Sorry I haven’t written in a while guys!
I left for the US about a month ago, and the backpacking lifestyle didn’t give much opportunity to find a decent computer with WiFi!
I did however, do a whole range of ‘firsts’ that I can now cross off the bucket list.
After many years of wishful thinking I finally got the chance to go to Coachella! It was a wonderful three days of hypnotic beats, colourful garb, hazy air, the hot Californian sun, ethereal sculptures and daily feeds at the food stands.
It was also a learning curve in festival survival – sometimes comfort does override the need to look good! I’ve compiled a list of things to prepare for when going to such a festival, and I think I’ll publish it as a blog post in it’s own right in coming days.
After Coachella, it was a lot of sightseeing at Venice Beach, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Hollywood. I quickly learnt that much of my Australian vocab was lost in translation over in the States. When I asked for a side of chips I actually got the crunchy stuff you get in air tight packets – think Smith’s crinkle cuts. What I was supposed to ask for was ‘fries’. Also lemonade is the homemade stuff (freshly squeezed lemons with sugar and water) as opposed to Sprite. Nachos from the fast food outlets usually only come with melted cheese (the orange processed stuff) and no tomato salsa. Also they call coriander ‘Cilantro’ over there for some reason.
Though California encapsulated all that was care free, sun drenched and down-to-earth, my heart was won over by none other than New York itself.
It’s something about the old graveyards (the oldest headstone I found dated back to the 1700s) nestled between sky scrapers, the museums and art galleries, the never-ending parks (I tried walking the whole of Central park and only got half-way!) and the street vendors – little pockets of moments within the concrete jungle. I loved how architecture, history and culture all jumbled into one great city.
I was supposed to stay on for another month and travel to the Grand Canyon, see New Orleans, Memphis Washington D.C and so many more places but my heart (and wallet) got the better of me.
I missed my boyfriend and family too much, and my spending funds had hit an all time low (woops!).
Now that I’m back to reality and the grind of daily life, a schedule of frequent blog posts is definitely in order! I can’t wait to share my thoughts and ideas with you in the days to come – there’s a lot of interesting stuff planned!
All images in this post by Moss & Stone blog
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