Tales of a Phototrotter

Five hours, two magazines and a meal later, I’m giving myself time to reflect whilst waiting to board my flight here at JFK on the past two weeks I have spent in the United States.

Firstly, I can whole-heartedly now say that I hold no regrets on bucking the trend of at-home studies for two weeks during mid-semester break, and instead, opting to embark on the longest journey of my life. I left Sydney with hopes of having a great time keeping Giang company during the two weeks there and I’ve returned with that and even more than I could possibly ask for. I have had the pleasure to meet some of the most intelligent and generous friends of her - people who have welcomed me with open arms, helping me with anything and everything I possibly needed during my stay. From sneaking me into the cafeteria, to driving me to the local stores to buy basic needs, and taking me out to college events to enjoy as much of U.S. culture as possible. These are the same people who can be super wild and entertaining come party-time, yet at the same time, could provide some of the most though-provoking conversations. These are people who I can see myself getting to know better and becoming very close to, and I’ll cherish that and hope for more opportunities in the future.

Secondly, to my wonderful girlfriend - Giang - for putting up with me whilst I’ve been here - getting things organised before I arrived; taking up extra space on the bed, wardrobe and room in general; making sure I wasn’t dying of boredom; taking me out on a weekend to Bar Harbour/Acadia National Park despite swimming in school work. You are the one who makes this entire trip worthwhile even if it meant I had absolutely nothing to do on a daily basis :) and I hope that we get through this rough patch and before we know it, we’ll be able to see each other again very soon! Thank you!

Thirdly, the U.S.A. is so similar yet so different in so many different ways to Australia. The lifestyle; costs; people; cities; landscapes; food and so much more.. What a wonderfully divergent country and yet despite all of that, I can’t help but have a trepidate-d feel towards this powerhouse nation. There are so many opportunities to be made in a great country like the U.S. yet there are so many things that are backwards that makes me turn my head back towards Australia and realise what an amazingly safe and prosperous country I have grew up in. I’d grown up thinking that the U.S.A - the bigger brother - was always better and more efficient at the same things, but I can safely say now that I have no regrets towards the country of choice my parents chose to migrate to. Perhaps I’ve judged too quickly of the American people, but I’ll be back soon to make another analysis.

Typing this out on a Greyhounds bus from NYC to Boston as we speak..

Departed Sydney at 1:50pm.
13.5 hour flight to LA.
Flew towards daylight and found myself running around in LAX at 11:30 in the same morning I flew out.
Had less than one hour to connect to my JFK flight.
Ran like Forrest Gump to my next departure gate.
5 hour flight to NYC and landed at 8:30pm.
3 hours to connect to Port Authority Terminal for my Greyhounds bus in Manhattan.
5 hours from NYC to Boston.
Change over buses at Boston at 5am.
Bus from Boston to Lewiston, Maine takes 3 hours.
Arrive at Lewiston at 9am.

That’s 18.5 hours in the air.
9 hours on the road.
5 hours in transit.
In transit 4 times.
Less than 5 hours of sleep in 36 hours.
2 straight days of travel.
$1600 in travel fares.
All to see my beloved for 14 days.

Worth it.

What was meant to originally be a surprise visit to the U.S. to see my girlfriend was ruined by her two amazing friends :) so now she’s aware and I guess it’s time to also announce it on Tumblr even though I’ve had the countdown on for quite a little while now.

So guys, I’ll be flying out of Sydney tomorrow morning at 2pm (Australian EST) and will arrive in NYC by 8pm. Will try to post and update plenty of interesting (and not so interesting) things whilst I’m on the road for the 2 weeks. Yippee!