I’ve just resigned I have, apparently that’s not the done thing with all this crumpet crunch malarkey going on. So that’s my flat and job notice submitted, I’ve well and truly pi$$ed on my curly fries if I have a sudden change of heart now haven’t I eh. Have to say, I’m looking forward to being a professional bum.
Actually, is ‘The Pink’ (Manchester Evening News sports supplement) still going?
I’m trying to decide what to take and what not to take in my bag that has yet to be purchased, no easy feat in a long term diverse trip like this. Like one pair of gruds or two? Sawn-off-jeans or mid 80s era worryingly tight shiny footy shorts? Great big dirty Doc Martins for brisk mountain walks in Yosemite or daft metro-sexual flips-flops for the San Diego beaches? These are the questions that continually haunt my dreams. Tough stuff indeed.
I think I might just go for the minimalist approach as below.
Today I acquired an International Student Identity Card which entitles one to many benefits, including 15% off Amtrak train tickets, pretty darn useful eh. My trusty fake non international student card (saved me hundreds of spondulicks over the last few years I reckon) acted as my proof of being a stud … ent. Belter. I hope the Feds aren’t monitoring these channels.
Okely dokely there now, after far too many hours in the nerve centre that is Bugger Travel Plans HQ I’ve come up with my final(ish) fiendish(ish) route of sorts. I’ll mainly be travelling on trains (including the Empire Builder line between Seattle and Chicago which will have me on the blighter for about 50 hours straight, ouch) but also a couple of buses, car rentals and cheapo domestic flights. Behold:
• 01/04/09 – 05/04/09 New York
• 06/04/09 – 07/04/09 Philadelphia
• 08/04/09 – 11/04/09 Washington DC
• 13/04/09 – 16/04/09 New Orleans
• 17/04/09 – 18/04/09 San Antonio
• 19/04/09 – 21/04/09 Austin
• 23/04/09 – 24/04/09 Tucson
• 25/04/09 Flagstaff (Grand Canyon)
• 26/04/09 – 28/04/09 Las Vegas
• 29/04/09 – 01/05/09 San Diego
• 02/05/09 – 05/05/09 Los Angeles
• 06/05/09 – 08/05/09 Santa Barbara
• 09/05/09 – 10/05/09 Yosemite
• 11/05/09 – 15/05/09 San Francisco
• 17/05/09 – 20/05/09 Denver
• 21/05/09 – 22/05/09 Portland
• 23/05/09 – 25/05/09 Seattle
• 26/05/09 – 28/05/09 Vancouver
• 31/05/09 – 02/06/09 Chicago
• 04/06/09 Niagara Falls
• 05/06/09 – 08/06/09 Toronto
• 09/06/09 – 11/06/09 Ottawa
• 12/06/09 – 15/06/09 Montreal
• 16/06/09 – 18/06/09 Quebec
• 19/06/09 – 22/06/09 Boston
• 23/06/09 – 27/06/09 New York
It’s looks very rigid and uncompromising, but it’s not honest. I can lose a day here or there no sweat. The problem is the trains in the US are a bit funny, like they don’t run very often and when they do they get you in at daft o’clock at a station in an area you don’t want to be walking round at daft o’clock with a large backpack suggesting I’m a daft tourist/victim wondering round cluelessly in an area I shouldn’t be at daft o’clock. So planning is a bit essential really. Oh for a motor and a free hand like Dean Moriarty eh.
After much deliberation, I’ve pretty much settled on doing most of the US coast line via the Amtrak rail service. While working out my route (I’ve made it to Washington DC so far, next up – the bloody double hard bastard south) I stumbled upon this article and this has filled me with renewed vigour for the days ahead, it sounds ruddy fantastic.
Also, I was looking for a gig to catch while I’m in New York (the only one grabbing my interest being Brian Jonestown Massacre but it’s the night I get there and apparently the venue, Terminal 5, is a bit bobbins) I noticed The Flight of the Conchords are touring while I’m erm, touring. It’s a sign is that.
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