shave my body in)

This should be hopefully mine.

A TV (might take my xbox haha)

A good size desk which means I could do my makeup and also write a post-up on here.

Blogging space

A plus side to this location was just the one, it had great attraction links to most things;

London Zoo and the London Eye 1.8 miles away,

The British Museum 0.9 miles away,

British Library 0.5 miles away,

Central London 1.6 miles away,

The Emirates Stadium isn’t far away either,

But most importantly 1.2 miles away from the O2 Academy Islington, and the shopping centre.

I plan to go round London, I plan to go to Harrods, The London Eye, Tower Bridge, The Tower Of London, Buckingham Palace and so many more, I hope to meet with friends that I’ve met on social media also.

What about the night time?

I can’t say whether I will be presenting as male or female but I would like to hit a couple of clubs afterwards. I know the Saturday night at O2 Islington they have Club De Fromage. That is when the the venue becomes a normal night club which plays most of your club music from Lady Gaga to Bon Jovi, but I do like metal music mainly.

The Underworld, seems a promising Venue where they do Rock, Metal and Alternative music so this seem pretty great and best of all, not is it on my side of the River Thames it’s also pretty close to my hotel also. Which I might see myself there for the Saturday I arrive but will have to wait till 11pm when I get in as they have a band on which after checking them out isn’t my thing. 

Electric Ballroom is another place I could go and is also not far from my hotel and is close to The Underworld night club so we will see, I don’t intend on staying in whether it means presenting as male or female. 

Soho, is a place in London that seems to be a great place for the nightlife, but it also seems to have LGBT nightclubs also which include Heaven which supposed to have one of the biggest dance floors in London. It’s still early days yet to find a nightclub but anything can happen but hopefully I will find someone off my Facebook friends to do something and go clubbing with. No matter what I do I will make sure I have a great time and meet up with people and have a good laugh, so with this I can do is think ahead.

There is one thing I do have an issue with and that is my hair, if I go out with my wig that I’m currently using then I will bump into an issue with overheating. Under my wig it can get very hot indeed and with no time left to order a new one it is to turn to my lace front that I’ve never worn out properly. When I’ve tried it it feels great, not to heavy, and where I won’t get to hot in it also so I’m thinking of taking a gamble, this means taking it to a hair dressers and getting them to do it which might cost just as much as getting a new wig as I will not wear synthetic wigs anymore, not because they don’t look real or anything but because I don’t feel as authentic as I do with real hair. The hair gives me the most confidence and I think this lace front I need to try more and get it used, again we will see what happens.

That is it for this post, thanks for reading and I can’t wait to go to London and also share the story with you all.

Thanks
Sarah

xx