How Did I Get Here?

Welcome to my Travel Blog

The title says it all!

So what am I doing flying thousands of miles from North West England to sunny Southern California? Those that know me well of course understand that K has been offered the chance to come over here to work, and there is no way she is living here without me.

Visas

Because we will be here for several months I need a US visa. Normally it would be a simple process to get a 'spouse' visa but because K has a US passport I have to enter on a tourist visa. That prohibits me from working or studying, though I would be alright doing unpaid volunteer work or a short, part-time study course.

The entry processing though went remarkably well. We flew in to Chicago so had to pass through immigration there. The normal maximum stay on a tourist visa is 6 months, which isn't enough, but they have discretion to extend this. I was referred to a more senior official who took about a minute to read the invitation letter K had been sent and stamp my passport allowing me to stay until next May.

So much for all the paperwork I was told to bring to prove we really didn't want to stay in the USA permanently!

Medicines

My other concern was having to travel with a large supply of medications, which have to be kept at room temperature or below, but can't be frozen so mustn't go in hold luggage. I was a good boy, declaring what I had with me at both Manchester and Chicago. They looked closely at the x-rays, but didn't want to open anything up or ask awkward questions. And the BMI flight from Manchester even had a fridge on board that I could put my stuff in.

Luggage

We had a lot. Our allowance was reasonably generous at 4x23kg between us but that wasn't really enough for a long stay. We managed to squeeze everything into 5 cases altogether, which cost us an extra 90 quid but it was worth it! And everything was intact at the other end, including the 'TSA approved' padlocks I had bought in case the Americans wanted to inspect our luggage en route. If anything, our biggest problem was finding a taxi large enough to take everything when we arrived in San Diego. Or maybe finding a taxi driver that knew how to get to our accommodation...

Our House

Is very nice. It is a 1940s cottage on a quiet residential street about 5 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Almost everything works, and what doesn't can be sorted out. We do have a severe shortage of crockery and kitchenware though. We think the landlady has stored it away to prevent us from having lots of guests to stay.

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So, that's the first entry done with. I plan to do regular updates and take lots of photos. There is a lot to sort out in the early weeks, but this is looking like it could be an enjoyable place to live!

Visited US States Map

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