Wow. What a strange, wonderful, scary few weeks it has been. Coming back to Vancouver has been the single most eye-opening part of the adventure so far. This is not just the effects of finally having some semblance of structure (not to mention a consistently warm, comfortable place to stay, constant hot water and sushi for under five dollars), but being back here really feels like coming home. Jen and Andrew - I can not thank you enough for your continued hospitality. And Shane, two minutes together and it's like 1997 all over again. I love you both so much. Familiarity is a wonderful thing. But it has also made me ache. For what, though, I am not entirely sure. Amidst the craziness of the last three weeks (and it HAS been crazy; a week with Jen, then Shane arrived and all hell broke loose, THEN Bob and Helen arrived and we drove to Banff for Pam's wedding. I need a week just to recover) I have had news from back home that has both thrilled me and knocked me sideways. My best friends are pregnant - Joanne with her third and (perhaps most significantly) Pete and Kirsty with their first. And then I find out that my brother and his wife and pregnant with their fourth (so much for being gay and therefore not having to worry about the cost of kids. If my friends and family don't quit soon Christmas will require a bank loan...).
As excited as I am, I am also gutted. I will miss out not only on all the births, but also sharing this fantastic time with the people that I love the most. And this may sound awfully selfish, but all this marriage and pregnancy, all this domestic stability that is shaping the lives of my friends, has caused me to have more than a few 'what the fuck am I doing?' moments of late. The giddy exhilaration of the last few months has at times given way to a feeling of emptiness. During the last few weeks I have felt a little adrift, wandering around at the age of 29 with no clue about my life, what I want to do with it and where I should do it once I have figured that out. Whilst the lives of the people I love take an ever more constant and stable form, mine seems to be unraveling at an alarming rate. Am I doing this backwards? Also, Bob leaves for good in two days and I will well and truly be on my own. We won't see each other now until next summer and I can't help but feel the last few months has finally marked the end of an era for us both. I know we'll always be part of each other's lives but it's sad in a way because because I know things will never be the same again. Sometimes your life moves forward with such force and significance that you can actually hear the gears changing...
However... now the wedding's over, Bob's on his way and the shock of the pregnancies has settled, now that plans are afoot for the next leg of the trip in SE Asia with Denise, the insecurities and uncertainties are once again fading away. Looking again to the future, I realise more than ever how much I needed this year. This time last year I was caught up in Luke and certain that that one was going to go the distance and when I think about how far I have come from that and where I am now, the giddy buzz of possibility kicks in and I realise that this is one chapter in my life that will play exactly my way. The ending may not be written yet but so far the story is shaping up nicely...
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
I'm a star in New York, I'm a star in LA...
I have spent the last week in holiday mode, which isn't good. In South America I found myself walking past restaurants because a meal was 50p cheaper up the road. Four weeks in the USA, whizzing around in a convertible with a CD player and fast food on every corner and I am now spending five dollars in a service station on coffee and snacks that I don't really need, or want. Quite bizarre when you consider that not too long ago I was haggling on a street corner in Guatemala with a shoeless old woman about her overpriced bananas... I guess the States will do that to you. I have also developed an unhealthy addiction to beef jerky... It's amazing how quickly you adapt to a culture when you are suddenly and completely exposed to it.
A major irony about this leg of the trip is how difficult things have been. In S andCentral America internet was ridiculously cheap and always available, calling home was a breeze and finding cheap and mostly clean accommodation was a doddle. Here I find myself struggling with overpriced phone cards, automated response telephone services ('to hear these instructions in English, press 1. To stab your eyes out with frustration because all you want to do is speak to a bloody human being, press 2) and retarded 17 year old customer services assistants called LaFwonda and Shanice. As for accommodation, well, I have stayed in some true horrors over the last two weeks. In Utah the only place for miles was a Bates Motel rip off where it was 110 degress with no aircon and I was attacked in the middle of the night by a swarm of beasties that got in under the two inch gap in the door. Couldn't get a room in Vegas as there was a huge convention on so ended up driving twenty miles out of the city at one in the morning and stayed at a place that clearly hadn't been refurbed since it opened in 1974. All tweed lampshades and orange plastic chairs. Actually I quite liked it there... And my personal favourite; the 'Encore Motel' in LA, whose banner proudly advertised them as having 'Hourly rates! Mirrored rooms! Free adult movies!' and which was conveniently located next to a 24 hour sex hypermarket with a twenty foot sign outside screaming 'Vaginas R Us!' Classy. After a thorough inspection of the sheets for any dubious stains I managed to catch about 45 minutes sleep...
So, a pretty adventurous couple of weeks what with canyon hiking, gambling and dodging hookers. Oh, also met up with Alison in Vegas for a few cheeky drinks and a good old gossip, which was fab. She delivered to me a new mobile (back up and running... 07974 312524) and also an iPod courtesy of the saintly Mr Battersby, fully loaded with 8,000 tracks (most of which is my CD collection). How did I ever live without it? I have named him Colin and he is truly the love of my life... I have decided to go back to New York for a spell after Canada, then back to Vancouver. Also going to take a road trip (in Idaho! How random?) with the two guys I met at Cedar Point, so won't be hitting Asia 'til I meet Denise in October. Well, what the hell is an itinerary for if you can't completely change it at huge cost?
Well must dash, got a plane to catch. Next stop Vancouver for some gin fuelled frolics with old friends and the wedding of a certain Miss Owen...
Hugs and loveliness to all
John xx
A major irony about this leg of the trip is how difficult things have been. In S andCentral America internet was ridiculously cheap and always available, calling home was a breeze and finding cheap and mostly clean accommodation was a doddle. Here I find myself struggling with overpriced phone cards, automated response telephone services ('to hear these instructions in English, press 1. To stab your eyes out with frustration because all you want to do is speak to a bloody human being, press 2) and retarded 17 year old customer services assistants called LaFwonda and Shanice. As for accommodation, well, I have stayed in some true horrors over the last two weeks. In Utah the only place for miles was a Bates Motel rip off where it was 110 degress with no aircon and I was attacked in the middle of the night by a swarm of beasties that got in under the two inch gap in the door. Couldn't get a room in Vegas as there was a huge convention on so ended up driving twenty miles out of the city at one in the morning and stayed at a place that clearly hadn't been refurbed since it opened in 1974. All tweed lampshades and orange plastic chairs. Actually I quite liked it there... And my personal favourite; the 'Encore Motel' in LA, whose banner proudly advertised them as having 'Hourly rates! Mirrored rooms! Free adult movies!' and which was conveniently located next to a 24 hour sex hypermarket with a twenty foot sign outside screaming 'Vaginas R Us!' Classy. After a thorough inspection of the sheets for any dubious stains I managed to catch about 45 minutes sleep...
So, a pretty adventurous couple of weeks what with canyon hiking, gambling and dodging hookers. Oh, also met up with Alison in Vegas for a few cheeky drinks and a good old gossip, which was fab. She delivered to me a new mobile (back up and running... 07974 312524) and also an iPod courtesy of the saintly Mr Battersby, fully loaded with 8,000 tracks (most of which is my CD collection). How did I ever live without it? I have named him Colin and he is truly the love of my life... I have decided to go back to New York for a spell after Canada, then back to Vancouver. Also going to take a road trip (in Idaho! How random?) with the two guys I met at Cedar Point, so won't be hitting Asia 'til I meet Denise in October. Well, what the hell is an itinerary for if you can't completely change it at huge cost?
Well must dash, got a plane to catch. Next stop Vancouver for some gin fuelled frolics with old friends and the wedding of a certain Miss Owen...
Hugs and loveliness to all
John xx
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Greetings from Shagyasister, Utah!
OK so that's not the real name of the town, but it should be... Actually I am being unfair 'cos Utah is lovely. Spent the last few days driving the convertible through endless miles of deserts (have I spelt that right? Or is it 'desserts'? I'm sure the latter is desserts like ice-cream. Good to see that the A-Level in English was a wise move...) and canyons, blasting out the tunes. Has been amazing. Although at 120 degrees it's a wee bit on the toasty side for me... New York was incredible, didn't want to leave. Went to see 'The Producers', which was every bit as good as I expected and more.
Keeping this quick as net access here is 8 frickin' dollars an hour (compared to, like, 20p for three days in S America) - hence lack of email activity. I'm staying with Jen in Vancouver as of 6th August, so will be back with a vengeance then (when it's Jen who foots the bill - hooray for friends with houses and telephone lines!).
Petie Batts - will transfer money for ipod and phone when I get to Jen's, if that's OK? Let me know how much it is. Pam Pye and Smellie-Hellie - counting down the days til the wedding, so excited 'bout seeing you both again! Even if you will both be wearing meringues... Will be in touch soon to make final arrangements. Wendy-woo - soz not been in touch, hope you're well and my little baby Blackie is behaving herself. Tell her Daddy loves her! Tim - still not forgiven you for the SATC debacle... JR - hope you're well, I'll call you really soon. And Jo - still smiling babe, and I love you lots. Bird - tell me when you leave!
Miss you all tons
John xx
Keeping this quick as net access here is 8 frickin' dollars an hour (compared to, like, 20p for three days in S America) - hence lack of email activity. I'm staying with Jen in Vancouver as of 6th August, so will be back with a vengeance then (when it's Jen who foots the bill - hooray for friends with houses and telephone lines!).
Petie Batts - will transfer money for ipod and phone when I get to Jen's, if that's OK? Let me know how much it is. Pam Pye and Smellie-Hellie - counting down the days til the wedding, so excited 'bout seeing you both again! Even if you will both be wearing meringues... Will be in touch soon to make final arrangements. Wendy-woo - soz not been in touch, hope you're well and my little baby Blackie is behaving herself. Tell her Daddy loves her! Tim - still not forgiven you for the SATC debacle... JR - hope you're well, I'll call you really soon. And Jo - still smiling babe, and I love you lots. Bird - tell me when you leave!
Miss you all tons
John xx
Friday, July 22, 2005
BRITISH BACKPACKER BOMB-PLOT FOILED!
OK, so the next time one of your friends asks you to do them a favour - Just Say No! Someone (yes Tim, that would be you) asked - neigh, begged - me to please please pretty please find Sarah Jessica Parker's apartment and have a photo taken on her stoop (no, that isn't some weird kinky part of the body; a stoop, apparantly, is the name given to the steps outside New York Brownstone houses. So now you know). So being the considerate young (hey! Still under 30 so shut it) man that I clearly am today I dully obliged, finding the address from a frankly scary internet Sex and the City fan-site ('so, did anyone notice in season 3 episode 2 that Carrie started the first scene in a pair of white silk Manolo Blahniks and then later on they were RED?! ' - I always thought such pitful obsessing was reserved for Deep Space 9 fans. How wrong I am). I then hauled my cookies all over Manhattan in serach of said stoop. OK if I'm being honest I was in Central Park and the street was right around the corner, but that's not the point. Anyways, I find the place and yes it's a brownstone and yes it has a 'stoop' so I wanders around taking photos. I'm not really a SATC fan (Samantha notwithstanding, for she is a Goddess and should have her own show as a spin-off. Like 'Joey'. Only funny). So to be honest I wasn't overly thrilled and I didn't really recognise the place anyway. But, it being a hot day I decide it would be nice to sit on the stoop for spell and sip my Snapple (try saying that when you're pissed), which I did, and I got out my little notebook-journal type thingy and started scribbling away. That was when the Policeman showed up. He parked his car right in front of me, got out and walked up to me, demanding to know what I was doing. It would seem that the owner of the house was returning home when she found a red-faced, sweaty, shaven-headed bloke loitering outside her house, taking photographs and making notes in a little black book. Clearly peturbed by this she went back to the corner and stopped a Policeman. I looked up the road and sure enough about 50 yards away behind a tree a nervous-looking elderly lady with big earrings was peering at me suspiciously. I tried to explain to the Policeman (who was quite a large, scary chap) about the photo of the stoop and he clearly didn't believe me because the stoop is actaully located in Greenwich about 50 blocks away. So it would seem that the sad fanatics are wrong. Ha! I shall return to the site and put them in their place. Anyway, in order to convince him I was a retarded tourist rather than a deranged extremist plotting to blow up a leafy side-street in upper Manhattan I ended up having to empty my backpack all over the pavement and also show him the photos I had taken. All in all, not a particularly successful venture. I should have just taken the official bloody SATC tour. OK so it's $35 but you get a complimentary Cosmopolitan and presumably finish the tour without almost getting arrested for suspected terrorism...
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Weds 20th July, Sandusky Ohio
Downtown Sandusky, the very epitome of mid-west America. This place is such a cliche, I love it! Wooden porched houses, each flying the American flag. A place where it's perfectly normal to afflict your children with names such as Britney and Cody. Waitresses named Tammi (note the 'i' instead of the 'y') with huge back-combed hair and bad home dye-jobs wearily serving endless cups of cofee and calling you 'hon'. Hordes of kids wandering around with 'God is the Man!' t-shirts. And a misguided (and, frankly, scary) amount of patriotism. I was chatting to a guy yesterday who asked me if any of my family were involved in the London bombings (by 'involved' I am presuming he meant 'affected' rather than implying my Mum and Auntie Stella strapping expolosives to themselves and riding the Northern Line...). Because obviously I am British and therefore from London... Anyway, he proceded to tell me that he 'don't know what them darn terrorists are thinkin' cos we're just gonna rain it back down on 'em'. Quite. All this while I am waiting in a line behind a guy whose form of political expression is wearing a t-shirt with 'OSAMA BIN LADEN SUCKS! HIS FOLLOWERS SWALLOW!' T-shirt. Honestly, these people would probably spread some potted meat on a cracker and think it was an Hor D' Oeurve...
Anyway... Boat trip in the Bahamas was a bit of a 'mare - I discovered not 5 minutes into the sail that I do not have sea legs and spent the majority of my time feeling nauseas in my cabin. Jesus, it was rough. My only previous water-bound experience was on a 2,000 ton cruise liner and I foolishly thought a sea voyage on a 100-foot sail boat would be similar. You know, gentle rocking, lunchtime bingo and endless martinis. Oh no. Aside from the occassional glimpse of gin-clear waters through the window reminding me I was, in fact, in the Bahamas I felt like an extra in 'The Perfect Storm'. I did, however, have a fab week with Denise and I also learned some new things:
1) How to make beds with military precision.
2) The art of folding towells into pretty flower shapes.
3) Lying on the bed on your back, with arms and legs splayed out like a retarded starfish, is by
far the best way to avoid being flung across your cabin in the middle of the night.
In other news, I have had the most amazing three days at Cedar Point, the theme park I have been gagging to visit for years. It was just incredible. Imagine taking apart all the rides at Alton Towers and putting all the pieces back together to make one enormous mega-ride. And you wouldn't even be close to Top Thrill Dragster, which launches you at 120 MPH into a 420 foot 90 degree climb before dropping you, vertically, down the other side. Awesome! I also met some rather smashing chaps (hi John and Pat!) who adopted me on my first day. These guys are even bigger coaster freaks than me - we arrived at 8.30am on day 2 and didn't leave the park until 11.30pm, only stopping to (begrudgingly) eat once. That's 15 hours of rides! Those guys are seriously disturbed. Finally, I meet somebody on my wavelength...
So, I now have to drive back to Cleveland (being behind the wheel of a car again has been great. For me anyway. Probably not for the poor Yanks who have to endure my driving). Then an overnight Greyhound bus. Next stop - New York, New York! Start spreadin' the news, baby...
Bye for now
Juan xxx
Anyway... Boat trip in the Bahamas was a bit of a 'mare - I discovered not 5 minutes into the sail that I do not have sea legs and spent the majority of my time feeling nauseas in my cabin. Jesus, it was rough. My only previous water-bound experience was on a 2,000 ton cruise liner and I foolishly thought a sea voyage on a 100-foot sail boat would be similar. You know, gentle rocking, lunchtime bingo and endless martinis. Oh no. Aside from the occassional glimpse of gin-clear waters through the window reminding me I was, in fact, in the Bahamas I felt like an extra in 'The Perfect Storm'. I did, however, have a fab week with Denise and I also learned some new things:
1) How to make beds with military precision.
2) The art of folding towells into pretty flower shapes.
3) Lying on the bed on your back, with arms and legs splayed out like a retarded starfish, is by
far the best way to avoid being flung across your cabin in the middle of the night.
In other news, I have had the most amazing three days at Cedar Point, the theme park I have been gagging to visit for years. It was just incredible. Imagine taking apart all the rides at Alton Towers and putting all the pieces back together to make one enormous mega-ride. And you wouldn't even be close to Top Thrill Dragster, which launches you at 120 MPH into a 420 foot 90 degree climb before dropping you, vertically, down the other side. Awesome! I also met some rather smashing chaps (hi John and Pat!) who adopted me on my first day. These guys are even bigger coaster freaks than me - we arrived at 8.30am on day 2 and didn't leave the park until 11.30pm, only stopping to (begrudgingly) eat once. That's 15 hours of rides! Those guys are seriously disturbed. Finally, I meet somebody on my wavelength...
So, I now have to drive back to Cleveland (being behind the wheel of a car again has been great. For me anyway. Probably not for the poor Yanks who have to endure my driving). Then an overnight Greyhound bus. Next stop - New York, New York! Start spreadin' the news, baby...
Bye for now
Juan xxx
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