My journey abroad has come to an end. I’m writing this blog
from Vancouver airport, which as Joe has delighted in telling me for the last
few weeks, is lovely. There are fish tanks and trees, and a stream going
through the lounge, so I have to admit it’s pretty nice. From Fairfax via
Washington D.C., New York, Marion, Montreal, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Toronto,
San Francisco, Seattle and finally to Vancouver, the year is done- But the last
week has been a good one…
It’s a big change going from San Francisco, which is
definitely more of a tourist hotspot to Seattle, which isn’t really a typical
holiday destination. It is famously rainy, so we were amazed to have brilliant
sunshine for our two days there. Our accommodation wasn’t so generous- to stay
as cheap as possible the five of us were in an RV, parked in an alleyway a few
miles outside the city…It was a step up from the hostel to be fair, but I’m in
no rush to go back!
The most obvious Seattle landmark is the Space Needle, a
tower overlooking the city, but we gave it a miss and went for the EMP Museum.
Standing for Experience Music Project, it’s a stunning building that celebrates
rock music and popular culture, and was undoubtedly my favourite museum I’ve
visited. The Smithsonian institutions had culture and art, but this was
contemporary and a lot of fun. We saw exhibitions on Nirvana, Hendrix in London,
a gallery of the history of the guitar and best of all an area where you could
play instruments and make your own recordings, which was huge fun. Me, Emily
and Ross where a bit lost but Joe was in his element- although I have to say, I
think our rendition of Timber was stronger than his Maggie’s Farm!
On the pop culture front the museum looked at some of my
favourite genres- science fiction, horror and fantasy, and I was in my geek
element. Original costumes, props and artwork from everything from Game of
Thrones, Alien, Doctor Who, Fables, Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, The
Terminator, Battlestar Galactica and The Princess Bride was there and I didn’t
expect to see so much great stuff. It’s a theme of this year for many of us travellers
that the best sights or experiences are the ones that we didn’t know about
already, the unknown things that surprised us, and this museum was one of the
best.
Then again, other than the Space Needle I didn’t know
anything about Seattle so everything was unexpected and great to see. The
waterfront and amazing library were examples but the main one was Pike Place
Market. Near the seafront it’s a fantastic place full of incredibly friendly
people who made what was basically walking through a market a lot of fun. A
second-hand bookstore owner gave advice on how to live life (pick something you
enjoy, and if it doesn’t work out its ok to change), the fishmongers sang for
every big order and threw fish across the counter, and we saw the very first
Starbucks, a tiny place with old lettering which gave us way too many coffee
shops… but on the plus side, so much free Wi-Fi! The best moment was an old man
selling artwork he had done, including on fridge magnets. I bought a few and
showed the others who thought they were also great, so we went back and got a
few more. The man was so happy I’d brought more people back he gave me a
“commission” of a free magnet (“I’m the boss, I can do what I want!”). It was a
small thing but it really made my day. These people were incredibly friendly
and sold some great stuff, what else could you ask from a market?
One last long coach journey took us across the border as I
left the U.S. for the last time on this trip, and returned to Canada for the
first time on the West Coast. When I first came here I had no real ambitions
for travelling, so the idea I’d go to Canada three times would have been
ridiculous, and here I am finishing my journey here. And Vancouver is a great
city, quite small, surrounded by spectacular mountains and views and rich in
multiculturalism. It might be the most diverse place I’ve been to on the West
Coast. We stayed just outside Chinatown, and a lot of the artwork around the
town called back to the traditions of native peoples. It’s not really a tourist
destination, and without a car we couldn’t explore the surrounding nature, but
at this point we are all pretty tired so that’s alright. It’s been good to take
a few days to relax, not worry about squeezing in as much activity as possible
although we did see a lot of this city, and get ready to go home.
When I left George Mason about a week and a half ago (has it
only been that long?!) I was really sad to be leaving, and I didn’t feel like my
time in America should be about to come to an end. This trip to the other side
of the continent has been fantastic, packed, tiring, eye-opening and most of
all fun, and it’s helped me get prepared for home. Doing so much in such a
short amount of time has felt like an epic journey, and I’ve shared it with
some great people. I’ve met amazing people from all over the world, but some of
the best have been the fellow Brits I met at Mason, and who saw the West Coast
with me. Enjoy the rest of your trip guys as you make a few more stops before
Britain welcomes us home.
So see you later
Ross, the full-on Scot with a kilt who doesn’t really sound that Scottish, are
you sure you’re not American? Emily, who has been there from drinking apple pie
flavoured moonshine around a bonfire in South Virginia to us trying to figure
out how to kayak around the Potomac on the hottest day of the year, I’ll see
you for karaoke eventually! And Joe and Georgia, my fellow Leicester students
who I didn’t really know but waited hours for me in the airport anyway. Our
search for Walmart feels like a long time ago now! I’m glad we made it out
those study rooms alive Georgia, and there’ve been too many jokes to remember
Joe (I can never think about Bob Dylan without laughing again). Still don’t
like your jacket though…. Thanks to all of you guys for a great year from the
first day to the last, and I’ll see you back home.
So this actually is the proper end of the Year Abroad… I
feel like I have to capitalise it, for so long it was this abstract thing I was
working up to, probably since Summer 2010 when I was picking my University
course. Most people will tell you it’s gone so fast, but for me it feels like a
long time ago that I really realised what I was getting into. It was halfway
through the first plane here, I’d watched about 2 films and it hit me for the
first time that I was doing this massive undertaking alone, knowing nobody. 9
months later that day seems like a long time ago, and the experiences that have
followed have made this, I think I can honestly say, the best year of my life.
Leaving Mason I felt like it was over and was very downbeat, but after this
West Coast adventure it feels right this time has come to an end. And in
whatever shape or form the next adventure comes, I look forward to it.
Until then, London’s Calling…
A
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