Of Chargers, Currency, and Time Zones

I woke up the middle of the night, suddenly remembering that I had not yet dealt with the international elecrical current situation. I’ve been to several different countries in the last four decades, and the complications of powering hair dryers and charging cameras, cell phones, and computers in the early years would fill a very lengthy blog post. Lying in bed, I tried to remember where I had put my bag of adapters and transformers from earlier visits, and, in the end, climbed out of bed and began searching closets and shelves. Eventually I found it, hanging on a hook inside my clothes closet (go figure), and I set in on my desk and climbed back into my cozy warm bed.

This morning I emptied the bag on to the table, which was already occupied with map, various forms of foreign currency, my passport, etc. Sorting through the collection I selected three adapters which allow me to plug in my two-pronged American items to three-pronged English outlets (or power points, as they are known there). One complication of travel to the UK in the early years of digital photography and laptop computers was that their 220 volt power would fry U.S.-made electronic equipment, and transformers, which step the power from the wall down to the 110 our equipment used, were bulky and heavy. Today you only need a transformer if you plan to use larger appliances in Britain, items like heaters, toasters, hair dryers, etc. One of the great engineering features of the iPhone and most other cell phones and laptops today is that although you will need need an adapter, you no longer need a converter – it’s already built into the equipment.

Converters packed, I then turned to my motley collection of foreign currency and selected the few bills and coins I had left over from my last trip to England. Although the Euro is accepted in banks and most stores in the UK, the coin of the realm is still the pound sterling, although thankfully it is now based on 100 pennies rather than 240 as it was prior to 1971. Pounds, shillings and pence, the colorful currency of the nineteenth century about which I am writing, is no more. And thank heavens for that!

Passport, BritRail pass, airplane tickets, hotel loyalty cards, a new SIM card for my unlocked iPhone, tickets for a concert in Oxford and a pantomime in Bradford (more about that later), directions to the bed and breakfast where I am staying tomorrow night, all laid out on the table before me. Time to organize them and put them in my backpack.

It’s 9:30 p.m. in Santa Cruz, but it’s already 5:30 a.m. tomorrow in London.

My bags are packed; my traveling clothes on the bed. My wonderful dog companion is on her way. The Airport Flyer will be here at noon.