I touched down in San Francisco on June 20th 2002 after an 11 hour flight from London. Feeling tired and weary I did what any savvy budget traveller would do and hailed down a cab to take me to my Hostel. It took me a little while to settle into life in the Hostel. What no room service? The Pacific Tradewinds Hostel was a small and welcoming joint and I quickly made friends with some varied and interesting characters. I quickly developed a rapport with Robie from Canada, based mainly on a mutual apprecation of drinking and womanizing. I spent a few days doing the tourist thing e.g. walking around the city, alcatraz, cable car rides etc. The best thing I did was hiring a mountain bike and cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, I also
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