Growing up in Overland Park, Kansas might not seem like the most exciting place in the world, and I agree. This is why traveling is such a wonderful experience. Traveling lets people experience different kinds of cultures and people. It is amazing how different people can be in different places of the world. My favorite vacation I took was London. Seeing as my Mom works for the airlines, our family recieves great flying benefits and we took advantage of those benefits in April of last year. As some might wonder why we chose to go to London of all places. The answer is actually very unique. Early last year I watched a movie with my friends, it was called Just My Luck. This movie was mainly about a girl (played by Lindsay Lohan) who is the luckiest girl in the world, she meets a guy who is the unluckiest guy in the world and basically they switch places. One of the plots for the guy in the movie is that he is trying to help this British band "make it" in America. This band is named, McFly. After I saw this movie, I thought about how much I liked the music the British band had played and decided to look them up on the internet. After listening to a couple songs and looking at a couple of very appealing pictures of the band, I became obsessed. I begged my mom for weeks to take me London to see them play a live concert, seeing as they were only famous in the UK. After much barganing it finally worked. My sister, Mom and I all flew to London and arrived in the early morning, we spent the day walking around the city seeing the London Eye, Big Ben and The London Tower. After a very enjoying experience, we hoped on a train to the city of Essex, where the concert would be held. After getting a hotel for the night, I awoke at six o'clock in the morning to go stand in line for the concert that would not be until eight o'clock that evening. After my mom rolled her eyes a couple of times at the fact that I was determined to get a front row seat, she let me go. To my surprise there was already 6 people in front of me!

I very much enjoyed talking to the teenaged girls that were also very much in love with the band. Even though there are a lot of differences between us, it is still amazing that no matter where in the world you are, somehow people still have very similar ways of acting. Teenagers are still rebelious and experimental, which was brought to my attention when we snuck into the venue to see what the stage looked like. Although there are many differences. Unlike in America, London has very limited security. When it finally came for the band to arive at the venue, there were no underground entrances, body gaurds or fences. The only security was two large men telling the extremely large crowd to make room for the boys to come through. People were extremely courteous and went out of their way to do things for other people. This was shown to me when a couple of tour managers of the band noticed my "American accent." Just because they wanted to, they allowed my sister and I to meet the band, the dream of my life. This would never happen in America with such high security risks. The band could not have been more down to earth. They asked us questions about home, and our lives. They were also very humble, the were not snobs just because they are "famous." Finally the concert arrives as if I haven't already enjoyed myself enough. Because it was not America, the security people did not have a set plan of how to get everyone into the arena, so they just opened the doors. Imagine 2000 obsessed teenaged girls faced with one opened door standing between them and McFly. Complete chaos occured as the stampede of girls run towards the door. Miraculously my sister and I obtain our stance at the very front and center of the stage, right in front of my favorite singer. Unexpectadely in the middle of the concert, the drummer, Harry, begins talking and suddenly mentions the "girls from America!" They were talking about us on stage in front of 2000 people! That doesn't happen every day. After having the drummer telling the whole venue to shout KANSAS, KANSAS, they dedicate a song to us. And finally during the finale of the concert the drummer walks over to me in the crowd, leans over, and hands me his drum stick. After of course being attacked by wild hands going every which way, I embrace the drum stick in my arms.

This was the most amazing experience I have ever had, and this was mostly because the people I met were so greatly helpful and kind. This only made me respect and love this city more. And have inspired me to one day live there. Seeing so many different things made me more intelligent and more aware of my surroundings. There is a lot more to see in this world then just your backyard, and I am determined to see it all one day. Especially the great city of London that inspired me to do this. And after many months of pleading to my mom about how much I want to go back, she has planned for us to go back this summer. Although I am sure it won't be as lucky as our last trip was, its not every day that you get to meet the band of your dreams.