I have been thinking some more about this Trip to the States. I probably should have done the thinking prior to booking my flights but I usually find that my impulsive decisions work out to be the best decisions in the end, despite the unbelievable amount of 'cons' compared to 'pros'. And there are a lot of cons for this trip. Number 1 in capital letters, bold, underlined and in size 24 font is 'I have no money'. Number 1a is 'I have to deliver leaflets in order to pay for my flight'. Dear Lord. Whenever I find myself doing a ridiculously shite job it's because I have a flight to pay for. Delivering leaflets about the smoking ban is likely to be right up there around number 2 on my lifetime list of shite jobs. Right after the job where I had to sell free kitchens. It's only for 2 days, though. It'll pay for a quarter of my flight. It'll be good exercise.
Number 2 on the list of cons, is 'What if I get lost and/or murdered?'. How capable am I of taking a variety of buses and trains 858 miles across America on my own? And it's more than 858 because that would be directly from Chicago to Boston. I have to go via just about every city and random place of interest that's nearly on the way. I was born to travel the world, I think. Because wherever I am, I know it's near somewhere else. And what's the point in going all the way to America and not going to Memphis? And now that Memphis is on the route, is there any point in not going to New Orleans? Sadly I haven't been able to justify New Orleans as yet, and I'm pretty gutted about that. It doesn't seem do-able but hopefully I can find a way to fit it in. I suppose it's impossible to get lost when you're travelling on Greyhound. They're everywhere, aren't they? Except I have a crap sense of direction and can never find my way back to bus stations. That's what R was good for. She always remembered where the bus station was, and she could read maps. Oh fuck. I'm going to get lost. I'm a bit worried about the possibility of murder but I should be OK if I'm sensible, right? When am I ever sensible?
And number 3. What if I get really lonely? I've never went anywhere on my own. Except that time I went to London for a night and was too self conscious to even go into a restaurant so I got stuck eating Subway for dinner and watching Eastenders in the hotel. I was different back then, though. I've changed. I'll meet people. I'll be thin, as well, so I'll be all confident and beautiful and everyone will want to talk to me. Or murder me.
I can't get over the thought of Number 4... 'the Return of the Backpack'. I thought I'd got rid of that fucking thing for a while, but it seems that I'll be getting it back out of the loft sooner than everybody expected. It has pretty flags sewn on it from last summer so at least it'll look a bit nicer, and everyone will think I'm an experienced world traveller, and be impressed. I can buy a US flag too. At least I have learned some lessons and it will no longer be subject to excess baggage charges. I will be casually throwing it over my shoulder and running to catch buses instead of having to do warm up exercises every time I want to pick it up. Another trip also means the return of the *shudder* travel towel. I might have to buy a new one. It still smells a bit and we were stupid enough to insist on saving about £1.50 to buy a medium instead of extra extra extra large. Which would've been normal towel sized, instead of face cloth sized.
OK so there's a few cons. But now that I've went for it and confirmed the flights, paid my deposit and bought a Lonely Planet, the cons are irrelevant. Despite them, I am still going to do this. It's only a month, and I'll only be alone for under 3 weeks of that. I think it will be important to me. I think it will improve me and make me more confident. I think it'll be fun, and exciting, and interesting.
I can't wait.
Number 2 on the list of cons, is 'What if I get lost and/or murdered?'. How capable am I of taking a variety of buses and trains 858 miles across America on my own? And it's more than 858 because that would be directly from Chicago to Boston. I have to go via just about every city and random place of interest that's nearly on the way. I was born to travel the world, I think. Because wherever I am, I know it's near somewhere else. And what's the point in going all the way to America and not going to Memphis? And now that Memphis is on the route, is there any point in not going to New Orleans? Sadly I haven't been able to justify New Orleans as yet, and I'm pretty gutted about that. It doesn't seem do-able but hopefully I can find a way to fit it in. I suppose it's impossible to get lost when you're travelling on Greyhound. They're everywhere, aren't they? Except I have a crap sense of direction and can never find my way back to bus stations. That's what R was good for. She always remembered where the bus station was, and she could read maps. Oh fuck. I'm going to get lost. I'm a bit worried about the possibility of murder but I should be OK if I'm sensible, right? When am I ever sensible?
And number 3. What if I get really lonely? I've never went anywhere on my own. Except that time I went to London for a night and was too self conscious to even go into a restaurant so I got stuck eating Subway for dinner and watching Eastenders in the hotel. I was different back then, though. I've changed. I'll meet people. I'll be thin, as well, so I'll be all confident and beautiful and everyone will want to talk to me. Or murder me.
I can't get over the thought of Number 4... 'the Return of the Backpack'. I thought I'd got rid of that fucking thing for a while, but it seems that I'll be getting it back out of the loft sooner than everybody expected. It has pretty flags sewn on it from last summer so at least it'll look a bit nicer, and everyone will think I'm an experienced world traveller, and be impressed. I can buy a US flag too. At least I have learned some lessons and it will no longer be subject to excess baggage charges. I will be casually throwing it over my shoulder and running to catch buses instead of having to do warm up exercises every time I want to pick it up. Another trip also means the return of the *shudder* travel towel. I might have to buy a new one. It still smells a bit and we were stupid enough to insist on saving about £1.50 to buy a medium instead of extra extra extra large. Which would've been normal towel sized, instead of face cloth sized.
OK so there's a few cons. But now that I've went for it and confirmed the flights, paid my deposit and bought a Lonely Planet, the cons are irrelevant. Despite them, I am still going to do this. It's only a month, and I'll only be alone for under 3 weeks of that. I think it will be important to me. I think it will improve me and make me more confident. I think it'll be fun, and exciting, and interesting.
I can't wait.
