Happy Sunday! This week, on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Ann-Christine of the blog Leya has issued a real challege, especially to us that are indecisive because this week, we’re only allowed one photo.

This was a very difficult choice for me. There are many photos in my photo archive that I wish to share but it all came down to storytelling and sentimentality.

This photo marked my first impression of London. It was my first trip out of North America that didn’t include China. Before this trip, the only time I’ve been outside the North America continent was when I visited China. Aside from China, US (where I live), and Canada, I have never been to any other countries until the trip to London.

I remember it took quite a long time to get to London. We first had to get on a plane to LAX and then from LAX, we departed for Heathrow.

There’s one thing you should know about me – I hate to fly. As exciting as it is to visit another continent or country, to have to fly on an airplane is absolutely a turn-off for me. I was talking to my coworkers the other day about my upcoming trip to Taiwan, I said to them, “If I can drive to Taipei, I would.” That’s how much I hate to fly.

It isn’t that getting on a plane terrifying, it’s the packing, needing to haul around suitcases, needing to get to the airport early, going through TSA, and sitting for an extended period of time. That’s what I don’t like about flying.

Back to the photo.

This was the first photo I took in London. It was taken from the only window of the hotel room. Aside from the tiny hotel room I stayed in Hong Kong, this hotel room is the next smallest. As petite as my mom and I were, we could barely fit in the elevator with our backpacks and suitcases. With the suitcases and backpacks in the room, there was hardly any room to more about the room.

The hotel was about a 15-minute walk from Kings Cross Station. We would be taking a train in a few days to Scotland and wanted to stay somewhere close. What we didn’t know was how much we had to walk to get to all the places we wanted to visit. To save on public transportation, my mom would often rather walk than get on the tube. By the end of the trip, my watch registered a total of more than 50 miles walked during our 2-week trip in the UK.