Life on the run
Trip Start
Jul 15, 2004
1
16
52
Trip End
Apr 05, 2005
Los Angles, California
Monday, September 27, 2004
1. Everybody in USA expects a tip. It adds at least a dollar on to the price of everything. That is if you are soft and tip everyone. I am a bit tight, so haven't tipped anyone, but the expectation is still there.
2. This place is so big, it takes hours to get anywhere. Take a look at the map. The journey from LA to San Fransisco took nine hours; from Boston to Washington eight hours and from Flagstaf(2 hours East of Pheonix) to LA ten hours.
3. Public transport is crap. Everyone in England thinks they have a hard time and that the government should do something to improve the situation, but British public transport is far better than it is in the States. Virtually every bus or train we have caught has been delayed, sometimes by 2-3 hours. Bring back British rail.
4. You get the feeling this is actually quite a poor country. There are so many homeless people here. Far more than you see in England or Europe.
5. English is a problem. Most people in Europe speak better English than they do here. In some places, Spanish is the first language.
6. There are hundreds of TV channels. Unfortunately they all show rubbish programs.
7. Everywhere you go people are really helpful, sometimes a bit too helpful, but it`s nice anyway.
8. It is so easy to find your way about in the cities because they are all layed out on a grid system, most of them with numbered streets or avenues.
I will have to go, our flight is being called.
