Happy Times on the Bus

We spent 23 days travelling across North America and I would say that on average we spent maybe 30 hours a week on the Contiki coach. Naturally, it became our second home.

Coach trips were a chance to do a lot of thinking and I am still unsure as to whether that was a good thing or not. I spent a lot of time going over past experiences, lost loves, old friends and future prospects. I gained a new perspective on situations that I thought were dead and buried and I realised I know a couple of people who deserve my apologies.

Coach trips were also a chance to get to know people, have a laugh and take in the beautiful scenery. They were an opportunity to catch up on sleep, recover from a hangover, read and learn to love new songs. My crew and I would often grab the back seats which had more leg room and settle in for eight-hour stints. It wouldn’t be long before the daily iPod wars started.

Some people at the front were partial to none stop Bon Jovi, our tour manager liked obscure rock music and we just wanted to some easy listening R&B or Motown. It’s amazing how much emotion music choice can stir up in people and we would often just resort to shouting things towards the front or swapping the iPods when no one was looking. Childish but so much fun.

Some driving stints were just spent taking it in turns with Brendan to choose songs from his iPod, playing each other on phone scrabble or talking about our lives back home. I found it fascinating hearing where other people had grown up and how their childhoods had differed from mine.

Another part of the coach journeys were the rest stops. We would generally be let loose on a range of fast food restaurants. I swear if I never see another Wendy’s, Arby’s or Denny’s again it will be too soon. I could easily live without Walmart too. I once spent nearly the whole lunch hour searching for a sandwich, that place is unnecessarily huge. But anyway, the stops were spent sunbathing and chatting - and sharing a whole roast chicken in a car park has never felt more natural.

Boston - Where Everybody Knows Your Name

We set off from New York horrendously early, departing for Boston, MA at around 7:30am.

Everyone was checking each other out and I wondered which of the bunch I would have my arms flung around in a drunken haze by the end of the week.

A few hours later as we were pulling into the city, I felt physically exhausted by the situation. It sounds awful but I was tired of explaining who I was, where I came from and where I was going, 50 times over. I felt really guilty about this but I think I was just keen to get past that initial polite stage. It turned out all we needed was a good night out. That evening we ate at ‘Dick’s Last Resort’ where the purpose of the waiting staff is to be as rude as possible to customers. They practically threw our drinks at us and I was genuinely scared whilst giving my food order! It was lots of fun though and followed up by a night of dancing and bonding at a local bar.

On the first day we had our group photograph taken in front of the Boston skyline and I felt really happy. I loved Boston. It was a huge shock to me because for some reason I was expecting a grimy city full of grey high rise buildings and seedy backstreets. It had none of the above. Everything was beautiful. The lakes, the architecture, the parks and the high streets have all been meticulously planned to combine that hustle and bustle feel of city living with beautiful open spaces for sunbathing and swimming. The people are brash but charming with a fantastic accent and the locals were fascinated to hear where we had come from.

The weather was glorious that day and after visiting the Cheers Bar (where everybody knows your name!) we wandered over to Boston Common to watch a battle re-enactment. Boston is steeped in history and I loved learning about the struggle of the Irish immigrants in the 1800’s, while things like the obvious fierce rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox just add to its fantastic character. All in all it was a great start to the tour.