Full Circle

I forgot to upload my previous post again last week so double upload. Not that anyone is even reading this blog anyway. I could literally write whatever I wanted to and it wouldn't matter. I could be spouting religious hate doctrine or mildly racist propaganda and I doubt a single person would comment on it to me.

I shall, however, continue to write for myself. For my memories.

Re-reading my previous post there was one thing that stuck out in my mind. The times I spent with my friends in Revelstoke were unbelievably happy for the most part. Whether it was snowboarding, road tripping or sharing my favourite TV shows with them, we had some really good times together. However boring it may sound, sitting watching Misfits with two or three great friends who had never seen anything like it before was incredibly rewarding. Inbetweeners, Misfits and Happy Endings - we watched them all and laughed together. Good times.

It is my penultimate day here in North America and I've been exploring L.A as a last hurrah to the travelling lifestyle I enjoyed for at least half of my time abroad. I must confess in Revelstoke I settled down and made myself a home away from home. 

From Tacoma, Washington, we drove all the way to Redding, California in a day. It was a long day of travel and reminded me just how exhausting sitting in a car can be. With only one helpful encounter with law enforcement during our travels, I can happily say it was a successful trip so far.

The next day we drove through the Californian hills to Napa Valley and enjoyed some wine tasting in a... castle. The eccentric owner of that particular vineyard had an obsession with medieval Italian architecture and had taken it upon himself to ship an entire castle's worth of masonry to the U.S to construct it. We explored the castle and had a wine tasting which was delicious!

The following day took us into San Francisco where we spent two days of touristy goodness. I drove across the Golden Gate bridge, walked along it, hiked up the twin peaks hills, explored downtown as well as taking the cable car. We checked out Pier 39 and fisherman's wharf; not forgetting to pay a visit to the sealions of San Fran. We also got the opportunity to see the Chinese New Year festival parade in San Francisco - one of the top ten in the world apparently! I enjoyed my time in San Francisco and felt it was a wonderful city. I could see myself living there if I even moved to North America and chose to live in a large city.

Leaving San Francisco was when the shit really hit the fan. The day we left San Francisco was the worst day of travelling I have encountered so far in my life. We got a flat tyre 10 minutes down the highway and spent about an hour trying to find a garage that was open on a Sunday. I said I'd pay once it was fixed - at which point I realised I didn't have my wallet. I turned the car inside out looking for it and reached the conclusion it was either on the highway where we changed the tyre or back at the motel we had stayed at. We drove back to the highway but it wasn't there, so we drove all the way back to the motel. Luckily I found my wallet on the maid's cart outside our room! Who knows if they were going to hand it over to the front desk; all I know is I got it back and we hit the road. We were already exhausted and only made it as far as Santa Barbara before calling it a day and booking into our final motel of the journey.

Yesterday we got to L.A and drove around. We went outlet shopping so I replaced all my baby-gap T-shirts... and bought some more trousers and a cap and trainers. Oops!

We drove up into the hollywood hills for some snaps of the sign and chilled out for a bit before heading to my host's house. Mike is a super cool guy living in L.A with his partner Jose and their dog Tito. They had friends over last night to watch 'Ru Paul's Dragrace' which was certainly an eye-opening experience. We had some beers and chilled which was cool. Today I took Tito for a walk and checked out downtown. My legs hurt so much from all the walking I've done in the past week that I couldn't do more than three hours before heading back to Mike's to relax, sort out a ride to the airport and write out this crap. I guess, even though I've not included to much detail, it is a written record of my travels for the future.

As far as thoughts and feelings go... I am exhausted. Physically and mentally. I can feel myself winding down to the inevitable slump of being back in England. I am super excited to see my friends and family, but I know that I will soon become bored of life at home with nothing to do. I am already planning my e-bay auctions and how to kill time without wasting it on computer games. I just hope that I get my work visa for Canada to return next season.

I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes from all our shows that we enjoyed at 3491 Catherwood Road, Revelstoke.

"...and then BAM! All hell breaks loose. I tripled myself."

Good day.

California Here We Come

It must have been nearly a month since my last post. I surprised how far I’ve come and how different I feel from just two posts ago – although admittedly that was three months ago. Cheesus Christ… three months. So, as far as my perception of wanting to be in a relationship goes, I can honestly say I have no interest in being in a relationship any time soon. For sure time will tell, and I’m not ruling it out, I’m just saying I don’t need someone else to think about in my life right now. That kind of responsibility is just too overwhelming to consider. It was an epiphany type of moment. I happened to glance across at a couple driving the opposite direction to me in town. She was looking at him in a way that just seemed to scream, ‘I’LL DO WHATEVER YOU DECIDE’. Or something along those lines. Long story short – I miss what I had in terms of a relationship but I’m feeling much freer to do whatever I want.

What is it I want to do? Well… I am trying desperately to apply for a working holiday visa for Canada to come back next season. If I am not successful I will just go to Europe and work a season there. Not sure what I’ll do in between but let’s just take it easy and see what happens.

Let’s concentrate on right now. Since my last post not a great deal has occurred. I was ill for a good week or so and endeavoured to spend as much time in bed as possible. I’m pretty much OK now.

We went exploring one Sunday afternoon, a few weeks back, and drove 7km along a logging trail before chilling out, taking some photos and sharing a beer together. That was a fun afternoon. It was a hairy drive up the rutted mud trail in Jeele’s shitheap of a van, but we made it just fine.

I have managed to spend 31 days total snowboarding on the mountain. One complete month of snowboarding. Wow. My last day I spent with Steve shredding the Stoke laps. We took some beers and my speaker up with us, spending a good couple of hours just chilling on some hammocks hidden in the trees. He got some GoPro footage of me and has promised me a birthday video edit. I am very excited to see it.

We had a party on Sunday night and it was an appropriate send off. Good music, good friends and a fire (with fireworks) in the garden. I don’t remember falling asleep, but I woke up on the sofa at 8am and crawled to bed. We drank; we were merry. There was a girl being followed around the party by her horny co-worker. From the outset this guy was determined to mount her. She was drunk and kept flirting with me; following me whenever I got near enough and - at one point - getting me into my car with her (god knows how that happened). It is an amazing feeling to know someone wants you and for you to be able to shrug them off. Even if she was completely wasted (and the state I was in makes it a minor miracle). Plus Steve had already called dibs. The bastard.

I will miss my friends from Revelstoke and cherish the memories I have made together with them. Particularly Steve who has beyond question been my greatest friend in a long time. (Although I have discovered in my absence that Sam is indeed my very best friend). Even Luke and Kara who bailed on my last night in town; I feel only sadness that I did not get to say goodbye. I believe I learnt a lot about life and friendship during my time there.

Oh yeah. I bought a car. Owning it for a grand total of a week.

Determined to road trip to L.A, I tried desperately to convince Steve and Adam to join me. They couldn’t swing it – but I maintained that determination to reach California by car. I saw a post on the Stokelist by a couple looking for a ride to Vancouver. We continued talking and eventually we ended up trading the car and agreeing to drive together south to California. They’re heading to San Diego and will drop me in L.A before continuing. So far they seem cool. They’re Swedish.

We’ve stopped in Tacoma and will spend the night in a motel before continuing south – hoping to hit halfway to San Francisco tomorrow. I’m now trying to find a couchsurfing host for my final week in North America, at least for this journey. I’m hoping for two things: warm sun on my face and outlet shopping for a few more T-shirts to replace my babygap shrunken disasters.

It feels good to be travelling again. Proper travel.