Buenos Aires to Vegas - The Trek

So I have now been in the UK for a couple of weeks living with my brother. It has been really great catching up with him and my friends and thankfully the summer here lingers on so my tan hasn't totally faded yet! I also weighed myself upon my return and was shocked to see that I was a measly 78kg, almost 6kg lighter than when I had left! The strangest thing I felt when I touched down back in London was that I could clearly recall the day I trudged out of my apartment in West Hampstead with my wheelie bag to embark on this 7 month journey. Nothing seems to have changed much from when I left besides cosmetic alterations. London life continues as it always has and I seem to have slotted in quite neatly without any trouble whatsoever. That's not to say I haven't needed to adjust though! Being responsible is a job in itself I have found. Now I need to find a employment to recoup my funds. The question I suppose most people are interested in is whether I have changed and whether

Can you believe 7.5 months have gone by since I took off. I can not even fathom it! What the hell did I spend 7 months doing..... oh wait..... I remember ;-) I was recommended to take the Bolt Bus service from Washington DC to New York. Not only was this bus cheaper than the others I checked, but it also had onboard WiFi ! Amazing stuff. I had an easy start to the day as the bus only left at 2pm. I woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast and said goodbye to Stign and the others I had co- habited with recently. The bus was on time and I hopped on. Washington had been great and I think I had just about seen everything I wanted to! From warm and sunny Washington I travelled to wet and warm New York City. As I could use my laptop, I could keep myself easily entertained for the 4 hour ride. I was dropped off and promptly got on the metro and made my way to Steph Ligon's apartment in the West Village. This area is around the 20 th street region of NYC (bottom half of Manhattan Isla

My plan for Washington had been to meet up with Daniel Owens (Mountain Mama), who I had travelled the Bolivian Salt Flats with. Unfortunately he was scheduled to be in the town of Richmond for the time I had, so that would be impossible. So I booked into a hostel and, after a short stopover in Miami, arrived in Reagan International airport in DC at 7am on a warm Sunday morning. I bought a metro ticket and made my way over to LOFSTEL hostel very easily. This place was slightly different to what I had grown accustomed to. On the surface it seemed like a standard family house, converted to accommodate up to 30 people in bunk beds. After chatting to some of the guests I figured out that almost everyone is staying there for at least a month and is either interning or working in DC. Short term travellers like myself were a minority although I didn't really feel out of place at all. I also felt a bit old as the average age must have lain at around 20 years old with the odd exception.

With Vegas behind me I felt I had a chance to lay back and relax on the beach for a few days. Essentially my obligation to this blog had ended with Vegas, but I think there is a space for a bit more. The Greyhound bus from Vegas to LA was fine... a bit cramped and the odd dodgy person but nothing to really worry about. Lauren picked me up from the bus station and informed me that it was situated in a particularly dodgy neighbourhood. Oops. Anyway, we drove over to Newport Beach, catching up a lot on all that had transpired in the year since we met. Newport is a small town in the Orange County ( OC ), 1 hour south of LA and is famous for being the location of the popular TV series, The OC . She was living in a loft apartment 1 block from the beach with 2 other housemates. All 3 girls living there (Erin, Jackie and Lauren) were waterpolo players. I was shown my couch where I was going to sleep for the next few nights and was quite pleased with the size and comfort. Lauren and Erin were