Hi all,

My boyfriend and i are also on the April 19 Euro explorer trip + cruising. We are from Melbourne, Australia. We are flying into London and staying at the Royal National on the 16th of April. We are very excited and cant wait!!!

Look foward to meeting you all.

Hi Lauren!

Not long to go now I'm counting down the days! Do you get into London on the 16th? We're arriving on the 17th in the evening

Who is everyone flying with?

Hi DzinerGirl,

Yes,we arrive in London on the 16th in the morning. We are going to Singapore for 2 nights first. Flying with Qantas & British Airways.

Is anyone else doing a stopover?

Lauren

We've got a stopover in Seoul (Korea) as part of our flights but not an actual planned stopover.

Is anyone going to use or have already used a Cash Passport card?

Ohh I just realised it's not long till we get our Contiki packs, it'll be much more real once we get them!

Hi,

I haven't used a cash passport before but, i was thinkg about getting one, as my friend used one when she went to Europe on Contiki last year, she said they were good.

Is anyone taking a mobile phone? Do know what i can do to make international calls back to Aus cheaper?

hi Lauren and Adam

I'm from Melbourne to and arrive in London on the 16th. I'm on the midnight flight on the 15th. i take it that you will be doing the same? and there is less then five weeks... can wait!

We are flying Virgin Atlantic, with a short stopover in Bangkok. We arrive at about 5.30am on the 15th.

We're not planning to get a cash passport thingy, as the difference between the bank's fee and the cash passport fee is only 25c With the bank charging $4 per withdrawal, and the cash passport being $3.75.

Yay...more people! Hi Lauren & Adam! I'm taking my mobile, but will probably just text & make the occasional call...I don't know about making the calls cheaper.

Getting very excited now. I wonder how many are booked for this departure.

I knew there was something else I wanted to ask you guys. It's our first time o/s, & I've been reading some pretty nasty stuff about things being stolen from your bags while left in the hotel rooms etc. I know this kind of thing probably only happens rarely - but it's got me thinking.

Do you think locks are the best way to protect yourself against this, or those taggy type things I've seen around? Also, for flying -do you put one of those things on your luggage for the flight - or not worry about it?

i'll be using a well known brand pad lock. i have seen those tags around, but to me, it makes more scene use a pad lock (providing your not someone that loses your keys every five minutes)

i have also been told stories about people pick pocketing you as they speak or stand next to you. so we just need to look out for that.

Hi all,
I am so excited! I am going on March 31 and flying Quantas/British Airways. I stop over in Singapore for around 5 hours, it is a great airport- lots of things to do so I think it will be good. I know, also travelling solo I am a bit worried about safety & pickpocketing etc so I have a few safety locks for my luggage and this cool everyday bag with special zippers and safety features so it can't be snatched or opened. But it would be great for us all to look out for eachother. Mel S I reckon you should definately get some locks for your bags, better to be safe then sorry. I am also taking a mobile, I will probably pick up a prepaid sim card from UK's O2 network, You get recharge everywhere in Europe and I think they are considerably cheaper rates then global roaming with an Aussie brand.

Yep we'll be padlocking our zippers shut when we leave them in the hotel rooms and (paranoid me) was thinking about taking something like a bike lock to padlock our bags together and then too something in the hotel room just to be extra safe...apparently the boke lock is a good idea for when travelling on the Eurostar anyway like we will be after the tour.

Yep been reading heaps about the pick-pocketing too, I'll probably carry some notes in my bra hehe and look at taking a money belt too, our day bags will be ones we can carry in front of us and will prob put small locks on those too..yep it will probably be a pain in the but when we go to get something else but better safe than sorry.

I've put some "discussion" topics on the facebook page if you want to check them out like finding stuff out about each other

I also brought a lock thing from Pacsafe (really good brand) and its got like a wire wich can wrap around things and click back into the lock which you need a 3 digit pin to open again- similar to a bike lock. Its also fairly small. I would recommend looking up pacsafe online they have heaps of handy products. I was thinking about putting money in my bra too, how funny but good idea!
I will post some stuff on facebook too!

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I agree, definitely better to be safe than sorry. I've ordered a few things from pacsafe, such as locks and this lightweight steel cable which will tie our bags together and then lock to some sort of fixture in the room.

Still not sure about using the locks on the plane though...anyone know if this os ok to do? The TSA locks which can be opened by airport staff are available here - but I think only relevant when travelling to USA - I dont think they do that here or UK - at least all the packaging only makes reference to USA staff being able to open them. Dont really like the idea of not having some sort of security on my luggage while flying - but if they need to check in your luggage - will they cut the locks off, or will I be with my bags when any of those checks occur and be able to open the locks myself? I know it might sound like a dumb question...but I'm just not sure how it all works.

Having trouble logging on to facebook atm for some reason - maybe its down...will check out the stuff you put on there soon!

We were looking at the TSA locks too Mel but decided that since we weren't flying through the States we'd just go with what we always do and thats small sized padlocks. We haven't had a problem yet and I'm sure if the UK had security checks where they open the checked luggage it would have been mentioned somewhere (?) I think if they do decide to open them up they'll just cut the lock which would suck but then we can just buy another one - there is no way I'm sending it without any kind of security. I guess it's just a matter of doing what you feel safe with.

Is anyone taking stuff to do laundry with (like in the hotel rooms) ? I was thinking about making up a little laundry "kit" so we can wash socks and underwear in the bathroom basin...but I got stuck on whether to take washing liquid or powder...hmmm any thoughts?

Very good point Dziner, I guess it wouldn't be that much of a big deal to just replace the locks. I bought some laundry liquid in a small screw top bottle from a travel shop. It's only 100mls. It must be fairly concentrated because it says you only need between half to one tablespoon. I'll see how that goes. I'm thinking if it runs out, it shouldnt be too hard to pick some up along the way.