Returning to reality

So after around two months of living on the road, it's time to begin the long journey and to head back home to Cornwall.

As I sit typing this waiting for my shuttle to JFK airport, it seems a long time ago that I first arrived in San Francisco after over a day of travelling to get there.

In the time since then I have stayed in 14 towns and cities, in some good hostels, some bad ones, a few motels, hotels and in some spare rooms and on a couple of sofas.

I've gone from the beautiful California coast, through the proud state of Texas, onto buzzing Louisiana and then said cheerio to the warm temperatures, heading up to Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, New York.

I have seen so many incredible landmarks made famous by various films and television programmes and visited cities that are famous worldwide and I've genuinely been overwhelmed by many of these places.

A lot of these sights will stay with me forever and it's kind of hard for me to pick a favourite because enjoyment in each place ties into the personal experience I had there, in other words the people I have met.

I've been really fortunate that in each place I've managed to meet a few people that I was able to share days and nights out with. Several of the people I struck up particularly good friendships with and I'm sure that I'll run into many of you in the future at some point. So this is a big thank you to all of you guys for making this trip extra special, teaching me new drinking games and being a part of so many special memories, both drunken and sober.

I've genuinely had the time of my life on this trip and I'm fortunate that so many highs have only been accompanied by sporadic lows, those lows normally associated with being forced to leave great people behind, moving on and arriving in a new place alone. Luckily in the majority of cases I've made new friends almost as quickly as I left others behind.

So the time has come to go home, see my friends and family again and try to sort out some sort of career for myself. I've learnt so much during this trip, including a lot about myself as a person and I feel that I'm now a more confident and better all round person as a result of these travels. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity for a similar voyage in the future, possibly in South America after hearing so many good words about it from other travelers. At least the real brand of football will be far more common there!

So in reflection I'm sad to be leaving behind the constant sense of adventure and the beautiful variable lands of the USA, but I am looking forward to seeing friends and family and no longer living out of a backpack and sharing a room with numerous other people.

Now I can't make any promises that this blog won't become idle once I arrive home, but I will try my best to post my thoughts as and when they pop into my head and keep you all updated when I walk back into what is pretty much a cross roads in my life.

Thank you all for reading!

2013- Download Festival- Madrid (Spain)- San Francisco, Monterey, Moro Bay, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego (California), Austin, Houston (Texas), New Orleans (Louisiana), Boston (Massachusetts), Washington DC, Virginia, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), New York.

New York

Many people have attempted to convey the magic of the Big Apple to me, but I thoroughly believe that until you've visited the city yourself, it's difficult to comprehend the grandeur and magic of the place.

Iconic sights, an unrivalled skyline and a plethora of differing boroughs to explore mean that if you spend a few days here and find yourself bored, you're probably doing something wrong.

Having arrived here after spending just short of two months staying in hostels, staying with people kind enough to put me up and being constantly on the move, it was somewhat of a relief to meet with my parents and spend four nights in a comfortable hotel and regain a sense of familiarity.

Over the last two months I've met so many great people and hopefully forged lasting friendships, however over the last week or so I began to tire of spending four days in a city, cutting all ties and starting new in the next place knowing nobody, so it was great to see my parents again to put some normality back into my life.

We've certainly made the most of our time in New York, covered many miles and took in sights that even my Dad was impressed by!

The weather has been hugely contrasting and I've gone from strolling around Central Park in a T Shirt, to leaving the hotel with so many layers, that just my eyes and nose were exposed to the elements. I knew that wearing a T shirt in the northern hemisphere in late November was good to be true!

New York is a photographers heaven and I've produced probably my favourite shots of this trip here. Gigantic buildings and landmarks as well as an army of yellow taxis and buzzing crowds mean that a photograph can really frame itself here.

We spent our first full day walking around Central Park, enjoying the beautiful colour of Autumn leaves and after walking for what seemed like hours, we only managed to make our way through 3/4 of the park, which shows just how astonishing Central Park is. The fact that such a huge park has managed to pop up in such a spectacular metropolis goes a long way to explain the reason why New Yorkers flock there to run, walk or just get away from the mayhem that goes on a few blocks away.

After a brief period of respite we headed to the Rockefeller Center and took the elevator to the top floor and took in some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen. The Rockefeller Center towers over most of the New York skyline (by all account offering a better view than the Empire State Building), and being in such a spot offers an incredible view across the sprawling city. Words struggle to describe the view as illuminated sky scrapers stretch as far as the eye can see.

I personally enjoyed Times Square, a testimony of capitalism, the square is a human jungle where the crowds flock to take in the neon billboards, restaurants, designer stores and Broadway shows on offer in the surrounding area.

Continuing the theme of walking miles, the following day we decided to trek the considerable distance to the 9/11 memorial and Staten Island, well, until Mother realised that the Statue of Liberty was instead on Liberty Island, and so Liberty Island became our new destination instead.

The 9/11 memorial was moving as was to be expected and what got me was the fact that the Twin Towers rose that much taller than all of the surrounding buildings, allowing the terrorists to crash the hijacked plane into the towers. Currently the buildings around the memorial all rise high into the sky, giving a sense of just how tall the Twin Towers previously were. The names of the victims on the memorials are a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives.

After refuelling with some lunch we boarded the boat to Liberty Island, which is an impressive landmark. Like New York and the USA in general, the statue is big and grand and well worth a look, not just for the statue, but also the views of the Manhattan skyline that you can see during the boat journey to Liberty Island. Nearby Ellis Island also had a fascinating museum where we learnt about that patchwork of immigrants that helped form the new nation of the USA. 

It's also worth noting that we've certainly eaten well during our time here. I read an interesting fact that a New Yorker can live 60 odd years, eating out everyday and not eating at the same restaurant more than once. Our culinary journey has taken us to Ireland, America, Thailand and Italy and some of the food has been plentiful in both quantity and taste.

Today we enjoyed a gentle walk around the interesting communities of Chinatown and Little Italy, Chinatown in particular being particularly interesting as the area has such a strong cultural identity that if you woke up here, your initial reaction would be that you had woken up on the streets of Beijing and not New York.

So it's fair to say that New York is another place ticked off the bucket list and I doubt that any tourist has ever left the city disappointed. Now it's off to Madison Square Garden to take in some basketball before the journey home and back to reality tomorrow evening.

It's been a blast!

New York