So the end of a spectacular unforgettable journey. The flight home to London was a time to reflect and to think about what the future holds. The plane arrived at London Heathrow just after 8am. We cleared customs with the usual degree of ease and collecting our bags before taking the taxi home. As with any foreign travel, I was hit with a sense of relief, Im back in a place I understand, my country, my home. As I stepped into my house and the door closed behind me, the journey was officially over and it almost felt like it hadn't [View Full Entry]

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Due to an administrative error on my behalf Ben and I were booked in on separate flights to New York. Ben’s flight departing an hour before mine meant that he would arrive at JFK in time to meet the girls. My arrival into New York was in the evening and I had the most spectacular of views as we flew around Manhattan Island to make our approach into JFK airport. The lights of the city and the tall skyscrapers were magical. During my journey I had spent my time talking to two New York City businessmen who were kind enough to [View Full Entry]

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We departed the motor coach deep in the heart of San Francisco at World Famous Fisherman’s Wharf. With no accommodation booked we headed to the pay phone on Pier 39 to make some calls. After calling 5 or 6 fully booked hostels we came across a hostel with some availability for all 4 nights. Following instructions we boarded a tram and headed into downtown. Immediately after leaving the waterfront followed the plush hotels and the high-rise towers of the business district. Following that we slipped through a crack in the space-time vortex and entered hell! In the space of one block [View Full Entry]

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The south road leading out of Yellowstone linked directly into the Grand Teton National Park. An American tourist at Old Faithfully told us, “the Grand Teton Mountains come straight out of the ground”. Ben and I laughed at this, “of course where else do the mountains come from?” When we got there however I understood exactly what he meant when he said it. Unlike most mountains ranges, which gradually build with little mountains and hills first, the Grand Teton’s just appear with no preliminary accumulation. The mountains do just appear to come ‘straight ou [View Full Entry]

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Unlike other National Parks we have been to Yellowstone is by far the most remote. Set predominantly in the Northwest corner of Wyoming with parts of the park crossing into both Idaho and Montana. The nearest major city was Salt Lake, which was back in Utah some 350 miles away. However the seclusion and remoteness only added to the mystery and tranquillity of this place. Entering at the Southeast entrance it was still a further 27 miles before we hit the main 167-mile loop road. Along the way there we spotted a Bison and desperately stopped the car in order to [View Full Entry]

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The second leg of the train journey took us from Fraser-Winter Park to Salt Lake City. Starting in the Rocky Mountains the scenery was instantly stunning; the track weaved its way through canyons and between mountains throughout what has to be the most attractive State, Colorado. After hours of glorious rugged snow-capped mountains we started to descend and once again follow the path of the river. This eventually led us through to Glenwood Canyon, an amazingly beautiful canyon that soared high above us on both sides. The wonderful golden colours in the rock contrasted well against the lush gre [View Full Entry]

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The California Zephyr is the 2,422-mile train line that connects Chicago and San Francisco it is the most picturesque rail journey in the States and is marked by contrast. Travelling out of the suburbs of Chicago it heads through the Great Plains and then winds its way into the Rocky Mountains in the heart of Colorado before finally heading out to the Pacific coast. The journey takes some 53 hours in total and there is only one train per day. To break the journey up and to provide ourselves with a fabulous opportunity to explore some of these remote yet beautiful [View Full Entry]

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The first thing I noticed about Chicago was its sheer size it took 40 minutes on the train to get to downtown from the airport. The second thing I noticed was how friendly the people were, everyone was eager to help, and people showed a genuine interest in our trip what we had done and what we were doing. It was a real positive and happy atmosphere. The third thing I noticed was after I came up to street level, and it was how beautiful the city was. The various styles of architecture gave Chicago a sense of identity different from [View Full Entry]

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Houston is the 4th largest city in America and it showed, unlike LA however it did have a convenient tram and bus network. We were staying in Houston’s one and only hostel and it was the first genuine hostel we had been to. It was basically a converted house with your basic amenities. Guests were expected to assist with daily chores and the price was extremely cheap, we were later told this was to avoid having to pay hotel tax. After spending some time on the internet we went to bed. The following morning we headed into downtown. When we got [View Full Entry]

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We promptly arrived at Dallas, or the ‘Big D’ as it likes to be known. I know what you’re thinking the D stands for Dallas, well… your wrong it stands for Disappointment, Dogshite and Debt! The plane touched down at 2pm, 5 hours before the Arena football game (AFL), between Dallas Desperados and New York, was due to start. I previously had to reschedule this flight back in the UK, especially so we could go see this game. Optimistically, I thought the ordeal with Expedia double charging me for the change in flight and the proceeding two months trying to get [View Full Entry]

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