Austin,Texas

Rooftop bars, nightly live music and a youthful vibe are amongst the reasons why Austin is one of the up and coming cities in the US right now.

Austin is the capital of live music and a casual stroll along Sixth Street will lead you past a plethora of bars and venues, all with several performers taking the stage each evening.

I arrived in the evening and was immediately confronted by the sweltering Texas heat. Even in late October the humidity is sky high and a simple stroll around usually results in breaking into a sweat.

Truth be told there isn’t a great deal to do in Austin by day, as the residents go about their daily lives and routines, but by night the place explodes into life.

It’s 5-30 and I’m sat here trying to resist the urge to go out again tonight, to do so I am constantly reminding myself of how I felt this morning and my ever dwindling budget that still has to last me three weeks.

Being the second largest state in America, it’s only natural that the place has such a strong identity and set of traditions and my cowboy spotting tally chart had reached four by the time I’d even left the airport.

Anyway, wish me luck as I try to resist the urge of Austin’s nightlife tonight, with tomorrow being Halloween, which is practically as big as Christmas here, I don’t think this self-discipline will last another night.

Oddly enough I'm leaving San Diego with my first little regret of the trip. I was meant to visit Tijuana, Mexico on the Saturday with a trip organised by the hostel. Unfortunately I allowed myself to be persuaded to go to the college football game instead with the promise of being able to sample a piece of college life.

Although a football game can be ticked off my American objectives list, I can't help but feel that I should have went to Mexico instead. Hopefully the chance will present itself in the future again at some point and no way will I allow myself not to take it.

I was also meant to attend a concert with Alkaline Trio and New Found Glory, two bands I have liked for a while. Fortunately I've already seen Alkaline Trio before, but due to public transport schedules on a Sunday night I was unable to attend.

 

No public transport route running would have allowed for me to get there and back again after the show and a taxi would have amounted to a small fortune. 

A little observation I have cottoned onto so far is that for a country of such size and global importance of the USA, the public transport actually lacks far behind the USA's European counterparts, particularly at the weekends.

Goodbye California

After three weeks of working my way down through California, the time has come for me to head to another state and sample a different slice of American culture.

A nervous Brit flying into San Francisco now seems a distant memory and in the time since I’ve visited some amazing places, made some hopefully lasting friendships and packed a lot of sightseeing into my time in California.

Leaving San Diego this morning was a mixed bag of emotions. I’d been in the city six days and gravitated into a small group of like-minded individuals, who hung out pretty much all day, every day.

A pitfall of life on the road, leaving a group of great people leaves a certain element of sadness, because not only are you not sure if your paths will ever cross again, you have that feeling of having to start again from scratch somewhere new.

That said I think my body will be glad from a break from partying. We somehow managed to sample San Diego’s vibrant and crazy nightlife five nights in a row and although it took its toll physically, we had great fun and attained some hilarious stories.

Aside from partying we did manage to get out and sample some of the city’s landmarks, watched the hilarious Jackass Bad Grandpa and even took in an American football game.

I’m aware that some people reading this do follow the sport so I apologise, but it didn’t do much for me. 

The ‘tailgating’ before the game was good fun, an unorganised party in the parking lot for those who are unaware, but the game itself I found odd, or maybe it was the bottle of vodka consumed before entering the stadium.

I found the game very stop-start and the fact the cheerleaders have to generate noise from the crowd says a lot. Surely sport as a spectacle should be entertaining enough for a crowd to shout and cheer spontaneously.

Also some of the American college crowd are complete egotistical tools, one guy in particular explaining to us that he recruits ‘good-looking people who are going places’ to his fraternity. A complete dickhead but perhaps I should have been flattered I fulfilled the criteria.

Life on the road is teaching me a lot about myself and one night out in particular epitomized the travel community. Seven of us sat around a bar and it dawned on me that all seven people were travelling alone and had met in the hostel and gone out to socialise together. Two Brits, two Austrailian, a Dutch, an American and a Swiss who fate merged together for an unforgettable night out.

I’ve had some awesome experiences and heard some fantastic tales through the people I’ve met, a ride on the back of a scooter, a reality TV show called the ‘Expat Cowboys’ are a couple of things that immediately spring to mind.

As I sit about to board my flight to Texas and begin to write a new chapter in this trip, I’m thankful to everyone who played their part in making California an awesome experience for me.

San Diego

At the start of this trip I earmarked San Diego as one of the places that I was most looking forward to visiting.

Now I'm pretty sure that about 80% of the reason for that, is the city's association with the iconic film Anchorman.

However, having just been here for a day I can already confirm Ron Burgundy's view that San Diego is an awesome city.

San Diego possesses the same sort of vibe as San Francisco and there are definitely many similarities between the two places.

A compact downtown area is a hub of activity with numerous bars and restaurants meaning that it's pretty much impossible to go hungry or thirsty in San Diego. Several smaller beach towns lie a short drive away with equal food and drink opportunities.

The people are relaxed and friendly, and life is a lot more slow paced than the hectic LA up the road.

I arrived at the hostel at around midday and as I was unable to check in until 2, I sat back and enjoyed the entertaining Champions League game between Arsenal and Dortmund.

Once I was all checked in, I headed to the beach with a guy I had become friends with in LA and checked out a nearby farmers market.

After stuffing ourselves with every free sample we could get our hands on, we took a stroll along the beach, enjoying the mellow and almost hippy like atmosphere. The boardwalk is a hub of activity with skaters, cyclists and pedestrians all gliding around in a casual speed.

Today me and my Australian roommate (and probably the 527th Ozzy I've met on this trip so far), took a walk to Balboa Park and enjoyed a photography exhibition and a stroll around. From what I gather Ozzy's are reaping the rewards of the mining boom in the country and as a result, are earning good money and a lot of the younger generation are using it to travel the world. A far cry from the desperate situation that graduates find themselves in back in the UK.

Once we had arrived in the park itself, we realised that it is huge, spotless and green expanse of land with various points of interest and San Diego zoo situated inside.

I still feel as if I have only scratched the surface of San Diego so I'll continue to discover the rest of this beautiful city.

The hostel is also running a trip to Mexico on Saturday and an opportunity to tick another country off the ever growing list of places I want to visit.

Just your average Monday

After hiking up a canyon the previous day, I had earmarked my final day in LA to be one of rest and relaxation. I should have known better.

I had initially signed up for the hostel's Beverley Hills walking tour but due to illness the tour was unfortunately cancelled, so me and several others decided to make our way there independently. 

Having caught a bus there, we had a look around the designer boutiques that none of us had any hopes of being able to buy something from, before heading towards our destination of choice, the playboy mansion. 

On our way down the plush, green, suburban neighbourhoods, we passed some grand houses that words can't really do justice. Unfortunately many of the bigger properties have strategically placed walls and hedges to stop people gawping at their splendor. 

Beverley Hills is a beautiful area that feels far removed for the suburban sprawl that is much of Los Angeles.

After being refused entry to the playboy mansion and a considerable hike back to the bus stop, I grabbed a bite to eat and an hour's recovery time, before it was time to go and check out Steel Panther. 

For anybody who's unaware of Steel Panther, they are effectively a giant piss take of 80s rock, but actually produce some pretty good music in the process.

They were playing at the House of Blues that happens to be their local venue and the compact setting gave the concert an intimate feel. Me and two English people I met that night were only about twenty yards back from the band.

Panther fired through much of their back catalog and also threw a few covers into the mix. Living up to the 80s rock lifestyle, the band naturally invited attractive females from the audience onto the stage, encouraging them to remove items of their clothing and dance around while the guys continued to blast out the tunes.

A great gig was followed by an incredibly long walk, due to the severe lack of buses in LA at 1am. Stepping over homeless people and dodging beggars were examples of the hazards that I encountered during my one and a half hour walk.

Los Angeles

If an alien landed and started casually strolling down the street in Los Angeles, I don’t think Angelenos would even look twice.

Los Angeles is vast, if LA County were to be a state, it would be the eight biggest state in the USA and the area is home to around 10 million people.

Within these 10 million people there are people with roots from all over the globe, a short bus trip will pass restaurants serving food from as far away as Armenia and Korea.

LA is also a people watching hotspot with no shortage of interesting characters from all walks of life, nobody can possibly look out of place in the city.

I arrived having heard mixed reviews about the place. ‘It’s too big’, ‘there’s no real centre’ and it’s not a good looking city’. All these accusations are true to a certain extent but it hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm for the place.

The hostel that I’m currently calling home lies just metres away from Hollywood Boulevard and the street, much like the strip in Vegas, really comes alive at night.

Street performers, shows, restaurants and glitzy clubs all do their best to tempt in passers-by as they stroll along the walk of fame.

A twenty minute bus ride away from Hollywood lies the Santa Monica and Venice beaches and Santa Monica in particular portrays California perfectly. Golden sands stretch for miles as skaters whizz down the palm tree littered promenade. The Santa Monica pier even features a theme park and many of the residents in the area simply ooze wealth. The only thing that didn’t match the postcards was the sea mist that drifted in throughout the afternoon I had put aside for sunbathing.

Everywhere I have visited in LA so far seems so glamorous and pristine, but in a city of such contrasts, only miles away lies areas of extreme poverty and a dangerously high crime rate, needless to say I won’t be venturing into those areas.

Coming from the countryside I always enjoy the buzz and amount of stuff to do in big cities. I think LA has enough to keep my busy for a couple of days yet.

There's always time for a little moan

Well, ten days in and I’m having the time of my life over here in the USA, however I’m suffering from withdrawal symptoms and am going to take this opportunity to have a little rant .

Firstly, computers. Does anybody else find that computers are ridiculously unreliable or am I just unlucky? My wallet is now $173 lighter through no fault of my own.

The remaining subjects about which I need to get a few words off my chest are the two ‘T’s, tipping and taxes.

If anybody has seen Reservoir Dogs, think back to the opening scene where the characters are staging a debate about the rights and wrongs of tipping.

Now I appreciate that certain low income jobs rely on tips to make ends meet, however I think that over here the whole concept has gone too far.

I’m more than happy to tip when somebody has gone out of their way to provide me with exceptional service, but tipping should not be automatic. If a service was lacklustre why would I want to pay a penny over the stated price?

Also when I purchase a beer for $4, I would like to have the choice of whether or not to donate my change to the bar lady and not have it placed in the jar without my consent.

Finally I have a few choice words about taxes over here. Like everybody else, I grudgingly accept that most products have a few pennies added on for taxes, but why not just include it in the advertised price like they do at home?

Nothing is more annoying than counting the change in your pocket and going to pay for something, only to see the price go up when taxes are taken into account.

Why not just include taxes in the advertised price to make it easier for the customer and avoid any nasty surprises? It’s not like they have a national health service to fund.

Rant over, I’m on holiday.

Santa Barbara

After a few nights in smaller seaside communities it was somewhat of a relief to arrive in Santa Barbara and the place is every inch how you imagine California.

State Street, the main downtown area, is lined with bars and restaurants and leads right down to the ocean.

The golden sands of the beach flank the pier that protrudes out into the Pacific and such a large expanse of sand means that finding a spot isn’t a problem, or at least it wasn’t in mid-October.

The road that runs parallel to the beach is packed with palm trees, forming a picturesque seafront and the beauty of the town is not lost on the locals, a laidback yet glamorous bunch.

Two days on the beach and a birthday night-out sampling Santa Barbara’s trendy surf themed nightlife made for a relaxing time before the hustle and bustle of LA.

Morro Bay

After a day spent gawping at the magnificence of the Big Sur drive, we rocked up in Morro Bay around late afternoon hoping to grab a couple of hours on the beach.

Morro Bay is a small seaside community where the majority of the town’s life centres on the harbour, in the shadow of a rather large rock.

After dumping the bags, my travel buddy and I headed through the harbour and onto the beach where we were greeted by some extremely strong winds. The rock appeared to have blocked the majority of the wind but with the beach located at the side of the rock, we were exposed to the elements and unfortunately didn’t last more than half an hour on the sand.

We headed back into the town, shot a few games of pool and were able to witness a stunning sunset, the sun silhouetting the boats on the harbour.