Though I’d been on a few trips as I grew up, such as Paris with school and Malaga with family, this was my first proper trip under my own steam. Seen as a celebration after completing my degree and using my summer wisely, my friend and I headed out to the United States of America for four full weeks on an adventure.
Releasing it in one week sections, I’ll start with the story and then review the key parts in full in a separate blog. So take from these what you will, be it just reading through and appreciating the story and adventures that I undertake, or needing ideas as to what to do should you decide to stay in each place as I talk about them.
So sit back, relax and enjoy!
Day 1
This was the day that it all started. Where I’d head out on my first ever trip without family or school and started living life, exploring the world out there. The day that I caught the travel bug and be taken over by its addictive nature. I was excited, I was nervous but I was ready for what lay ahead. However, the start to this adventure didn’t get off to the best of starts…
From travelling from home to the airport, to putting everything through check in and getting through security, everything had gone smoothly up to this point. It was once onboard our flight that things started to go wrong. After excitedly boarding the plane, getting settled in my seat and listening to the safety brief, we were taxiing to the runway and I got into the inflight entertainment and started The Imitation Game. (If you’ve not seen it, great film to see!). It seemed that were sat here for an extremely long time before it came to light that we were having to go back to the gate due to “an issue”. Fast forward precisely the length of The Imitation Game (1 hour 54 minutes) and it was announced that the brakes weren’t working (reassuring they noticed before we left!) thus the flight was cancelled and we’d have to try again tomorrow. Norwegian Airlines were very good in handling the situation and had everything in place, ready for us once we were off the flight, providing accommodation over night in a hotel as well as dinner and breakfast.
Side note: if you ever get in the situation where a flight is delayed by more than 3 hours, outside of what you are due in accordance with your rights from the airline, you are able to claim compensation under the EU flight compensation scheme. This only applies for any airline departing from the EU or an EU airline arriving in the EU. Money Saving Expert explain the full rules and regulations in simple terms, whilst having a FREE and easy to use tool to complete your claim. The best bit is that you can claim for any delay since 2012!
Day 2
An early wake up, breakfast and then a coach back to the airport for our second attempt at getting to LA with the first flight out, with the feelings of excitement being slightly subdued after the experiences of yesterday and the grogginess of a 5am wake up. This excitement only dwindled further when we saw that our flight was delayed by 45 minutes and the fears of the day before set in. It was only once we eventually had boarded, gone through the usual preflight checks and briefs, got to the run away and… finally taken off, that the buzz came flooding back! My next task was to sleep, read and watch films to allow the next 10 hours to go by as quickly as possible.
Fast forward in time and the view of California’s coastline stretched out either side of the plane as we came to land at LAX, with me feeling like a child at Christmas at the prospect of what lay ahead for us. The only thing that stood in my way was Border Control. It was here that things didn’t go simply and I felt the force of the robustness shown at the American border. I had an accepted ESTA, completed my landing card, I’d been polite and answered all questions asked but I hadn’t printed off my hostel reservation, thinking a copy on my phone would be adequate. I was wrong and it took the best part of 10 minutes (my friend was through in 30 seconds flat!) of going through the same round of questions; Q) “Where’s your reservation?” A) “On my phone”, Q) “Why didn’t you print it off?” A) “I didn’t realise I needed to, I have a copy on my phone”, Q) “You aren’t allowed your phone out, sir. I need your reservation, where is your reservation?”. There wasn’t much deviation from this. It was only upon noticing what my job was that she softened, allowed me through and told me to make sure that I have it in the future, wishing me a great day. So ladies and gentlemen, make sure you print off your reservations to make your life easy, just in case!
An hour’s taxi journey, $50 worse off and we were finally there: Venice Beach, and it was just as we expected it. Amazing weather, amazing shoreline and amazing atmosphere, which was only furthered when we checked into the hostel (Samesun Venice Beach) and met the staff and other travellers there. My full experience of this, as my first hostel, will be covered in the review blog. First priority though was food and Larry’s beckoned. Across the road from the hostel and just off the boardwalk, this place served an amazing burger (it had to be a burger, right?) before returning to the hostel.
Though initially planned to be one of rest, that evening we had been persuaded by Dom, member of the hostel staff, to grab a few drinks and head to a festival at Santa Monica pier. With the pier lit up and the vibe chilled, it was easy to relax, meet those around us and take in the aura that California has. It was a great way to round off the day and get us ready for the action due to start the next day.
Day 3
Waking up with a view over Venice Beach and the sea was incredible and the stuff of dreams, and I could begin to see why people fall in love with this place. To think, this was my first ever trip too, I was hoping that I’d not peaked too early! A quick breakfast with this amazing view and a cup of tea (as Brits, we ensured to bring our own with us!), we got out and amongst it. Again, the feeling of it all being surreal was coming back as we strolled down Venice Beach’s boardwalk, spotting iconic shots from film and TV. Alongside the beautiful back drop of palms and beach, there was an eclectic mix of food places, bars, personalised clothes places and plenty of buskers.
It was amongst the buskers where there was the most variety. You had everything here! Artists with fantastic pieces of artwork, be it drawn, painted or built, musicians and singers, magicians with their shows and people with games to play to win money. The place was vibrant, had a feel good feeling but at the same time, very relaxed too.
Our journey was to follow the stream of rollerbladers, cyclists, runners and walkers along the route we’d taken the night before back to Santa Monica to take it all in in the light of day and to grab a spot of lunch, sat on Santa Monica pier, looking over the sea and the theme park. The rest of the day was spent taking in the views, having a wander around the outskirts of Santa Monica before taking the walk back to Venice Beach to get ready for the evening.
So what do you do in LA, on a Friday night? You party! And that’s exactly what we did. Catching up with my friend that I knew in LA, we joined the bar crawl that started at the hostel we were at in a crazy stretch Hummer limo. It was quite the mixture of bars and clubs and certainly was an experience. From classy bar to a big club to one that had a fountain out front with women dancing in it, it was an entertaining evening with good people! The only disappointment of the evening was the fact that the club closed at 2am, which for a set of guys who are used to partying in the UK and places closing at 3/4am earliest, it was definitely a shock!
Day 4
Another day, another adventure! This time we were heading south towards the Marine del Rey area to see the canals and scenery that way, heading out to the beach and pier, grabbing a spot of lunch and heading back up along the beach front north, just soaking in the whole experience. It was during this walk when we got back to Venice Beach that I met YouTube star Vitaly, who took the time to chat and take a photo before we headed on our way. That’s one of the cool things about LA is the likelihood of meeting someone like that, however will be hit and miss as to whether they will converse due to the frequency of people asking, in particular those who are more highly recognised. I did hear a story that Arnold Schwarzenegger can be seen cycling around Santa Monica most mornings!
The afternoon took me to one of the most iconic locations of bodybuilding and must for me: Muscle Beach. Being able to train here in the sun was terrific and better than any other gym I’ve ever been to, though a little odd to be training and essentially having people take photos of you whilst you’re training, especially when I’ve got my try hard face!
The evening’s entertainment was being hosted in Santa Monica, led by the hostel staff, with food planned followed by a few bars in and around the area. It came as quite the surprise that we went to an English pub in the middle of LA, called Ye Olde King’s Head. Owned by a Brit, the whole place was just like a pub in England inside and out, serving a full English menu and bar. I know, I was on holiday but some home comforts of proper tea and English food were appreciated.
This was followed by going to a few bars around Santa Monica, including one that served drinks and had a variety board games, bringing a different element to drinking. All in all, it was a fun and pleasant evening without the craziness of nightclubs and a great way to meet and chat to those in the hostel and a local or two, especially when I experienced for the first time the amazement of an American speaking to British person!
Day 5
For our penultimate day in Los Angeles, it was time to head to the place that it is best known for: Hollywood. Our method of doing that was to pay for a combined tour and afternoon at Universal Studios. The first half of the day was spent being driven around Hollywood and Beverley Hills, being shown the locations of many movies, hearing interesting stories about stars and the area, as well as the background behind how it all came to be. This was followed up by being given a chance to walk along Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars (the ones in the pavement), get a view of the famous Hollywood sign and seeing the plaques outside the Chinese Theatre.
The second half of the day was spent at Universal Studios, getting lost in the world of film and television. Taking up such a large area of land, it was a place you could get truly lost in. With a variety of immersive areas on offer, you had films and rides to entertain anyone and everyone, giving you an insight into the making of some of the most famous films known. The evening’s plans were again to follow what the hostel staff had recommended us, this time going to a band night at a bar on the boardwalk, grabbing food and before heading to a small, more personal party nearby being held in a cafe/bar.
Day 6
What a final day I had by heading out to any theme park fanatic’s dream location: Six Flags Magic Mountain. This was another trip that was booked through the hostel, with transport taking us from LA to Santa Clartia. With a full day of rides ahead and wanting to make the most of it, I decided to grab the fast track lanyard and device. The way this worked was you could search through the rides at Six Flags depending on your tier of pass and book yourself in for a particular time thus able to co-ordinate your next hour as you could only have a maximum of 3 rides booked in. You arrive at the time that you selected and straight onto the ride you would go, whilst also being able to hop into any fast track queue and wait normally if the line time was low. I’ll give a full overview in my review post but this day was fantastic and highly recommended!
As for the evening, we took it very easy by chilling out in the hostel with a few drinks whilst talking to our fellow travellers due to us having an early start the next day to grab our coach down to our next stop, San Diego!
This will be the topic of my next story blog, being released on 15th August, with my accompanying review blog for the week in Los Angeles being released on 3rd August.
