Chasing Pop Stars: Reigniting My Love for Travel

Here we go again… Another lengthy drought before I finally found the time to force myself to write some more. I wrote the bulk of this ages ago. I decided I might delete it all and start over, but then I decided to chill out and maybe just make some edits. I just hated it and procrastinated making it better. I had to go back and read my first post to remind myself why I even decided to do this journal thing publicly. It gave me the inspiration I needed to rewrite this and hopefully, maybe, possibly, finish it and post it. Then, maybe I can post again without taking almost a two-year break.

As I mentioned in my initial entry, this whole blogging and journaling thing was spurred by real-life journaling during the pandemic and my first travels once that became possible.

The first big trip I took once it was possible to travel internationally was to the UK. The impetus for this trip, like many of my trips, was a concert. It’s a bit of a pattern that started in 2018 and continues to this day. Coincidentally, I have always loved artists who are not as popular in the US. Now that I have the means to travel as an adult, the artists I want to see aren’t always playing here, or they play bigger, better venues abroad than they would on a US tour.

Jessie Ware was an artist I became familiar with in 2020. A friend I met at a Kylie Minogue concert in 2018 told me to check out Jessie Ware’s song “Save a Kiss,” which I ended up liking. Shortly after, she released the album What’s Your Pleasure?. It was moody with a bit of a disco vibe, and it also had the most beautiful song that really hooked me called “Remember Where You Are.” The song also ended up on President Obama’s year-end list of songs he loved. The vibe and the lyrics really just resonated with me as someone who had moved to New York City barely a year prior and was now at what felt like the epicenter of a global pandemic. There was uncertainty daily, I was worried about aging family back home, stressed about upcoming elections, and still going to work in-person most days hoping I wouldn’t get ill. This song just provided some much-needed comfort and grounding. I still listen to it to this day, especially on bike rides at night or at sunset, and I get a little teary-eyed feeling grateful and lucky that I was where I was while making it through that time.

Finally, in 2021, there was some light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines becoming available. Jessie Ware announced a tour, and of course, she wasn’t coming to the US. Luckily, the concert tickets were quite affordable, and the concert wasn’t until early December 2021. Surely, the world will have sorted itself out by then, I thought. I figured the worst-case scenario was not going, and I would only be out about $50. I created a flight alert for the travel dates and waited it out a few months. In mid-summer 2021, I got a notification for an amazing round-trip deal for about $400 on TAP Air Portugal, so I snagged it! Then began the anticipation. What would things look like by early December? Would travel restrictions be lifted yet? Would Jessie Ware even be able to tour?

As the fall turned to winter, travel restrictions eased, and Jessie Ware was able to start her tour, so the trip was a go! Then, the Omicron variant started to spread like wildfire in the UK, which made me very nervous that things would have to be called off. New testing requirements were put in place days before I was supposed to leave, and I was worried I might catch COVID-19 while in the UK and not be able to return. That scenario would turn this relatively inexpensive trip into a very expensive one if I had to pay for a hotel to quarantine. On top of that, my family had been planning all year to be in New York over the Christmas holiday with tickets purchased, an Airbnb booked, tours, dinner reservations, etc. They would be there shortly after I got back from the UK. It was really a huge risk for me to go and potentially not come back. A bit irresponsible and selfish now that I look back… Oops!

Regardless, as the departure date approached, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go through with the trip. There were a lot of hoops to jump through: testing within 48 hours of departure and then testing as soon as you arrived, with a mandatory quarantine until you received your negative results. But I was too committed to the idea of this trip to turn back.

My flight there was practically empty. The world was definitely still spooked by the COVID Omicron variant and the huge spike in cases. I landed in Lisbon and had a very tight connection to London. I was nervous that I had done some of the testing paperwork incorrectly, but luckily I flew through all the red tape and made it on my flight to London. Once I landed in London, I had to hire a cab to take me to a testing site near the airport to get my COVID test done. Then they drove me back to the airport where I could take the train into London. Oh, I forgot to mention that the concert was not just in the UK. I chose a concert date in Glasgow, Scotland. Partly because it was one of the few dates that hadn’t sold out, and also because I knew someone I had met at a Kylie Minogue concert in 2018 who lived in Scotland and was planning to go. The same person who recommended Jessie Ware to me in the first place!

So I took the train into London and made my way to King’s Cross Station, where I would catch my train to Edinburgh and then take a local train to Glasgow. For anyone who knows their stuff, there’s definitely a direct train to Glasgow from London, but I had heard that the trip by train up the eastern coast of the UK was more beautiful, so I decided to take a bit of a detour. Feel free to drag me if I am totally wrong about this by the way! I also planned to stay in Edinburgh for a night on my way back, which was another reason why I booked a round-trip from London to Edinburgh.

Back to King’s Cross… As an avid Harry Potter fan, I was very excited to visit the place where the Hogwarts Express departed every fall to take students to Hogwarts. To my delight, they even had a Platform Nine and Three-Quarters area of the station with a whole shop and a photo op area. My inner child and Harry Potter fanatic was ecstatic! Sadly, J.K. Rowling has turned out to be quite a monster, dedicating her life to anti-trans activism and ruining the love I have for the Harry Potter series since this trip… A little more on this later.

Finally, I got on my train to Scotland and thoroughly enjoyed the four-hour train ride. I treated myself to a first-class ticket. Someone came by with a little trolley with complimentary drinks, and it really felt like the Hogwarts Express with the trolley lady. I wish we would get our act together in the USA and have rail service like this around the country.

I had a quick transfer in Edinburgh, but I could already tell it was a gorgeous, historic city even at night from the train station, which made me even more excited to visit on my way back. I waited for the train to Glasgow. No trolley lady here; this was just a local commuter train, sadly, but I finally got in late. I was greeted with a main square decorated for Christmas. This was my first time in Europe around the holidays, and they definitely do it right.

I was feeling a bit antsy to get to my Airbnb, be a rule follower, and quarantine myself until I got my test results back. I made the short walk over and found my spot with no problem. I was also hungry, so I ordered some Taco Bell on Uber Eats. I have to say it’s much better in the US. This tasted too unprocessed, LOL. I appreciate Taco Bell for the trash it is and do not need it to be nice.

*Glasgow Town Hall and George Square Decorated for Christmas*

The next morning, I woke up to the good news that I was COVID-free, so I was allowed to leave the confines of my Airbnb and explore! Glasgow had a cute Christmas market in the city center with little stalls that had food and crafts. The smells were tantalizingly festive, and the main pedestrian thoroughfare with shops was decked out with Christmas lights and decor. I totally forgot I would need adapters to charge anything, so I was on a hunt to find a charger for my phone. Just before I got to the Apple Store, I got a message from the friend I was meeting for the concert. Jessie Ware had just announced that she had to cancel the remainder of the tour… WOMP WOMP!

Look… I knew this was a possibility, but I had made it all the way there, and the concert was just hours away, so the news stung. Once I moped around and felt sorry for myself long enough, I reminded myself that it was one night out of several on this trip, and I could find a way to have fun and make the best of it. I looked up self-guided walking tours for Glasgow, and I also checked out their subway system, which is the cutest little subway you’ve ever seen. It just does one loop around the city and has the tiniest little train cars. I did some shopping in the beautifully decorated shops, checked out the museum of natural history, and had dinner and a couple of pints at a pub. I was tempted to go out to gay bars, but I figured I better not tempt fate by being in a club, getting tempted to kiss a cute guy, and ending up with COVID. Glasgow is definitely the industrial center of Scotland, and I think most locals would tell you it’s not the most beautiful place, but I found it very charming. I looked forward to coming back when Jessie Ware announced new dates. That’s right… I was determined to come back and see her. I’m very stubborn, or just pop-girl crazy, or both.

*University of Glasgow in the Background*

The next day, I took the train to Edinburgh early in the morning and was able to check in early after wandering around a bit. The city was absolutely stunning. It’s probably one of the most beautiful old cities I’ve been to, and even more so with it being decorated for the holidays. I was able to snag last-minute tours of Edinburgh Castle and a late-night ghost tour of the city. And just as an aside… can I just say how much I fucking love a sausage roll and the savory pastries that they make in the UK? Every stop along the way I had amazing pastries. I still think about the holiday-inspired bake I had in Edinburgh while waiting for a tour to start. I truly think about a sausage roll quite often and can’t wait to go back to the UK and have one. If anyone from Greggs is reading, please open a location in NYC!

Back to Edinburgh. After the different tours, I went down to where they had a huge Christmas market, tons of different vendors, and even carnival rides. I got several glasses of mulled wine and snacked on fresh, hot mini pancakes and anything else I could nab. It was just so festive and fun, and it also kind of made me wish I had someone there to enjoy it with. It’s kind of the con of traveling alone. It’s both freeing and can also get a bit lonely at times. Being gay, there is always the option to hop onto a dating or hook-up app and see if any locals want to meet up, but due to the COVID situation, I opted not to use that option. I’m already a pretty independent person and have always enjoyed my own company, but traveling solo always reminds me it might be nice to share these experiences in the moment with someone. For now, I will continue to share them here with you. Next stop, London!

*View of Edinburgh from the top of Calton Hill*

London, like Edinburgh, was decked out for the holidays on just about every street I walked down. In London, I met with my friend Jesus, whom I had met earlier in the year in New York. We had a little summer fling and have remained friends, and it was so great to see him. We did a long walk from Kensington through Hyde Park in the rain. We were in search of a testing site to get my pre-departure COVID test that would have immediate results and was still open that night. We found a spot doing tests at Paddington Station, and luckily my test was negative, so I could fly home the next day with no problem. After walking halfway across London and seeing lots of beautiful Christmas décor, I was starting to get pretty hangry. We met up with a couple more of Jesus’s friends and found the most delicious Indonesian restaurant for dinner before checking out the Christmas market at Covent Garden and hitting up a few bars for drinks and some dancing before calling it a night.

Overall, having to miss the Jessie Ware concert ended up just being a small blip in an amazing trip. It was also my first post-pandemic international trip that really ignited my love for travel again. And it reminded me how lucky I am to live in New York City, where I have three airports to choose from and can easily get anywhere in the world.

In fact, in June of 2022, I returned to the UK for the rescheduled Jessie Ware concert. It was absolutely worth returning for. I made sure I was in the front row, and she has now become one of my top artists. She just feels so real and connected to the audience on stage. She doesn’t mind cursing up a storm on stage and laughing at herself during and between songs. On the same return trip, I also saw my friend Jesus again, and we hung out in Brighton for a couple of days before I went up to see Jessie Ware in Glasgow. It is a super cute beach town with a big pier featuring an arcade and amusements. There are beach bars all along the beach. It was a bit too cold still to get in the water, but I did take a fun boat trip to see The Seven Sisters: rolling green hills that end in white cliffs of chalk. I believe this area was part of the fourth Harry Potter film when they were doing an aerial shot before the Quidditch World Cup scene.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I also was able to squeeze in a tour at the studios where the Harry Potter movies were filmed while I was there. You can walk through the Great Hall set and see tons of the set pieces, costumes, and even walk through the actual Hogwarts Express. It was really a magical experience, and I definitely teared up when I first walked through the doors into the Great Hall set. Harry Potter was a book that was read to me by my teacher after recess each day in fourth grade, shortly after my dad passed away. I definitely identified with the loss that Harry experienced in the book, and the whole series was a world I could escape to while coping with my own loss. It’s really unfortunate that J.K. Rowling has now been spewing the most horrid rhetoric about the trans community and funding groups who want to erase the trans community from the greater LGBTQ+ community. Her monstrous behavior has ruined the comfort and escapism that this series brought me, and I’m sure millions of others feel thee same. The tour was wonderful and a bittersweet closing of a chapter from my childhood, and a really nice way to end my trip.

What was just a trip to see Jessie Ware turned out to be multiple trips that helped me get out into the world again after the pandemic. I got to navigate the highs and lows of traveling alone, unexpectedly turned a new leaf with parts of my past through the Harry Potter experiences, and left excited to travel more. In fact, just a couple of months after this trip, I already had a trip to Italy planned for a friend’s wedding. That’s when I really started to journal a lot while traveling. So maybe the next entry will be a little easier to write and it won’t be another two years before I post again. Cheers!

Chasing Pop Stars: Reigniting My Love for Travel

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