Currently in Banff, Alberta (Canada) sipping on a hot coffee and feeling like absolute crap. I think the last few months of travel have finally caught up with me. Figured I'd rest up today and try to update my travel blog. Okay Seattle - the 'Emerald City'. After the early morning dramas in Detroit, I was grateful to reach my gate and step onto the plane. I REALLY feel sorry for the couple that was sitting next to me on the flight - shoddy AC and me sweating booze from the previous night out. Once we touched down at Sea-Tac airport I hopped onto the light rail into downtown and walked the 6 blocks to the hostel. I think my back is getting stronger from all this heavy lifting .... either that or my spine has ... read more

I’m currently sitting in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport waiting for my flight out to Vancouver. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened in Philadelphia. After dropping off the rental car and getting a lift to the Amtrak station, Paul and I were able to swap our tickets for an earlier train to Philadelphia. Like the trip out of New York, the ride down to Philadelphia was quicker than we expected - I think I was two bites into a chicken wrap by the time we arrived at the station. Since the local hostel was booked out, we decided to stay in small hotel downtown. After New York, we thought it was ironic that we landed back in a similar part of town in Philadelphia. Our running gag of “We’re together but not together together” continued for a ... read more

I’m currently in Seattle. Figured I’d get a quick update out since I’m just lounging around in the hostel’s common area. My last post provided details about my stay in Chicago. If chronological order is anything to go by, then this update will be covering my stay in New York. Paul and I arrived at Penn Station (just below Madison Square Garden) an hour behind schedule - our train from Chicago was delayed once or twice. The 20+ hour journey wasn’t very eventful for the most part. The only interesting thing that happened was when border control hopped on and questioned internationals about passports etc. At this stage I was sporting a scruffy beard and wasn’t looking in the freshest of states so I was worried about getting carted off the train. Someone did get escorted ... read more

Once again, I apologise for the lack of updates. It’s been pretty hectic these last few weeks and I’m a couple updates behind. I’ll hopefully get onto the Chicago and New York updates while travelling from New Jersey to Philadelphia. Judging by my previous record it will most likely be while journeying across to Detroit from Philadelphia. Okay okay, I can hear you motioning for me to hurry up and get on with it. /roll ye olde historic camera footage/ My last update had me spending some time in San Antonio - a day and a half in total. After walking all around town I basically did my best hobo impersonation for a couple of hours and slept out the front of the San Antonio Amtrak station until it finally opened. Being such a small hub ... read more

Arrived early Thursday morning and made my way over to the local hostel - there’s only one in Austin. After securing my bunk for the next few nights, I made my way down to Barton Springs Pool. A man-made recreational swimming pool located on the grounds of Zilker Park. The pool exists in the channel of Barton Creek and is filled by water from a larger spring. Water temperature ranges from 20 to 22 °C. It's the perfect remedy to a hot ass Texas afternoon. Spent a couple hours cycling through the many modes of relaxation - a quick swim, soak in some sun, dive in and float around, soak in some more sun and read. It’s a hard life. So far, hostel life in America has been different to what I originally expected. It’s nothing ... read more