’08 CANADA & U.S. REFLECTION POST
My first solo trip took me across Canada and down through the West coast of North America. I didn’t know it at the time but it would go on to be the catalyst for my love of travel.
EVERYTHING FROM BREAKING MY HAND TO GETTING ACCUSED OF BEING IN THE IRA
The trip couldn’t have turned out much better and the choice of destinations was spot on.
TRIP STATS….
- 105 Days
- 3 Countries
- 2 New Countries
- 1 Revisit
- Many life-threatening situations!
CANADA
Apart from not being able to take a decent photo I managed to fit in quite a lot but the trip ended up being more of a social affair. It all started with a week in Toronto with my Uni class before heading onto Montreal on my own to see a few old friends.
After watching the Formula 1 here I took a trip to Calgary to meet up with a contact my Uncle had set up for me. Keiran, who hosted me was brilliant and we got on like we had always knew each other.
TRIP FAVOURITES….
- BEACH – Miami
- PEOPLE – West Coast
- CITY – Impossible
BANFF
Next was Banff which proved to be a huge sticking point for me, I didn’t leave there for 3 weeks. The social aspect of it was just too good and a lot of the backpackers seemed to be there long term. When I did decide to move on a few of us headed back to Calgary to experience the infamous Calgary Stampede!
Finally, I made it to the west coast and after a few days checking out Vancouver took a ferry over to Vancouver Island to Victoria and Tofino for a few nights.
RELATED READ: FEAR, SPEEDBOATS & QUIET BEACHES IN MORRO DE SAO PAULO
U.S.
Getting the boat directly into Seattle saved a ton of time but nothing much changed. Every stop meant meeting new people and enjoying some more cheap booze.
Arriving into San Francisco was the start of the West Coast as everyone knows it. The next few days were spent checking out the Golden Gate Bridge, have Fish and Chips at Sausalito and getting a tour of Alcatraz.
’08 CANADA & U.S. REFLECTION POST
CALIFORNIA
L.A. consisted of Neverland, Laguna Beach, Balboa Island and Pebble beach before arriving into San Diego for what would be the most insane few days our my trip. Here we took a trip to Tijuana and ran into not 1 and 2 issues which could have ended up much worse!
After heading back up to L.A. for a few nights a blagged free entry into Six Flags myself and John headed to Austin Texas which again would raise the bar in the terms of getting ourselves into problems. I was robbed, broke my hand and both had guns pointed at us. That’s without mentioning that John almost died!
’08 CANADA & U.S. REFLECTION POST
RATINGS….
- PEOPLE – 8.5/10
- BACKPACKING – 9/10
- WEATHER – 9/10
- THINGS TO DO – 9/10
- VALUE – 7.5/10
’08 CANADA & U.S. REFLECTION POST
SUMMED UP….
- HIGHLIGHTS – Meeting so many people, Getting my first taste of travel, West coast
- LOWLIGHTS – Breaking my hand, Getting robbed
- MVP (most valuable player) – John
- LVP (Least valuable player) – The guy who took a bat to John’s head
- VISIT AGAIN – Yes!
- RATING – 8/10
FINAL THOUGHTS
Travel back then was different. Wi-Fi was a bonus, Social Media was in it’s infancy and smart phones were just beginning to be a thought. But at least we were past the point of needed to look at an actual map!
I sometimes wonder if I didn’t enjoy my trip here would I have continued to travel half as much as I do now? Possibly not but each trip since then has got better and better. It certainly planted the preverbal travel seed as I couldn’t wait to get away again!
NEXT UP
7 months of Oz! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
12/229
This post is part of my Canada & U.S. Series, click here to read more.
