England, Wales, The Netherlands, Iceland - December 26, 2016 - January 6, 2017

Itinerary:

TRAVEL TATTS - This is my new thing, I've decided. I'm not a big collector (outside of Hatch prints and Derby glasses), and a travel tattoo is a memory that will last! On the advice of several friends, I went to Richmond Tattoo Studio (Tom Hardy's studio of choice!) and recommend it for anyone. Make an appointment, send the artwork via email before you go.
WANDER - Don't over schedule your days; spend some time on foot wandering around. If you get too turned around or away from your residence, there's always a tube or bus stop nearby!

The Doctor Who Experience! - the fate of this fan mecca is up in the air I believe, so I'm really thankful that I got a chance to visit it before it closed! Kathleen and I took a bus over to Cardiff for the day and had time to wander around a bit before going to the interactive tour/museum. It was so fantastic - great city, great fan destination, great company (and I got my Gally gifties out of the way for 2017 ;))!

I didn't do any of the tourist activities here that people normally do, and I'm disappointed in myself - I'm looking for recommendations, though, because I'll definitely go back.
I CAN recommend Amsterdam as a pretty top notch New Year's Eve destination, though. Expect insanity and you'll be prepared!

The Blue Lagoon - I spent an entire day in the warm, warm water with ice cold air flowing across my face, and don't regret it. Buses travel in and out of there all day long, so stay as long as you need to. One of my friends stayed the morning, the other two of us stayed all day. It was a great ending to the trip!
Golden Circle Tour - This was THE way to see as much as possible, especially in January when I wasn't sure what the roads would be like and if I'd feel comfortable driving (for the record, at 35+ degrees Fahrenheit the entire time I would've been fine). I did the Golden Circle tour through Your Day Tours - we were on a 12 passenger bus and made four stops. I want to go back and take another day tour every day and then use the nights for exploring the city.
Carrot and ginger soup at this 24-hour diner; it was probably the best food I ate on the trip!

I took my own advice from the last trip - ONE SCARF! I packed two pair of jeans, one scarf, but still a different shirt for every day. Also, one "fancy" outfit just in case we did something different for NYE. Guess what? We didn't. I should've stuck with my five shirt plan.
Speaking of packing, no matter how chic you imagine your travel wardrobe will be, pack some sneakers. Trust me.
When you're stuck in a domestic city that still isn't home on your first night back, have a fantastic friend meet you for dinner. It's a nice welcome :).
Don't squeeze in too many stops during your trip. It's really hard since all of the countries are so close together and can be traveled too quickly. I wish I'd had one more day in each location, though, and probably should've axed a location to give me more time in another.