I never expected to like the USA, having got the opportunity to go on the cheap (through a work trip) I wasn’t going to turn it down, but it was never on my list of places to go. Yet, through that first trip, it drew me in, it is a land of contradictions, a mass of diverse people and a land of beautiful vistas.
The USA is big. Really big. Our road trip from LA, to San Diego, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Carmel and finally back to LA, only gave us a tiny glimpse into life here. Having never driven on the ‘wrong’ side of the road before, I was nervous about pulling out of the airport in our fancy convertible Mustang. Not only was it an automatic, but was about 3 times as big as my Fiat 500 who was waiting for me back home. Yet the hugeness of the roads, the lack of roundabouts and their tendency to just point in a straight line (along with the obligatory sat nav) meant that I had nothing to fear.
I have not experienced anything in Europe that can quite match the American highway. Sure, you have the autobahn in Germany, but even that is not as smooth, as straight or as liberating as the open American road. There is something exciting about knowing that you can drive on the same road for days at a time (sometimes in the same straight line). The USA road trip evokes a feeling of adventure, even if the reality is more eating Cheetos, listening to country music and watching the landscape go on and on forever.
The big cities we went to were great, I love San Diego with its quirky, Mexican vibe or San Francisco with its trams and crazy weather, but the process of getting there is as enjoyable as the destination. There is the thrill of stopping off at weird cafes and diners (you have to go to the Fred Flintstone themed diner if you are ever heading East to the Grand Canyon – possibly the most bizarre place I have ever been to), the sudden panic that there hasn’t been a petrol station for 150 miles and the gradual realisation that whilst a convertible was a great idea in Vegas, by the time you get to Lake Tahoe (in April) it may have been a bad idea!
There will be more road trips to come, more places to explore, more random diners to eat in! There are so many amazing places and people contained within this one crazy country – a country I can feel drawing me back to explore.
Luxury Explorers 