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.