Spring in London as a Paparazzo

First, let me start this story by addressing the quality of some of these photos. You see, many of them were taken from my Instagram, which, as you may know, significantly reduces the quality of the image. I lost most, if not all, of the photos I had taken from 2019, and only had a few that Dominika had saved that were of any clarity. Having said that, I do hope you enjoy the pictures; it was my first true dalliance with my new Nikon.

The trip did not start as you may think most would. It was Spring Break; that much was anticipated. Perhaps the only other thing to be expected about the entire time was that my friend Dominika invited me to vacation with her in London. I had never really wanted to go, but I did a little research like she asked, and told her I didn't care what we saw as long as we got to see Kew Gardens. I always try to see some of the botanical gardens whenever I visit somewhere new. It's a safe bet that it will be a beautiful, cheap, and wonderful time.

I would travel with her and two of her friends, whom I had never met before. She arranged for us to meet once over dinner a week before we left.

This proved to be an issue at customs because I can't lie or keep my mouth shut when I'm anxious... And going through customs makes me nervous.

"Who are you traveling with and why?"

"Some friends for vacation."

"Who are your friends? Where did you meet?"

"Those two in line over there and the one behind me. I've known Dominika for years, but I just met her friends a couple of weeks ago–" I stopped myself as I noticed her eyes narrowing and her lips pursing, as if she meant to speak. "They are very good friends of Dominika's, we just go to different schools." I tried to recover.

"So you don't know two people you are traveling with." She started to type something before I interrupted.

"No, I know them! Just not as well as I know Dominika. We're just taking a short trip for spring break." I handed her my return ticket information. "We'll be back stateside soon."

"Have your friends asked you to carry anything for them?"

"No!" I answered too quickly. "No. I only have my stuff with me." I slowed my voice and tried to settle my nerves. I was sharing way too much information and coming off as suspicious.

I don't know if she believed me or was just done with her questions, but I had answered well enough, and she let me through without further comment.

When we landed in London, I felt awful. I usually feel awful after a flight; the longer it is, the worse I feel. I needed food and a nap, STAT. We went to one of the many Breakfast Clubs around London and had a quick bite to eat before heading to our Airbnb.

We were a couple of hours early for check-in, so we didn't think we could do anything but drop off our luggage. Fortunately, Dominika used some of her Polish-speaking skills to ask the Russian housecleaner if we could sleep while they finished their work. The kind woman agreed and promised to wrap up quickly and quietly so we could rest.

We had a long list of tourist spots to visit in the evening. Little did I know, I would be the "professional" photographer for Dominika and one of her friends during this trip.

"Get your rest," Dominika said, "It's gonna be a long night!"

It was.

Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, multiple museums, and the Chelsea Physic Garden were just a few places we went that night and over the next several days. We found a Harry Potter-themed bar that let us "mix" our drinks. We had brunch at the Sky Garden. A ferry down the Thames and a production of Richard II at Shakespeare's Globe featuring an all AFAB BIPOC cast stand out as highlights of my experience.

After five days, we still hadn't been to Kew.

Between the two micro-influencers I took pictures of, there were over 10,000 frames. Now, they weren't in every picture, and certainly weren't all keepers, but they were great practice.

Even if I didn't get to see Kew Gardens.

Author's Note: I wrote most of this a while ago for the travel snaps challenge, but never got around to finishing it until now. I decided to put some final thoughts on it and publish it. Why not? I hope you at least enjoyed the pics.