Amidst a fit of surrounding myself with everything Harry Potter recently, I stumbled upon an old draft that I had started to write for this blog. Considering what I know now – that we’re going to London in 4 weeks! – it’s a fun read:

I recently broke my contractual agreement (with myself) to consume every bit of Harry Potter I could as soon as it was released. I was in line at every midnight bookstore party, and every midnight theatrical release for each of the 7 books and 8 movies. We were planning on going to a release party/event this past Saturday night to celebrate Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s paperback debut, but alas, sleep won out and I have yet to read a page of the script.

I’d like to think that this doesn’t make me any less of a hardcore Harry fan than I was in my youth – *dramatic pause* – but my regular rereads, rewatches, and the fact that Sohrab and I spent two days of our honeymoon at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando and attended WWoHP Hollywood’s opening day helps to remind me that I simply have a different relationship with the boy who lived. It’s always a comfort to return to Hogwarts, like having coffee with an old friend, and I still won’t let anything stand in the way of that relationship – unless that thing is sleep.

This brings us to Cursed Child in its true form, as a play. When it was first announced that it would purely be a play strictly in London, my heart sank. I’ve never stepped foot in Europe. In fact, the only place I’ve been outside of the United States is Mexico, and the most exotic destination I’ve ventured to (and lived in!) is Hawai’i. The idea of flying across the world in a tin can for a significant part of a day or more befuddles me; the longest flight I’ve been on was 6 hours back and forth to the Aloha State while I was in college.

However, my wanderlust is strong. After a moment of sadness, I realized that Cursed Child could be my ticket to Europe.

And so it shall be, past-me. Although the longest flight in my log is now 10 hours, from LAX to AMS, many of my feelings are the same as they were in August of 2016 (only about a month after the play premiered in London!) when I wrote this. Not to mention, I’ve since read the play! But shhh, Sohrab hasn’t. No spoilers!

I’m still as giddy as Lavender Brown about the possibilities for this trip – the only difference is that now, we have our tickets. We have an itinerary. It’s a dream coming true.

Our Harry Potter Itinerary

Accommodations: The Enchanted Chambers at The Georgian House Hotel

Experiences: The Cauldron Magical Cocktail Experience
Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
House of MinaLima (in between our same-day shows of Cursed Child!)
Tour for Muggles

And so, while we’re still “waiting in a queue” for the Cursed Child, we’re closer to the front than ever before. I can practically see the castle! I hope you’ll come on this magical journey with me. Anyone up for a movie rewatch?