I really do think being from the US, you'll be more weathered to travel around than UK folk. We arent used to travelling long distances, we begrudge driving 30 minutes to work, let alone 3-4 hours to see family!
Like the idea of not wasting days, as long as you have enough downtime/rest time built in to your trip.
Would be cool to see you come over to England next time Doc, if we time it right you never know as we could make many paths cross...