Hello and Welcome

Back in 1999, I spent a year backpacking around Australia where I loved every minute of it. The travelling, the meeting new people from all over the world, the running out of money, the hostels, the places, the weather, the whole experience, it was amazing. It opened my eyes in so many ways and has gave me so many stories to share. I covered over 16,000 miles while there and decided, "This is the Life for me". Even before returning home I was trying to decide on where to go next. Africa, Europe, Asia, The States???? Decisions, Decisions....... I had it all figured out; no more 9 till 5; no more de-icing the car in the mornings before work; no more 1 week holidays to some holiday resort in Spain.... I had the travel bug.

Though things don't always work out as planned do they? Not long after returning and meeting someone, I was to become a father and for obvious reasons, my priorities had to change. So at the minute I'm working 9 till 5, I'm de-icing the car in the morning though the travel bug still burns inside. So much so, that I get a buzz from just watching the opening 15 minutes of the film "The Beach" where it highlights the life of travellers in their hostels, buzzing about unexplored city centres, living out of a backpacks. Memories......

I'm no longer with my sons mam, though I'm very much part of his life and would never leave him for longer than maybe a couple of weeks, and even then I would miss him like mad. Though at Christmas I don't get to see him as much as I would like too and often find myself moping about the house feeling sorry for myself.... So this year I have decided, if I'm going to mope about, I might as well do it in a different Country.

The Plan.........

Over the Christmas Period I'm flying to the USA, and look to travel from the East to West Coast in 16 days. While I'm there I hope to keep a journal to look back on and to keep my friends and family updated on my adventure. Hence this log.

To bring you up to date......

I started planning this trip 6 weeks ago. Places like China, South Africa and Mexico all crossed my mind but the front runner at that point was Thailand. It wasn't till I had a night out with a couple of lads I used to work with, Mark and Jamie where I decided to consider the USA. They had both been there and spoke highly of it. The States was somewhere I always looked to visit, so the States it was..... The first thing I done was purchase the Lonely Planet Travel Guide, USA Edition. A must have for all travellers I feel after putting her sister to good use; Lonely Planet Travel Guide, Australia Edition a few year back. When I first mentioned I was looking to go to America for Christmas a few people looked upon it as if I was just saying it and wasn't going to follow it through. Those people obviously don't know me that well...... Normally when I put my mind to something, or say I'm going to do it, I do it. The key to it is getting the idea stuck in your head and you'll not want to let it go. My Mam and Dad were going to report me missing as my daily visits for my tea stopped while I spent hours checking sites on the internet looking for ideas and places to go. The manager of the local Travel Agents thought I was on the Pay-role as I was there every second day asking questions, pricing up flights, gathering literature. I had no intention on booking my flights there; nor did I look to get my accommodation there; hell, I didn't even intend to exchange my currency there; I was there for 1 reason and 1 reason only and that was just to talk about it, to get excited on the thought of going to America, to get the idea drilled into my head. Once that happens, it is then when you make sure the trip comes off.

When I started to think where I would visit, I planned for the North East. The likes of New York, Washington DC, Boston, Niagara Falls etc. Then someone who responded to a post of mine on a travel forum suggested to go across country as I would see more and it would prove to be just as cheap, which it has. Every time I though I had it all worked out, things changed. I plan another thing, then again, something changes, though that's the excitement of planning the trip. So after studying a map, looking to see where I would like to visit I came up with a list of places as long as my arm. Obviously that had to be cut down, the list that is. Other questions kept cropping up too.

"Where do I start from"
"Do I fly home from the same place"
"How do I get from place to place"
"How long do I stay in each place"

I spent hours pricing on different routes across the Country as at this point the only thing I was sure on was that I would be flying into New York on Christmas Eve and flying home on the 9th of January, though from which airport, I was still undecided. The thought of New Years Eve in Time Square did appeal to me so I started planning around that. Arrive on 24 December, New York for few nights, down to Washington, Back up to New York for New Year then off up towards Boston and Maine. Had I cracked it, was that to be my route??? It was just then when something else would have a bearing on where I would be going. I have family in the States who would like me to visit them. A place called Hugo, population of 890 people, which is in Colorado; not far off Denver; home of the Rocky Mountains; Perfect. That's when the Coast to Coast hit home and the trip around the North East scrapped. The spending New Year at Time Square scrapped too as I didn't fancy still being in the same place I started out in, 7 days into my trip, especially when I still had over 2500 mile to cover. Plus I thought spending New Years Eve with family would be better, even if I have never met them. At last, the trip was taking shape as I had now decided to fly home
from Los Angeles as the thought of back-tracking to where I started from didn't appeal to me. I thought I may as well travel to somewhere I haven't seen. Hence the reason I decided against visiting Boston in the North East as again, I would have to travel up the coast, then back down again, returning to New York.

At this point, I booked my International flights, even though my travel while in The States wasn't set in stone. No turning back now.

Leave Newcastle Upon Tyne, 12noon, Christmas Eve,
Arriving in JFK, New York (via Paris), 6.30pm Christmas Eve

Returning from Los Angeles, 6.20pm, 9 January
Arriving back in Newcastle (again, via Paris) 4.00pm, 10 January

Arriving in New York on Christmas Eve, the first place I'll be going is to see the massive Christmas tree which was on the film "Home Alone". I think it's in Rockerfellers Park. Just hope it's snowing.

My first 4 nights I'm spending them in New York. Where abouts in New York, I'm still undecided though I have a couple of places in mind. Also, where to visit while in New York is also undecided, but again, I have an rough idea. From New York I'm travelling down to Washington DC to visit the White House and other sites. I feel 1 full day, 2 nights is ample for Washington and what I'm after seeing. With the size of the USA and cheap internal flights throughout the country, I decided to do most of my travelling by air. All but the New York to Washington where I'm looking to take the 2 hour Train ride south to the Capital, taking in the sites. The dates that I've chose to travel by air within The States was influenced by the price of the tickets as a day either side then the flight prices were shooting up for some reason, so I carefully selected these dates though have worked out well. From Washington, on the 30 December I'm flying to Denver, arriving about midday, where I'm being met, then drove to Hugo. Hugo should be fun.

So, that's my route planned to about half way, with still 8 days or so to spare. A stop gap between Hugo/Denver and Los Angeles is needed???? Mmmmm, not really a hard choice. If your visiting The States, you have to visit bright lights of Las Vegas!

And at that point, I had my route sorted.

New York 4 nights
Washington DC 2 nights
Hugo/Denver 4 nights
Las Vegas 2 nights
Los Angeles 4 nights

Que the booking of my internal flights...... Priced every where and was quoted best price of £300, rang back few days later and was told that they had to ring their company again to re-price and this time managed to get my 3 internal flights for only £114. I couldn't believe it.

And that is me up to date. I'm still yet to book accommodation, and don't know exactly where I'll be visiting once in each City, though I'll keep you up to date over the next coming weeks and through out the trip.