New York, New York

From Boston I got a bus to New York where I stayed with Arthur, a friend from Arizona. I was staying on the outskirts of Harlem which, if anyone knows anything about New York, is not the greatest area. I didn’t feel unsafe at any point but there were some interesting people around. At one point someone yelled out their car window “what are you doing in Harlem?” 

Arthur was working during the days so I explored the city for a couple of days by myself going to the United Nations Building, Columbus Circle, the Love sculpture and the Palace Hotel and Grand Central Station (for all you Gossip Girl fans). I hung out with Arthur after work checking out the New York bars and went to see the musical Jersey Boys. A couple of days after I arrived Jono, the Australian guy I met in Boston, arrived in New York so I hung out with him for the rest of the week. We went to Ground Zero, educated ourselves at the Met Museum, explored Central Park, wandered around Times Square, went out to some college bars and went to a comedy stand up show. Jono managed to get us lost a few times so we did a lot of walking but it was probably good to work off all the pizza and burgers we ate. 

I love New York but it gets a bit much after awhile and there are some very crazy people around. One night a drunk guy started talking to Jono and I on the subway telling us "I am not poor I am just an alcoholic" and then proceeded to try and do chinups on the railing. 

Jono and I in Times Square

The love sculpture

Arthur and I

Central Park

Boston, Massachussetts

By the time I got to Boston I was absolutely wrecked from not sleeping the night before so the first thing I did was go to bed for a couple of hours haha! Apart from sleeping, I went on a tour of the Harvard campus, explored the city and did the Freedom Trail, which included all the famous sites of Boston. At the end of the trail was the Bunker Monument where you walk up 294 steps to get a good view of the city. On my last night the hostel was meant to be organising a pub night and when we asked about it they said that they hadn’t had much interest. I had talked to a few people that were interested so the hostel gave us the names of a few pubs and somehow I ended up in charge. We recruited a group of people and the night ended up involving tequila shots. Lets just say that one of the guys missed his bus the next morning and everyone was feeling very sorry for themselves.

Although Boston has a lot of history it is quite a hip, young city with lots of students around!

The Bunker Monument

The view from the top

Friends from the hostel

Chicago, Illinois

From Portland I flew to Chicago to visit my friend Katrina who studied in Wollongong last year. It was definitely an American college experience staying in the student apartments and eating in the dining hall every day. The weather was unusually warm for March getting up to 28 degrees Celsius (approximately 85 farenheit). The day I arrived was St Paddy’s Day so we went into the city and went to see the Chicago River, which they die green especially for the occasion. As you can see in the picture, I am talking bright green!! We then spent the rest of the day on the beach and I met pretty much the whole college football team just to be really American.

I did lots of exploring the city including the art museum, going up the Willis Tower to the 103rd floor, taking photos of the Bean, walking around Millenium Park, walking down the Magnificent Mile (the street of all the expensive shops) and the weather was so good we spent half a day at the beach. The problem was it was so hot but the water was freezing! The suburb I was staying in was called Wheaton and it was really beautiful because Spring had arrived early so all the trees were blooming. In terms of food, Chicago is known for their popcorn and deep dish pizzas so of course I had to try them.

On my last night I went to stay with Alexa who I met in Arizona when I was on exchange. My flight was really early and Alexa started work early so we planned on going out to dinner and having a few quiet drinks. As you can guess it didn’t quite go to plan and the night escalated and I ended up napping for an hour before going to the airport!

The Chicago River died green for St Paddy's Day

Katrina and I on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower

The Bean

Alexa and I

Portland, Oregon

From Seattle I got a train to Portland. I met some cool people at the hostel and ended up hanging out with them. We went to Vodoo doughnuts, a famous doughnut place which has doughnuts with everything you can imagine on them (even cereal). Their signature doughnut is the voodoo doll which has a pretzel stuck into it and raspberry filling. We also went exploring to find the world’s smallest park which is basically a small tree that has been planted in the median strip of the road where a telegraph pole used to be. The sun finally came out on my last day so we went to Washington Park to the Japanese gardens. We got slightly lost on the way to Washington Park but it was a nice detour because we ended up in the Portland Hills, which is an expensive suburb with some really beautiful houses! 

Portland nightlife wasn't amazing because it was midweek but we went to a few dive bars and ended up finding champagne at the hostel to continue the party!

Portland was known as the unheavenly city during the 1800's because sailors were kidnapped and dropped into the underground through trap doors and then forced to work on ships. On my last night we ate at a pizzeria which sits above where the underground tunnels were. The pizzeria is said to be haunted because it used to be a hotel and a prostitute that worked there was thrown down the elevator shaft for sharing information about this slavery practice. I didn't see any ghosts but it was awesome pizza! 

 Vodoo doll

Andy chilling in the world's smallest park

Friends from the hostel

Old Town Pizza - the haunted pizzeria

Seattle, Washington

From Whistler I took a bus to Seattle and prayed they would let me across the border. I had a visa but they are very suspicious of people going to America and just traveling for long periods of time. I had already been given strange looks in LA on our way to Canada when I said I was just traveling for 5 months. The lady at the Seattle border was mostly interested in the fact that I was staying at hostels and said to me “make sure you take your hand sanitiser” even though she had never actually been to a hostel!


Seattle was a very cool city but it definitely lived up to its reputation of being very wet! I have been told I have to go back in summer because it is much prettier. The hostel was just across the road from Pike Place Markets with lots of food and other stalls and the first ever Starbucks. I did an underground tour which was very cool, taking you under the current footpaths. The city used to be built at that level but it kept being flooded and at some points you can look up through skylights and see people walking above you. I also went to the Experience Music Project which is a music museum and they had an exhibit on Nirvana. I also wanted to check out the University District but unfortunately it was pouring with rain.

On my second night the hostel organised a pub crawl to Capitol Hill and I met some cool people staying in the hostel, including a group of Australians that were working in Vancouver and were just in Seattle for the weekend. I also met a girl from Washington DC who was on spring break and we caught up again later in my travels. One of the bars we went to was the last place that Kurt Cobain was seen alive. I also met a Will Smith lookalike haha.

 Pike Place Market

 Pub crawl

Will Smith....kinda?

Canada - Whistler

From Vancouver I took a bus to Whistler to visit friends from home. I stayed with Jordan and Kyle and also caught up with Louise! Whistler is full of Australians and I even met more people from Wollongong....small world. 

Whistler and Blackcomb are two different mountains but are joined by a peak 2 peak gondola so there is a lot of mountain to cover. I did a lot of skiing and even had a snowboarding lesson, which I have talked about doing for years. Snowboarding was heaps of fun and by the end I could reasonably successfully turn down the hill. 

Whistler Village is a cool place, full of restaurants and bars. We went to a glow party and even ended up at a dubstep night!

 Joey and Kyle's humble abode

 Louise and I at glow party

Joey, Kyle and I at glow party