So after months of planning I have finally started my travels. I dont think it seemed real all the way up until when I left I kept expecting to get scared but didn't at any point. The flight to LA was pretty long but I came off very well with the seat I had. I was sat on with on the four middle seats with the two seats next to me empty so I had plenty of space to spread out. Once I arrived in LA I managed to navigate my way via bus and tube to the hostel so I was very proud of myself.

When I got here I was extremely tired and just wanted to sleep but I met 3 girls that were staying in my room who invited me out for dinner with them so I ignored the tiredness and went out. The next day we all together took a sightseeing bus around hollywood and saw all the sights as well as stopping off to do some shopping in Beverley Hills. I kind of get the impression that Hollywood would have been brilliant 20 years ago but know it all seems a bit dated and manky. Add to that the beggers that are everywhere and it makes it not really my favorite place. We decided the next day to hire a car to go over to Santa Monica and Venice beach. Harriet bravely offered to drive and the woman in the car hire place told us that driving over her is commom sense. Some of the rules over here didnt make sense to us. They are allowed to turn right on a red light which we found very confusing. We did manage to make it down to the beach in one peace though. Unfortuneately when we got there the weather was a lot worse than it had been in hollywood with a mist on the beach, so not really laying on the beach in your bikini weather. We made the most of it though. There were a lot of street performers on Venice beach which were good to watch, then we hired some tandom bikes and rode along the sea front. Those things are not as easy to ride as they look. By the time we got back to the hostel we were all very tired and stressed when we couldnt find anywhere to park the car so it was early to bed for us. I had still not got used to the time difference and kept waking up at about 4 in the morning so in the evenings I was knackered. Very annoying.

Harriet and Sarah were leaving the next day to go off to the Cook Islands and me and Heidi decided a bit on the spur of the moment to go to Vegas. We book a grehound bus to get us there as the flights did not seem to go direct and booked into a hotel for two nights. I was looking forward to the luxury of a hotel room after staying in the hostel even if it was the cheapest hotel we could find. So that night we said goodbye to Harriet and Sarah and set off with all of our bags to the greyhound station to go to Vegas