LA LA Land

"I got me some cash I'm headed back to LA...I'm gonna get me, outta here..." Jet

Hey hey,

sorry this is VERY late indeed but I've been having soooo much fun and I've been uber busy - this travelling about and not working malarkey is very time consuming...and brilliant!!!

I had three nights in LA which were great fun...just a few things I got up to include:

• Coach ride from San Fran to LA - awesome and unusual landscapes throughout the six hour journey
• Two pub crawls and a very late night in a Shisha bar
• Walking tour around Belair with a very quirky guide with a little suitcase - throughout which he convinces certain security that we're architecture students and almost gets us in some of the houses, some of the houses I see are: Snoop Doggs recording pad, MJ's old house and Julia Roberts house. The guide speaks to the security on the gate of the Playboy Mansion and at the mansion myself and the guy I meet on the tour Ashley rub the rock outside the mansion for good luck as that is the thing everyone does before going into the mansion...
• Saunter the Walk of Fame with Ashley, it's not as glam as you may think...cool to see it though and it was fun
• Walking tour up to the Hollywood sign, lots of uphill and a nice little scenic walk with views and also lots of chatting to people, some of which were on the second pub crawl so they were hungover like myself!!
• Delayed flight to Fiji due to a lack of two pilots and then a broken antenner which they do not fix...but we fly to Fiji anyway thank god...I was so glad the captain told us about that...hmmm ha...but at least I escaped America!!!

B xx

Sunny San Francisco

"I wanna freak in the mornin', freak in the evenin', just like me..." Sugababes

Sorry I've been a little slow with my first blog of my trip!! Had a bit of a nightmare when I got here, food poisoning...bad...I couldn't stop being sick and 'the other' for hours, eventually had to go to the doctors as was getting really weak due to the amount of fluid I was loosing and I couldn't keep any water down, bloody awful and costly, very costly, I now appreciate the NHS a hell of a lot, although I'm insured so I should get some of the cash back fingers crossed!

Well I've been in San Fran for a week now, a bit longer than I had planned but I lost a few days due to the sickness, slept it off and the hostel put me in an ensuite room by myself to recover which was very nice, and half the time I've been here I've had it to myself, luxury, I've made the most of it. The people I've shared with have been nice though, especially the German girl Sophia would came last night, we had a really good girly natter. Been shopping today to get a few bits as everyone I've spoken to says it's the cheapest place here compared to everywhere else, but everywhere else is nicer. I didn't like San Fran at all the first few days due to feeling like total shite and it all being very weird but I've actually grown to really like it, there's lots to see and do.

There are also A LOT of weirdos and homeless people, hence my Sugababes lyrics. VERY FREAKY DEAKY INDEED!!!

Things I have done:

1. Cable cars - quirky old style cable cars, pretty different and fun
2. Went to Alcatraz - pretty cool and good audio tour
3. Fisherman's Wharf - like Skeggy beach but with Sealions rather than Donkeys
4. Golden Gate Bridge - very very very windy and good views of the city
5. Bus tour of the city - open top red double-deckers from London
6. Golden Gate Park - very nice relaxing park, Japanese Tea Garden pretty cool
7. Union Square - good goooood shopping, most outta my price range at the mo
8. Starbucks - Lattes and Blueberry muffins but UK Starbucks to shame amazing!!
9. San Fran bars - cool Orange Tree-style bars and a retro disco style bar
10.  Haight-Ashbury - hippy district, nice funky shops so bought some stuff

Think I've pretty much done most of what you can do in San Fran, I've also travelled through the China Town and Italian district (North Beach). They look pretty cool for eating out etc but I've mainly been grabbing food on the go, as I'm only having a small meal a day, mainly because I'm not able to eat much after my tummy probs but it's also a great way to slim down for Fiji - which is where I fly to Saturday night!! Wahoooo!! Also I'm liking the close sizing out here, I'm a Small or a size 6!!! Now either I've lost a hell of a lotta weight or the sizing is a little bigger over here, I'm only a couple off a size 0!!!

I'm off to LA in the morning, so hopefully when I arrive there I will have more luck and get to enjoy my three days there, I'm staying just a few strides from the Hollywood stars :) :) :)

Hope you're all well and happy,

B xxx

This time next week...

"I wanna breeze and an open mind, I wanna swim in the ocean, Wanna take my time for me, All me..." Stereophonics

This time next week I should have just arrived at my first hostel in San Francisco - USA Hostels. How exciting/scary?!

Got sooo much still to do before I go, I didn't realise that travelling would involve so much paper work - I can't even think about packing at the moment!!

I'm off to Chelternam Festival tomorrow to try and win some funds for the trip on the horses and to have a fabulous day with the fam of course...then seeing Mich Thurs hopefully...out with the fabulous Teaching Art crew on Friday - I'm going to miss you guys!!!

Not long now...

B xx

3 weeks to go!!

"It's a big big world out there and you can do what you like, you can do anything you want because darling it's your life..." Razorlight

First update!!

Well I'm off travelling in three weeks and I have a list the size of my forearm of things to do...and I'm struggling to get anything done...far too lazy...although they are very boring indeed, I have the excitement of:

• Docs
• Contact lenses
• Phoneing people
• Booking internal flights (maybe that's a bit exciting)
• Car stuff...lots of!!!
• American travel document
• Travel insurance
• Sydney and America travel plans - exciting again!!
• Travel to Heathrow
• Gym/phone/net cancellation
• Sort a new phone - foreign sim
• Travel money
• Cheque to the bank
• Photocopy passport

Then decide what kit I'm taking with me...oh and tidy my annex, but I've been trying to do that for about three years!!

But once I've done this...it gets me a step closer to...America, Fiji, NZ, OZ, Thailand...can't believe I'm actually doing this - I've given my notice with a few quid in my pocked and I'm buggering off for three months, ON MY OWN!!! Exciting and scary...but it has to be done...you only live once...so make the most of it!!!

B xxx