New York… still.

I’m still in New York, about a week longer than I had originally planned. My travel plans have been compounded now twice but I hasten to add that my travel plans are a miniscule consideration compared with what is going on here. Initially, the plan was to make my way to the west coast of the USA, such as Los Angeles or San Diego, and use that as a stepping point into Mexico. Unfortunately, just as I was preparing myself to depart for San Diego, the forest fires hit, displacing some 250,000 people and causing no end of grief for the local residents. Fortunately, the situation there seems to be calming, but it’s unlikely to be the best time for me to pop down there for a quick visit.

So, the change of plan was to abandon the west coast and instead make my way down the east coast, to either Ft. Lauderdale, Miami or Nassau and head to a small island in the Bahamas, for a week’s downtime. From there I would go to Cuba, and then to Mexico and continue my trip as planned. As I was sat on hold to JetBlue.com arranging my flights, I was checking the weather forecast and was dismayed to see that some “scattered showers” were forecast for the area for the next week. It was then that I noticed a news headline “Deadly tropical storm Noel batters Cuba, heading for Bahamas” and which point I hung up the phone. Haiti and the Dominican Republic have so far felt the brunt of the storm with massive flooding and landslides, but in the next few days the storm is due to hit Cuba, the Bahamas and parts of southern Florida… all areas that I was due to go to, in the next few days. Although the storm should have passed by early next week, I’m still unsure whether it will be suitable to visit there “on holiday”, when so many people are likely to be recovering from the effects of a big storm.

So, for the timebeing it’s sit tight, see what happens and consider new plans. In the meantime, I’ve been having fun here in Stamford. I’ve done a wee bit of sightseeing, including a trip to Brooklyn, as well as a quick jaunt up to Harriman State Park – an amazing park on the border between New York and New Jersey.

I will update this as soon as I know what I’m doing.

-MT

New York

New York, New York. The Big Apple. Don’t think I’ve actually seen any apples, but it’s great being here anyway. Strictly speaking, I’m in Connecticut, staying with my brother in his new house in Stamford, but it seems that anyone within about 3 hours of said massive fruit describes themselves as living in New York.

I just need to get this out the way first: we were robbed. Rugby, that is. I don’t care what any of my South African friends say – we were robbed. (OK, maybe not robbed*.) But nevertheless England were the better side and a far-cry from the side that got drubbed 36-0 by the Springboks earlier in the tournament. Our attacking game was strong and that try could have gone either way. From where I was standing – about 12 foot from a widescreen TV in an Irish pub in Stamford, with at least one pair of beer goggles on and about 50 other English, South African, American and Irish people in a similar state – it was a try. Lewis Moody dropped the trophy for us, though, with that outrageous trip tackle – it was totally unnecessary and 6-3 would have been a much easier position from which to recover. But alas, it was not to be, and fair play to the Springboks for 80 minutes of solid defence. But equal amounts of fair play to Brian Ashton and the whole squad – nobody was expecting England to do so well and I’m pleased they were able to flick some V’s at the unbelievers. We can now look forward to regaining the cup in 4 years time.

Quick question: what the heck is the “biscuit” you get at KFC here?

For anyone reading who hasn’t seem them on Facebook, there are a few photos from, well, me getting drunk:

• Drunk in NY 1
• Drunk in NY 2
• Misc Stuff

I’d love to say that I’ve been making the most of time here, but that would probably be a lie. I mean, I’m getting pretty good at Tony Hawk’s Underground Wasteland, which is probably not time well spent. Since this is my third (maybe fourth?) visit to NY, I think the gloss has worn off a little, and so I’ve only been in to the City once. (It’s a one hour $20 train ride. And even that ended with a hangover.)

The crazy winking gal over there is my brother’s new dog – she’s a rescue dog from the local shelter who arrives later this week. She’s apparently a german shepherd collie mix, though we now suspect there may be a bit of bull terrier in her as well. She’s currently named Rain – so that’s clearly changing – and top of the list at the moment is Iggy.

I’m staying here for a few more days to help dogsit before moving on again. It’ll be good to get “on the road” again.

-MT

P.S. If you’ve never played, check it: Beer Pong – much amusement. (Being reasonable darts players ensured that my brother and I showed those sorry yanks a thing or two!)

* Let’s face it, if we lost we were sure to have been robbed.

Niagara Falls and Montreal

I haven’t decided if titling these posts with the place I am or have been is the way forward, but I haven’t got anything better just yet so that’ll do for now. I’m writing this from room 3021 of the Sheraton Hotel in Montreal. That’s right – Sheraton Hotel – thanks to my brother and his Sheraton points which scored us a free stay. Needless to say, it’s something of a contrast to the Global Village Backpackers that I was in for the last week. And rightly so – I could have stayed there for a month for the cost of two nights here. Still, I’m not paying – minibar included – so I’m not complaining.

That I’m even here is something of a miracle. Thursday was a trip to Niagara Falls thanks to the Moose Travel Network. If you’re going to go, then check them out, you’ll get a great tour, probably better than you’d get if you just get a bus there. Big props to Brian – our “tour guide” – who was really just a fun loving guy who was incredibly knowledgeable about most things Canadian. Niagara Falls is a weird place. The falls are impressive, especially when you get a soaking on the Maid of the Mist, which is well worth doing to get up close and personal. The sheer amount of water that flows over them is incredible and it’s a reminder of the power of Mother Nature. Unfortunately, though, Niagara Falls is no longer just the Falls and is a reminder of the horror of the modern world. The town of Niagara Falls has morphed in to a horrific monster of an amusement arcade. Think Alton Towers meets Blackpool – and you still won’t really get exactly how tacky it really is. Forget that there’s every possible hotel chain there, not to mention two casinos and a golf course, but the haunted houses and the shops selling dollar t-shirts are just too much. It’s really that bad. Don’t get me wrong, the falls are incredible – despite the horrible colour changing lights they switch on when it gets dark – but the surrounding area would really benefit from being razed to the ground.

Getting back to Toronto at about 8pm, after some 4 hours in a bus, the obvious requirement of the moment was a beer. Fellow tripgoer Melissa and I headed to the hostel bar where a quick refreshing beer turned in to four which then turned in to going to a club with a random Australian (who was still spitting feathers at losing in the rugby) and a brother and sister from NZ, who, interestingly enough, were here to contest the world Rock Paper Scissors championship. It is as ridiculous as it sounds, but they got a free to trip to Canada, so I don’t think they were complaining. We found a small club in the middle of nowhere and after surviving the full body cavity search just to get in, we were pleased that it was moreorless happy hour prices all night. Bearing in mind that I was due to be on a coach for some 8 hours at 930am the following day, it perhaps wasn’t the best idea to stay out drinking ’til 3am. Fortunately Mel knew the way back to the hostel, otherwise I’d probably still be wandering about Toronto.

Friday morning, 9am and I’ve only just woken up, with a fairly brutal hangover, an unpacked bag and a 30 minute walk to the coach station. I made it – somehow – to the coach on time, and spent the rest of the day in a hungover daze. No rest for the wicked though as dinner and drinks with my brother in Montreal in North America’s largest indoor chargrill (= amazing steak), meant I woke up with a hangover, yet again, with the prospect of all day drinking ahead of us with England vs France in the afternoon.

Montreal is a pretty cool city. It’s bizarre to be driving along the highway where the signs suddenly change from being in English to being in French. I can’t say I’ve seen anything inherently French about the place, but then I don’t know the history well enough to say if that was to be expected. But I like it and think that if I was to spend any serious amount of time in Canada, then it would probably be in Montreal. That said, I haven’t exactly done a great deal of sightseeing in either Toronto or Montreal (much too busy sleeping or drinking, oops) so maybe I should reserve judgement until I have time to come back to Canada and do it all again properly.

Actually, I seem to have set a precedent on my trip. I’ve only been gone 6 days and I’ve had 5 hangovers. Hopefully my bank balance will preclude that sort of behaviour soon as my trip goes southwards in to the good ol’ US of A.

-MT

UPDATE: Cooome ooooooooooooooooowwwnnn EEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNGGLLLAAND! What a result. Not the best game of rugby ever (marginally better than Australia) but still a win is a win is a win and we’re now in the finals. I never doubted them for a second. I’m undecided who I’d like to see against us – on one hand the Argies because I think we’d have more chance of beating them but on the other, a chance to avenge our humiliation to the Springboks earlier in the tournament would be very very tasty indeed.

Toronto

Well. It’s great to be underway. I’d like to point out from the start that I’m writing this on an Archos 605 Wifi. It’s a great device and I’d heartily recommend it to anyone, but it’s not quite the same as having a real keyboard, despite the touchscreen being (iPhone-beating) excellent.

I’m writing this from the bar of Global Village Backpackers hostel, a funky little hostel in downtown Toronto. I got here late last night after my uber-cheap Globespan flight to Hamilton. Good job I had.booked the cheap-as-chips shuttle, considering it’s some 50 miles out of Toronto. I’d also.forgotten how much fun it is.to be.on a.flight with Americans – that cheering when the computer lands the plane still makes me laugh.

The.hostel is like any other – cheap, basic and full of people with nothing better to do with their time. Like me. The bar is a boon though and is clean and friendly, despite the Facebook-esque pirate party that’s on tonight. And despite my 6 bed mixed dorm actually being a 10 bed male dorm (thank God for ear plugs and open windows), it’s good enough to keep the rain off.

Toronto is a pleasant city. It feels like a mishmash of a few I’ve seen – Melbourne, probably because of the trams and also.San Francisco, possibly because of the homeless people. It’s obvious why Canadians are proud of the CN Tower – despite no longer being the World’s tallest structure, it still dominates Toronto’s skyline and is nonetheless an impressive sight. Toronto is full of “Tim Horton’s” – a kind of Canadian Wimpy – that must outnumber Starbuck’s 3:1. Needless to say, I have been in neither*.

If you’re looking for a Tuesday night out that isn’t a pirate party, then head for Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse on Blue Jays Way. Although not very busy that particular night, the quality of the Open Mic’rs was excellent, supported by an awesome house band. The music was mainly old-skool rock, like Led Zep and Billy Idol. Michael White did a great job as compere, regaling us with tales of jamming with Van Halen. Look the guy up, he’s a bona fide legend, and he and his band are living the life depicted by most of Jack Black’s rock star characters. And kudos to the 14 year old on electric guitar – he could really wail.

The hostel is comprised mainly of NZ, Aus and West Europeans, many of whom have been travelling in North America and Canada for years. If the beer was a bit cheaper, I might easily be persuaded to change my plans and stay here longer.

-MT

* Edit: Dammit. It was late and I was hungry, and TH’s chicken salad wrap was surprisingly good. Might as well go to SB’s tomorrow and get it over with.

Packing fun

How exactly do you fit your life (or what roughly constitutes the stuff you need to live your life) in to one bag? Bearing in mind that you will have to carry this bag, with you, in all kinds of places, for who-knows how long whilst trying to be prepared for most eventualities. Not to mention the fact that I could quite easily set up a mobile pharmacy with all the drug-precautions I’m taking with me or give Annie Liebowicz a run for her money, lens-wise.

And it’s all changed since I last had to pack for a trip like this. Way back then – 1998 ish, when I was leaving for Tanzania – I made the biggest schoolboy-rookie-n00b mistake on the planet – I took waaaay too much stuff. Well, I’ve learnt my lesson. Nowadays it’s all about the minimalism. Heck, all the cool kids now roll their clothes, just to shave a couple of extra nanometres off their internal volume. Well, if that’s what the cool kids do, that’s what I will do.

In fact, rolling with it is a pretty good strategy. And I’m not just talking about my grundags here – rolling with it in life, or at least in a trip such as this – is the way forward. I’m convinced that 97% of high blood pressure is caused by worrying about _every_ _little_ _thing_ and that if you cut yourself a little slack every now and then – and accept that pretty much, shit *is* going to happen – then you can be a lot more stress-free.

Maybe I won’t take my Guinness slippers after all.

Matt’s travel blog is a go

Well, hello. And, of course, welcome. Thanks for stopping by. I don’t know who you are, or why you happen to be looking at my wee spot ‘o’ t’Interweb, but nevertheless, thanks for being here. And for being you. Because without you, none of this would be possible. Fortunately, you *are* you, and this *is* possible, which is where we find ourselves, around about now.

What this is though, perhaps requires some definition. Alternatively it’s painfully obvious: it’s my travel blog. The weblog I am keeping, or, at least, endeavouring, to keep, whilst I am away travelling.

Whoops – did I jump the gun? You’re (I’m) away travelling? Yes, I am. Despite Guernsey being a fabulous place to live and work, my feet got just a little too itchy. After numerous visits to the doctor, I was pleased to hear it was nothing medical and in fact, something else entirely. It was mental. (Not in a “you crazy twat I’m going to rip your fucking head off” kind of mental way, I hasten to add.) Almost, philosophical.

It seems, though, that it’s not an altogether unusual thing – to want to go off and explore for a while – as I’m repeatedly told “you’ll meet so many people on your trip!” – which maybe takes a bit of the gloss off the whole thing. But undoubtedly there are only a handful of people who are lucky enough to be able to do it.

And I’m one of them.

Now, I do have certain things I want to get “straight”, if you will, as a part of this trip, and I’m fully anticipating immersion in a totally different way of life being one excellent way of doing that. Alternatively, a few months of glorious pacific coast surf ought to be another. Failing that, I don’t think you can really put a value on the experience. So it’s win-win, really.

So there it is. I’m Matt and I’m away travelling for awhile. Thanks for stopping by, and please, do stop by again. I’ll be updating this as often as I can. I’d love for you to keep in touch, either via the comments, or via Facebook, or maybe you know my email address.