Day 14: Day of the Triffids

An action packed day of searching for and booking out hotels. After worrying about my budget yesterday I planned it all out today and if I can get BA to move my flight forward by a couple of weeks I'll be as good as gold with nothing to worry about. The itinerary has been written in ink and for the most part is set in stone. As it stands, here is what my journey will look like in the end:

Newcastle > London > Chicago > Washington DC > San Francisco > Los Angeles > Toronto > New York City > Chicago > London > Newcastle

I'm now far more optimistic about the rest of the trip and am looking forward to seeing new places. Tomorrow I will spend booking flights and train trips and if there's time I'll head into Chicago. If not, it gives me something to do on Wednesday.

Jambo out.

Day 13: Day-ed, Where's My Car?

Hmm... Strange day today. I've done a lot of thinking and brainstorming with my family and come to some conclusions. I need to start planning stuff for the rest of the holiday. After trying to find a hotel in Washington DC and having to settle for somewhere out in the sticks again I've decided I'd be better off staying in a Hostel as it's going to be a lot cheaper and will give me a more central location. However, the hostels are understandably booked for the next two weeks so what it looks like I'm going to have to do is to book the hostel when it's next available and then try and book something somewhere else in the interim. I've made a list of places I want to visit while I'm over here so hopefully I'll be able to get everything booked.

Also contemplating cutting the trip down by 2-3 weeks and leaving straight after New York as I kinda get the feeling I'd otherwise just spend time in the hotel room/hostel sitting around which I don't want to do. Instead I'd pack as much stuff as possible into a shorter trip which I think is the best way to go about it.

Off to the History Museum tomorrow so I'll mull over the options again and make final decisions/arrangements on Tuesday.

Jambo out.

Day 12: Day Another Day

Well, another day in quiet Illinois. I've started feeling better after what I believe may have been a touch of food poisoning. Had a nice big, hearty meal to celebrate before having a nice chat with Ahsan (Happy Birthday for yesterday, by the way) on iChat. Newcastle United ended up winning again which was nice - we're now two points clear at the top of the league thanks to a hatrick from Kevin Nolan and a rather nice freekick from Ryan Taylor. =D

Since I was feeling better I went grocery shopping and picked up some supplies including some cereal and some milk. Normally this wouldn't be blog-worthy; however, the aforementioned cereal is none other than Lucky Charms! They used to sell Lucky Charms in Britain but for some reason they stopped. I haven't had them in years so I'm hoping they taste as good as 10-year old me tells me they were.

One final quiet day in tomorrow I think - just to make sure I'm feeling fine - then the hustle and bustle of getting everything I want to do done before I leave. There's not too much left on that list though so it shoudln't be too bad.

Jambo out.

Day 11: The Living Day-lights

...

Anyway, it's been heaving it down in Illinois today and with me not feeling very well at all I decided it was best if I stayed in and got some rest. I finally had a shave so I'm no longer rocking the hobo-chic and have spent the day listening to music and reading. Housekeeping was meant to be done today but I think I slept through their attempts to get in.

I had a Skype chat with the family - it was nice to see Basil and Sooty again - and through that managed to find where I want to stay in Washington DC. The hotel is situated in Chinatown and it's meant to be walking distance away from most things of importance which is a huge plus for me. Come to think of it, how come Chinatown is a town? There's no mayor... It's more like a novelty street... Regardless, it's more expensive than it is where I'm currently staying but it'll definitely be worth paying that little bit extra to be more involved with the city and what it has to offer.

I'm not sure what I've got planned for the weekend. If I'm still unwell I probably won't stray too far. I'll probably just get stuff sorted out for the DC leg of the trip and see about going up the Willis Tower Skydeck.

Jambo out.