Let the adventure begin!

Good Morning.....October 20th this is how I set out from the hotel room this morning.  Should have put my day bag on my front as to show what I REALLY look like lugging my gear around on my back like a turtle for the next 3 months.

Well the last 48 hours have been a whirlwind!!  Tuesday was my last day of work and last day in Courtenay.  I worked til 3 then packed up and headed back to Port Alberni.  Wednesday I finished all my last errands and running around I had to do to be prepared for my trip...then in the afternoon my mom and I headed up island to Victoria to visit with my brother and his girlfriend and their new little dog otis who I LOVED.  I got all my rounds done and actually got to say bye to lots of family members :)
Late Wednesday night my mom and I caught the last ferry over to Vancouver so I could have a good night sleep and not be in a rush in the AM.
It was wonderful...thanks mom!!
We both got ready, I did the final pack and weighed my bags before heading to the airport.  I had left lots of time and it turned out my flight was delayed by another half hour so it was nice to just RELAX.  Mom and I visited, had lunch, stopped at currency exchange before she saw me off to security and had to say our goodbyes.  I'm getting so sappy as I get older and still can't hold back the tears though I sure try my darndest too!
With many hugs, loves, blown kisses and waves goodbye I disappeared into a sea of people trying to get through security.  And just like that I was on my own and so was she.
Took me a few minutes to breathe normally where I didn't feel like I was going to cry if someone even said a word to me but after that I was good.  I walked to find my gate and then shopped around in duty free for a little bit.  Before boarding I sent my last few text messages sending my love and goodbyes and turned off my beloved iphone.

QUESTION for all you international travellers with Iphones....I went into Telus before I left and all they told me to do was turn off 3G and data roaming so I did that before I left.  However I turned my phone on upon landing in London as I had a taken a picture of my directions for how to get to my hostel.  I got 2 texts that had been sent from home earlier, and one welcoming me to the UK and then where it normally says Telus up in the left hand corner it said vodaphone uk......FREAKOUT.  I hope that didn't cost me and arm and a leg?!?!?!  So my next question is what do I do about it?  I want to be able to use my phone in wifi but other then that I don't want it roaming, texting, calling ect so what do I need to do?  For the time being I have it in airplane mode and that seems to shut off wifi along with everything else.  Is that good enough?  Please help!!!!

Beyond that....I met 2 people in line to go through customs in London and ended up having a great chat as we had a good hour wait ahead of us.  From there the 3 of us, all unfamiliar with the hustle and bustle of the London train stations, headed out to face it together.  Step 1 We got our tickets after the nice couple in line behind us helped us choose.  Really I think they just wanted their tickets faster as I was holding up the line...oops.   Step 2 find said train.  There are many different companies of trains and many different prices and directions of these trains.  But we figured it out and within minutes were settled on our 30 minute ride into Victoria Station.  From there I said goodbye to my 2 new friends as they were carrying on and I set out on foot to find my hostel.
Tried to look at my map, couldn't find the street, asked the tourist info guy...and no lie this is what he tells me.....go there (points left) go left, go left again and down.  Ok so with those vague directions off I went with my 37 pound backpack on my back my 12 pound small day bag on my front and my little purse.  Doesn't take long to work up a sweat carrying that much weight whoooo eeee!  I also put my sweater on so it was one less thing to carry and after strapping myself in I would face the over heating until I find my hostel and can free myself from the straps of all these bags.
Fast forward til now....I've checked in, put my bags down, got a HUGE glass of nice cold coke and here I sit talking to you in the pub below my hostel hoping all I need is the adapter for this computer otherwise it might just blow up.  It doesn't plug into the converter because it has a ground so I'm hoping I've done it right.  No smoke and flames so far at least :)
Well starting to get a little tired and hungry so think I might navigate some food and am counting down the hours to bedtime.  I left Vancouver at 5:30 pm by the time the plane took off, was an 8 1/2 hour flight and landed at 9:30 am their time here so that was my night.  I watched a movie and got a good long sleep in but not quite long enough!  I've been running at full steam the past few weeks getting ready for this very day so now I can stop running.  Ahhhhh bliss......What will tomorrow bring?  Can't WAIT to start out on this amazing, exciting, backpack adventure. 
Cheers!!
   Shawna