Well would you just look at that map! If there's anything that summarises 'living the dream' then it's got to be this right here, don't you think?
On the 1st January this year I had one of those 'this is going to be my year' pep talks with myself and took the plunge to book a 5 week trip from New York to Los Angeles. Nobody thought I'd do it, I didn't even think I'd do it - but I did it. (Booked it, that is)
It's organised by a company called Trek America who have a huge range of tours of America, ranging from 4 days to around 12 weeks! (Their 'Full 48' tour of all the US states except Alaska and Hawaii looks flipping amazing!). My trip is called the Coast to Coast South and it's a primarily camping trip, with some nights spend in hotel, hostel or B&B accommodation and we're transported from location to location by our trek leader who will drive us around in a mini bus. There's 12 of us in our group, mostly booked as solo travellers, like me, and we've all 'found' each other via Facebook and have already made a start on getting to know each other before we've even left the country.
I've got butterflies in my stomach thinking about being dropped at Manchester airport and just boarding a plane to Newark via London Heathrow all by myself and arriving at Newark Airport Hotel ready to face to face meet the people that I'll be spending the next 5 weeks with.
I'm going for a total of 38 days and considering I couldn't even stay 1 hour down the road at uni for more than 2 weeks, I think this is going to be a challenge for me. But of course, this isn't university with coursework and cheap nights out in sluggy Preston night clubs; this is a trip of a lifetime from New York and Philadelphia, tours of Washington DC, through to Florida with trips to Disneyland and Universal Studios, Miami, a drive down the southern most tip of the US to Key West, experiencing the southern charm of Texas and New Orleans, alien spotting in Area 57, weeks of national parks and jaw dropping sights of the Grand Canyon (and more!) with the bright lights of Vegas and the surreal culture of LA and Hollywood to finalise the adventure.
There is no trip more perfect and I couldn't think of anything that I'd rather be spending my summer doing! Most of my updates will be on Instagram - @hannahripley1 so you can stay tuned that way, but I'll try and get some more details up on my blog in some sort of diary fashion whenever I can.
I leave 2 weeks today, and I'll be back in September!
Ciao England!
If you want to read more about this sort of thing, I was influenced to do this trip by the wonderful and fabulous posts from In The Frow and you can see her travelling updates from the US here.
