The United States of America is a country in North America comprised of fifty states with a population of over 300 million people. USA is the third or fourth largest country in the world, tying with China. Coming from an ally of the US, the UK is only the 79th largest country in the world!, smaller than Spain, France, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Italy and even Guinea but still larger than countries such as Portugal, Belarus, Austria and Netherlands so that puts it into perspective as to the scale of my country which at 79th is still tiny compared to the US. The US's land area is 3.79 million miles compared to the UK's just under 95,000 miles. America has one of the most ethnically diverse populations of all countries due to full - scale immigration from other countries.

The American culture is what intrigues me, the over the top glitz which has interested me for many years, I think that America is a culture icon. Where else do you hear such mainstream music or watch films as those that are created in the United States. American culture greatly differs from the kind that Im used to because American culture has a tendency to hype pop culture into an everyday substance of living. Its the kind of country where you read a newspaper and a lot of content is devoted to stories of no substance such as what club Paris Hilton parties at.. interesting but very shallow or you turn the TV on and see more reality TV shows with bratty rich kids than programmes about why people in other countries are staving and dying and many people continue eating dinner and say 'oh thats a shame' and continue what they'r doing. It's a country obsessed with pop culture to the point of oh my god I don't care that Lindsay Lohan is going to rehab! How does that affect my life in the slightest?! Id much rather read about something more meaningful. How often do you see the Czech Republic's top music star being busted for drugs or the political race in Zambia? it just doesnt happen.

This is no way a bitch about America, its just my views. England is now following the trend, i remember recently stories in the UK press about how soldiers are being treated after returning from active duty in the middle east, being sworn at and berated, i also remember a unit's parade where not one member of the public turned up to thank them for their roles in securing freedom for the Iraqi and Afghani people, this made me ashamed to be English. These people put their lives on the line for us and fight today so we can all have a tomorrow. Anyway back to the real reason, ever since I was young, they're it was America in all her beauty, probably the most well - known country and most talked about country in the world. Its politics and goings on are a daily focus for us, how often do you hear American music or watch an American film or use an American style of speaking? Probably nearly everyday, its influences are far reaching and are really very interesting. i know sometimes I do it a lot, i'll speak with an american accent without even realising it. The American major film studios output some of the most commercially successful films in the global film market in the world.

American Cinema with its array of Hollywood heavyweights has had a profound effect worldwide since the 1900's and is credited in my opinion with producing some of the most interesting movies of the last 50 years, id say 9/10 of all films I own are American. The variety of dance, music, theatre, architecture, literature and poetry is expertly catered for, every sub culture has its own outlet and market. This is what I like about America, its loud, proud and beautiful and we wouldnt have it any way! It drives you crazy but you always find yourself coming back to it. This is why I wanted to visit so many different places in America, to see how each place is different and how the culture differentiates from each place I visited from small town Kentucky to the bright lights of New York and immersing yourself into every day life will leave you totally enthralled and you will come away with a new found respect and admiration for a very cultured and friendly country. I hear a lot of people say 'Only in America!' and its true, only in America :) thats what makes it so special and im sure they wouldnt know it otherwise! Dont be afraid to look under the surface, theres more than what meets the eye. Dont assume its all the same, its best to go without assuming anything! After spending 6 weeks in the United States, im now one of its biggest fans!

Now the whole raison d'etre of this trip was initially to meet up with Emmy in Portland and to head down to Puerto Vallarta with her for a fortnight then spend a week in Portland before heading back to the UK.  The last six months or so have been hard - bad relationships, work it had taken its toll, i needed to get away, to rediscover myself and experience new things. I booked my flights but then decided to extend my ticket which cost me £100 as I first delayed my return from 23rd April -> 1st May and then to 8th May. My flights were very reasonable, to Portland Oregon from London Gatwick flying with Continental and a layover in Newark cost me about £450 return trip but cost me £550 because I had to pay to extend my ticket. My flights to Mexico from Portland with a layover in Denver cost $430 so £215 which was very good because this was about 5 1/2 hours on a plane! and i didnt have to pay accomodation costs in Mexico. My daily budget for the whole trip worked out at $60 a day which I would need for food, drinks and all other sight seeing stuff. I was very lucky as my money ran out on the last day so I had budgeted well for the trip.

 All the internal US flights were very reasonable, i managed to get a direct flight from NYC to Jacksonville return for $179 with Delta! I got free flights to Vegas thanks to a fellow travbuddy! and I flew first class to San Diego from Portland for a very reasonable $280 which wouldnt even get me business class in the UK!! I factored each stop around having to be back in Portland for Emmy's birthday on the 22nd April and to leave from New York on the 8th of May which explains the crazy cross country bouncing around! I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoyed my travels around America! :)

I have tried to keep this blog as realistic, unbiased and truthful as possible in order to portray my own experiences and views.

I joined the Postcard Exchange Group on TravBuddy months ago after seeing all the forum posts and it caught my attention! I started talking to other members and started sending out postcards from my hometown and other places Iv visited. The first one I received was from Kim (DCbacpacker) from Wabeno, Wisconsin and others started to pour in, thanks so much everyone. Theres something exciting about the anticipation of getting a postcard in the post! I love being a member of the group, check out the following pages for the wonderful postcards Iv received from members of the TB community! Thanks so much everyone!

So its Tuesday 25th March, the day before my 6 week trip away from home. I wake up nervous but also so excited, i cant wait to get away from work and my family and just enjoy myself and chill a little. Our family is having a mini crisis at the moment due to my brother getting himself into huge debt blah blah blah and iv had to live at home with all this bull going on so it was getting hard and i was just about ready to leave. So anyway, my manager let me finish work early on Monday in order to finish my packing, so i work 8 - 5 on Tuesday, i can hardly wait to finish work im so excited im literally going crazy. My stepsister and brothers are visiting from Ireland and we´r celebrating Niamh´s 10th birthday when i get home so everyones there and we have lots of yummy food and cake and i dont realise the time and before i know it, its 11pm and i still havent finished sorting stuff out.

 Everyone says goodbye and i get a few presents and well wishes. Im worried already, my suitcase is very full, i actually had to sit on it for it to close, then i decide to take everything out and fold some of my clothes down even more. As i near the bottom of the suitcase some of my clothes seem to have a blue goo on them and then i realise S###! I PUT MY TOILETRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF MY BAG! and my shower gel has leaked everywhere  yuk yuk! silly i didnt think to put my gooey stuff into a bag so i clean it all out and decide to leave my shampoos and stuff behind, i have to leave a couple of foamy t shirts behind aswell hehe. After iv sorted all this stuff out i manage to fall asleep pretty easily strange considering how excited I was. I say goodnight to my mama and kiss her and she gives me the usual lecture dont do this stuff hehe.

 My stepdad is taking me to the airport in the morning, he usually takes me hes very nice like that. Tomorrow night I will be 6000 miles from home (wahoo finally!), this excites and yet terrifies me. Its a huge step for me, but I have the travel bug and im gonna be damned if I dont scratch it! :p I cant imagine not being able to travel, once you start you cant stop its that simple!

I woke up early and my mama was taking me to the airport for once. She dropped me off around 9am, my flight was leaving at about 1pm, i tried to check in at Northwest but i was flying back from New York with Delta (booooo!) The Northwest agent told me i had to go to the other terminal and get my return itinerary printed out as there may be a problem at immigration if i dont show a return ticket so i caught the monorail over to the other terminal and the guy at Delta printed it out for me so i hopped back on the monorail to the Northwest gate and they checked me in, i rather innocently asked how much it would be to upgrade and she said 'thousands!' and i was like 'doh' but she was so sweet, she told me that it was a very empty flight so id probably get a good choice of seats anyway.

 So I was on my way, this is where it got amusing, I got to security and just as i went through the metal detector all the fire alarms went off. I nearly had a heart attack as i thought it was the metal detector alarm and i thought i was going to be shot or something! there was a screening agent on one side from the before security area and he said 'come back and evacuate the building' and a a screening agent on the gate side told me to grab my stuff and told me my gate was in the other side of the terminal and i could hurry and wait there as it was far away and i wouldn't need to evacuate so i grabbed my bag and hurried through the terminal.

I was the last person to go through security, they turned everyone back around to evacuate! There was a small crowd of about 75 people moving towards the fire exit door and i was trying to squeeze my way through so i could get to my gate and i suddenly saw a face I recognised. It was Mr Beck, the vice principal of the school that i had attended! He recognised me straight away and asked me about where I was off to, he was on his way to Pisa as the school were setting up an art exchange programme, how crazy is it seeing someone you know in a busy airport that handles well over 35 million people a year?!

I finally made it to my gate and I called a few friends and said hi and bye to all and reiterated the fact that I was going to New York mwahahaha! There was only about 150 people on the whole flight to Detroit, i got 3 seats all to myself and it was a very good flight, i watched 'The Nanny Diaries' and 'Die Hard 3' haha which kept me amused for a while. Arrived into Detroit around 5.30pm and my flight to NYC left around 7.20ish, it took quite a long time to get through immigration though which was a pain. Then i made my way to my gate and sat there,

 I was flying on Northwest again. The flight was at full capacity but it was fine because the flight time was only about an hour, flying into LaGuardia was pretty cool, we flew right by Manhattan over the Hudson River and everything was all lit up and sparkling and glitzy and was wonderful to look at. YAY New York!

 Its Thursday morning at work, im busy as usual.. it was my birthday on Monday.. I hear my phone ringing, i recognise Monarch's number.. i answer it and speak to a lady who tells me 'Congratulations Daniel!' and Im just so happy, im shaking and speechless! i find out only 2 other people from the interview were also successful! I have a job with an airline!! oh my god!!! my life long dream!! she sends all the information out to me and i begin the process! my mum and stepdad are happy but my mum cries, she doesnt want me to leave home. My training is to start soon, I have so much to do, my boss is also very quiet about the whole thing.. i think he is sad aswell. Im happy though!!!

This was the day I took the first step of ever travelling on my own, i book my tickets for my US trip. A mix of excitement, nerves and spontaneity... What this trip holds for me is unknown but Im going to face it and open myself up to new experiences and i cant wait to begin!

This is the account of my birthday trip to Dublin and Belfast with two other TravBuddies (lovely_lori88 and globetrottingmike) both whom I met for the first time at the London TravBuddy meetup in Feb of 08 and instantly liked! Lori and Mike expressed interest in seeing Ireland with me for a few days, we booked our flights and accomodation and we were off! We got the 10am flight with Ryanair from Gatwick, i couldnt find a way to get to the airport as my parents are on holiday in Turkey at the moment so had to take the 4.50am train from Dover to London Victoria aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I didnt get to sleep until about 1.30am as I was so excited and my eyes were square after too many hours on TB! My alarm woke me about 3.40am and i checked i had everything, I ordered a taxi before I went to sleep as theres no way in hell im lugging my suitcase down my road for a mile at 4am! It was also pouring rain, got to the train station about 4.30am and instantly I checked my bag again for everything and realised I didnt have my camera with me, i opened my suitcase on the train and shouted 'DAMNNNNN!!' I had stupidly left it on the kitchen table DOHHHHH!! i didnt have time to go home and pick it up unfortunately so I'd have to do without it. Arrived into London Victoria about 7am and it was SOOOO cold i couldnt stop my teeth chattering, i actually dove into the WH Smiths there and hid under the heater and pretended to read a book until Lori got there. She rang me about 7.15 and i quickly met her and exchanged big hugs! we bought the cheapest train tickets to Gatwick which cost us about £10 on the SouthEastern trains, it left at about 7.35 and we got to the airport about 8.20 and we quickly met Mike and joined the long queue for check in! Luckily my suitcase was only 11KGS yay! I know Ryanair are W######, the check in were friendly though. We headed through security and went to the toilets and i quickly dove in a duty free to splash myself in some fine smelling man liquid! (by that i mean Hugo Boss!!) :o and we went to go get breakfast as our flight was delayed 15 mins and Lori was out with her camera ready already taking photos, the loveable tourist! We finished up breakfast and had to dash to the gate, the flight was fairly full and also a surprisingly good flight, I was impressed Ryanair but we did leave almost 40minutes later.

 Got to Dublin and text Helen (witch_way) (I accidentally left my phone turned ON on the airplane O EMMMMMMM GEEEEEE!) and told her she couldnt miss us as we were dressed as elves to which she replied 'im going!!' which made us laugh, we met her at the meeting point and i was sooooo excited to meet her after chatting for ages on travbuddy! this woman is AMAZING!!!!!!! she is so beautiful, friendly and she smelt GORGEOUS! She drove us to our hostel and she even bought us some scones and jam!! what a sweetheart!! WE LOVE YOU HELEN!! we then went for lunch in a nearby restaurant and Helen told us some great stories and we arranged to go out the following evening as she had to dash to work. After this we went to a pharmacy place over the road and i was playing with these candles and i dropped one so i bent down and picked it up and this chemist guy who was about 35 walked past and was proper checking me out, i smiled wide and posed! hahahaha! Im not used to it so it was funny.

Next we went to an icecream place and had some really tasty icecream. We then walked around Dublin for a while, a very beautiful city and headed back to the hostel and made dinner (well done Lori excellent job!!) i fell asleep. Lori apparently woke me about 5pm and asked me if i wanted to go into town with her and mike and i said no id stay here which i cant even remember doing! i was too busy dreaming about the chemist guy haha! I woke up around 6 and about 20 minutes later Mike and Lori got back and we got dressed and went out to a few bars and had a few drinkies and then went back and fell asleep. The early flight wiped me out but we'd had a great day and was so looking forward to the next day in Dublin!

I am leaving America after 6 weeks with only $2! hahahahaha! I left Newark at 8.30 on Thursday night, my flight was with Continental and for some reason an employee had accidentally cancelled the last portion of my travel with them so it took me ages to sort that out with them and i enjoyed being told i was very special several times because it hardly ever happens the customer service woman said! boarded the plane and it was a big Boeing 757 and no lie there were about 50 people on the whole plane! about 12 in business class and the rest in economy, i got 3 seats to myself so i was happy, it was small inside only 2 rows of 3 on each side, i listened to the music channel (showtunes of course),some rocky turbulence kept me awake. Landed about 9am in London as we'd been delayed leaving Newark as there was heavy traffic.  Met mama outside Gatwick and was so happy to see her!! YAY!! The sun is so hot, we stop at services to get coffee and i realise im back in the UK when it costs me over £2.50 for a small coffee! We got home about 11am and my cat sees me and runs.. ha thanks Jess :( I get showered and we head into town, i pop into work and see everyone and then into town and I see everyone and their friends in town I spend most of the afternoon talking with people and shopping with my mum, i dont feel tired at all although iv hardly slept. I go to the gay bar in the evening and theres big hugs all around and I have a god awful stupid grin im so happy to be home, I stay for a few drinks and Joe my friend gives me a lift home. My parents have gone out so I unpack and watch Saw 4.. what a horrible movie yuk!

Chaplins is located in my hometown of Dover. It first opened 18 years ago and it quickly became popular with locals and tourists with its variety of home cooked English food. The staff are professional and welcoming (i was especially when i worked there :D ), a lot of customers are tourists and Chaplins is located near the Market Square near to the Port of Dover and the Castle. A meal costs up to £10 including drinks, all the food is home cooked and freshly prepared and very yummy! Some of the customer favourites are cottage pie, steak and kidney pie, lasagne, roast lamb, roast chicken and also our coffees and desserts are famous in Dover for being so tasty! They are also currently doing renovations there in order to bring it up to date and its looking good. I always hear great reviews from people that have eaten there and i should know, its really good! Chaplins has a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere and is a great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner !

With or arrival late the evening before, we got an early start in Dover. A short walk from our lodging at Linden Guest House, brought us right into the city center. We made the rounds, then headed toward the beach where we could get a better look at the famous cliffs. Further on, we took advantage of a tour through Dover Castle. Even through WWII, the castle served a purpose. Providing Churchill and British forces with a base of operations. Both ancient and modern histories were interesting to learn. Though a hazy day, the view of Dover itself was great. The grounds around the castle were well maintained and offered plenty ofgood photo opportunities. After our tour, we headed down to the ferry to make passage on  Stena Sealink  to Calais, France. The trip was relaxing and would prove to have an interesting aside later. A week and a half afterwards, while we were still travelling, we heard the ferry we were on ran aground. Our passage had been smooth sailing and quite comfortable.

The Linden Guest House is run by Jean and Roger Walkden. A very pleasant and informative couple. We stayed just one night, and upon our arrival, they let us see the room and engaged us with a lively chat about the area. The room itself was quite nice in my estimate. An en-suite room. I've stayed in some real dives along my travels, but this wasn't one of them! The furnishings were typical, I think, of contemporary European design. Cool woods and linens. Clean and efficient. The same could be said about the room. Nice size for two. The only drawback for me was the size of the shower. I'm 6'3" and fortunately it was a corner shower! I did good to fit in to it. Despite a busy street out front, the room was quiet. We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast and then strolled the two blocks into the hub of Dover. I'd go back in a heart beat.

The Kingfisher is a gay bar/pub in my town of Dover. Its been open since August of 2007 and is a really fun place to hang out. To quote my best friend Heather 'Its the only place in the world where by 8 o'clock i'll be dancing the hokey cokey with a transvestite whilst sipping a lemonade!' There is free admission every night of the week, with special events planned for nearly every week including 'pink quizzes', party nights, drag acts and fancy dress practically ever week. It really is so much fun and I usually visit about once a week, the best night to go is a Friday night as the music is always great and its always busy! The people are very friendly and the bar staff - Shaun, Lee, Grace and Nathan are all good fun. A new lighting and pa system is currently being installed as is a DJ booth. This month there is drink promos all month with shots only 1 pound! woo hoo! There is a main lounge upstairs complete with a new snooker table. The Kingfisher is a very friendly and extremely fun and lively place to party and is one of my favourites. If you like gay places, believe me there is none gayer than this in the area so give it a try if you're ever in Dover, its fabulous!

did i mention fuck the uk?

Dover Museum is one of the oldest museums in Kent, founded over 150 years ago in 1836. In 1991 the museum was rehoused in a new three-storey building behind its original Victorian facade. The history galleries tell the story of the development of the town and port with original objects, graphics and models. A major addition to the museum is the Dover Bronze Age Boat gallery. This major new gallery tells the story of the excavation and preservation of the Dover Boat, as well as exploring major themes of the Bronze Age, using artefacts, replicas, models, video, computer interactives, hands-on exhibits and illustrated panels. The ground floor exhibitions trace Dover's history from the Stone Age to the Saxons, and include Britain's earliest shipwreck, the building of Dover's Roman forts, and gorgeous Saxon jewellery from the collections of the British Museum. The first floor is devoted to a special exhibition about Victorian Dover. The top floor gallery is the largest. Six scale models clearly show the growing town and port of Dover since medieval times, surrounded by cases of the best of the museum's collections. A central information desk gives guidance and information to visitors who wish to know more of Dover's past.

Samphire Hoe sticks out as a childhood memory of days exploring with my brother and my grandma. We'd spend hours roaming around this wonderful site. During the construction of the Channel Tunnel, the area was known as the Shakespeare Cliff Lower Construction Platform. In 1994 a competition was organised by Eurotunnel and the Dover Express to find a new name for the newest part od England. Hundreds of entries were received, from which the judges chose Samphire Hoe. Gillian Janaway came up with the name. Having been an English teacher she was familiar with Shakespeare's King Lear. 'There is a cliff whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep.......The crows and choughs that wing the midway air scarce so gross as beetles; halfway down hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!'. At the time that William Shakespeare was writing King Lear he was said to have travelled through Dover. It was his familiarity with the cliffs that may well have inspired his descriptions. To this day the first cliff on the West side of Dover is known as Shakespeare cliff. Rock Samphire was once collected from the cliffs, its fleshy green leaves were picked in May and pickled in barrels of brine and sent to London, where it was served as a dish to accompany meat. The samphire that is eaten today is marsh samphire, also known as glasswort or salicornia; it grows on the upper edges of salt marshes. It is unrelated to rock samphire, which grows on the eroding edges of the cliffs. Its seeds were also sown onto the top edge of the sea wall at the Hoe. A 'hoe' is a piece of land which sticks out into the sea.