Jason Cochran: The Ward of Cheap in London

My recent post on San Francisco touring pitfalls was such a success that it’s not too early for another winning budget travel video. This one is about London, and how to see it without spending more than $15 a day. I have passed more time in London than in any city other than my home, and I have written about it quite a lot, too.

Between you and me (don’t tell anyone), my guidebook to London, is probably the best one I’ve written. I was in the zone. That’s the same book that was award best guide of the year by the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Awards. I took some of the ripest fruit from that guide and turned it into a video.

You should have seen me racing around London in a single day to shoot all this footage with my little camera (for a site that’s now defunct). It’s easier said than done since there I was on my own and there was a lot of running around to be done. And I shot this on the same day as a video about what the U.K. Post Office can teach America’s and one about the successful Barclays free bike loaner system, also known as Boris’s Bikes. I was mildly moist, enjoyed nothing of the sights, and I might have chosen my wardrobe better. Then I hustled off to Southampton to do another video about the naming of the new Cunard Queen Elizabeth ship.

Let no one say travel writing is like a vacation. You have to get the goods, and the goods have got to be good.

Yeah. I know. Uptown complaints.

But this is good. There are actually some incredibly useful tips in here for saving cash there once you arrive — without missing out on what makes London London. I’m proud of this, as I am my book:

Once you’ve laid out a million dollars for airfare and hotel (although my book has some terrific secret hotels), these tips will save you save you dosh.

Fun fact: The opening and closing shots were lip-synched because the original audio was too messy. You probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t told you, but I now know what Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds go through in their ADR sessions.