I had an exceedingly lazy day today which my legs appreciated after yesterday's hike. Still sunny today - still haven't had a drop of rain - Eastbourne lives up to its reputation as being the sunniest spot in the UK! I spent the morning lazing around the esplanade and waterfront. There were a bunch of people swimming (proper swimming) across the bay, so that was fun to watch for a bit. I wandered around an old fortress they have (really just a round stone/brick wall with cannons) and found myself sitting on a bench, eating chips and watching a bunch of 60+ year olds play lawn bowling. How very British. Walking back towards the city there was some parade for first responders..? I'm not quite sure what was going on but there was probably every single ... read more

(Alright, relatively short to get things started today - this is mainly a gripe-fest over Heathrow customs... sorry. Tomorrow the real travel/adventure begins.) So, lessons learned, flying into Heathrow at 10am on a Thursday is ill-advised. I was one of the first in our batch and it took me - I'm not exaggerating - 2 hours to go through customs. Mixture of bad timing (2 officers were on lunch *eyeroll into the sun*) and the fact that all non-EU/non-UK are in ONE massive line makes for a very bad set-up. I was pretty much at peace with the idea I was going to miss my train to Eastbourne - I mean silly me, I thought landing at 10am, having a train at 13h47 would be temps en masse ;) I'm very glad I was in the ... read more

Ugh what a travel day. Two-parter for this entry Sunday July 17th I had lofty plans for today... and then I got outside. I had forgotten how unfortunate 38+ degrees felt, especially at 5,000+ ft lol. I wandered through Old Town briefly, which honestly wasn't anything special other than their church. I didn't go in because there was a mass going on, but the outside was nice. My plan was then to catch a shuttle to the Indian Pueblo Center which is supposed to be an excellent visit. Unfortunately on weekends there are no busses that go there. I then discovered there was a free shuttle from Old Town but the info from ABQ Tourism, from Old Town's site and from the Indian Pueblo site were all different. Honestly I was too hot to go on ... read more

Today was a bus tour day - I'm generally not a fan, but it was the only way to get up and see the Rockies and national park. To be fair, Grayline did an excellent job - a lot of pit stops for pictures and tonsssss of history and fun facts as we drove along. Nice balance. I had to catch the bus at the Ritz Carleton since it doesn't stop at the hostel lol. Waiting at the Ritz was fun - so fancy smancy. While walking to the street I noticed a placard in the cement "Stay hydrated and have a nice day. -Luke" Aw. I quite like that. And so off we went on tour with Marc and Roger - we got a lot of interesting info about Denver itself as we drove out, ... read more

(Note: I got stuck at the bus station for like 6hrs. To laugh at my weird encounters with people scroll all the way down.) (Second note: free wifi is a bonus, but it's not fast enough to load photos) So, surprisingly enough I made all my connections (MTL-EWR-IAH-ALB) without any trouble. I'm glad I didnt have to wait long in Newark - I maintain that's it's the worst airport in the US. I had almost 3 hrs in Houston, so I had a great big BBQ lunch/supper. Pulled pork and slaw sandwich with mashed potaters and corn. SO GOOD. Having the super long layover gave me time to explore a bit too - huge airport, but easy to get around. I'd transfer here again in a heartbeat. I had read that flying into Albuquerque in the ... read more