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Published: December 17th 2011
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Dear All
Here we are again – after another great term at school, the holidays have arrived, and I’m just about to set off on another journey to distant lands. This time I’ve decided to go somewhere a bit less out of the ordinary, with no need for exotic disease vaccinations or malarial preventatives – the USA and Canada!
Yes, this time tomorrow I’ll be on a Continental Airlines flight going West, to the Big Country, and most excited about it I am too! Having been to the States twice before, but only to New York City and around, I really just can’t get enough of the country – the people, and the big big places. Compared to England and London, America is just big man! And I’m looking forward very much to being a part of that again – hearing those American accents all around, being presented with mega-portions and endless coffee refills in classic roadside diners, and that amazing sense of feeling like I’ve just landed again in the middle of a Hollywood film! Just great!
Trip this time includes a bit more travelling around, though considering the time of year and the fact that everything
runs like clockwork compared to more developing-world countries, I have booked everything in advance.
Tomorrow I’ll be flying to Washington DC, via Newark, to spend a few days there with my friend Doug, who I met during the Malawi protests last summer. Hoping for a more politically stable time to catch up this time…! Definitely planning visits to the White House, Lincoln Memorial and other white buildings besides. After here, catching an Amtrak train up north towards Princeton, New Jersey, to stay with my good friend and distant cousin Alex Waring (really!) for Christmas. This will include a day trip to NYC again, and looking forward very much to the Christmas lights of Fifth Avenue and Times Square! Also fitting in some nicer, quieter times celebrating Christmas with Alex, and the beautiful surrounds and historical hotspots of Princeton University, Washington Crossing and around. From here, on Boxing Day, a US Airways flight will take me westwards and inland, towards Chicago, where I’ll overnight in a 4-star hotel downtown before hopping on a Greyhound bus the next morning to take me to a small town called Davenport on the Iowa border, to catch up with my good friend Brad, who
I met in South America last year. A few days I think in the mid-west before heading back to Chicago with Brad to see in 2012. And on the 2
nd January, American Airlines will be taking me north and east towards Toronto, where I’ll be meeting up with my long-lost Aunt, Uncle and two cousins who moved out there 20 years ago and I haven’t seen since. Can’t wait to catch up with them again! Especially seeing my cousins who I last remember at 5 and 3 years old, who’ll now be in their 20s! Hoping to fit in a trip to the Niagara Falls (to complete also my visits to the 4 greatest waterfalls in the world!), before heading back with Air Canada to the Old Country on 6
th January, arriving back on the 7
th.
Wow, what a trip planned! Hoping it’ll go according to plan, but if a few changes are needed here and there, I’m an adaptable type of traveller!
Can’t wait to catch up with everyone on this trip, and will be doing some sightseeing and taking lots of photos to boot. Will also be updating my blog as I travel, with the added
advantage of this time travelling with my very own Netbook, weighing just 1.3kg, bought only last week! I’ll no longer have to search for dodgy internet cafes with dodgier internet connections along with all manner of viruses to update my blog, but will be enjoying the comfort of my very own little computer! Now all I need is to find those wireless hotspots…
So yeah, do watch this space as I write up the progress on my latest trip and hopefully upload some photos too. All packed now, can’t wait – America (and Canada), here I come!!
Will write again soon. All the best!
Alex
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Alex Waring
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President Obama Replies
He asked me to let you know that he found your recent blog post extremely uplifting and generous in this complex time both here in the USA and globally. It\'s a pleasure to read a blog that\'s so well-written, has really, really great photos and you can bet your booties I\'m looking forward to your next posts as you see Chicago,that Toddlin\' Town, Gateway Arch in St.Louis, and get the feel of the Mid-West and on to Canada. Watch out for the bears! Alex aka Tocaya