When it comes to describing Stuart and Emily's suburban home on the outskirts of Vancouver, I almost find myself lost for words. I think the expression I'm looking for rhymes with Plucky Dastards. Seriously, once you get out of the downtown area, suburban Vancouver - at least, the bit of it I've seen - is very much a collection of leafy tree lined avenues on gently sloping hillsides, filled with those curious gable-end houses with extra floors and attractive exte...

Luckily for my dwindling budget at this point, Dad and I have a family friend who happens to live in Vancouver and he has very kindly offered to give me somewhere to stay while I'm in town. On my last night in Seattle, therefore, I phoned ahead and made sure that everything was still okay, and rang the local bus and train information hotline to find out which bus would take me across the Canadian border. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I had imagined that t...

Ok, so what does one do with a week in Seattle? Well, quite a lot it seems. On my first night, I arrived in the city quite late and only had time for a quick look around before falling into bed exhausted from a long day of airport delays and all the other delights associated with travel. Over the last few days, however, I have had a proper chance to become acquainted with the city and to get well and truly lost among its streets. Being Sunday, the city was relati...

I wandered right through the downtown area to the part of the city the locals call the far east side - this is where the harbour front is. Considering how many great things I'd heard about it from the receptionist at the hotel and other people I've spoken to over the last few weeks in America, the harbour was strangely difficult to get to. For a start, whoever worked out the layout of Seattle didn't seem to put a lot of thought into it as there was a huge freeway...

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the airport in Seattle was the abrupt change in temperature. It's the first time on this entire trip that I have had to wear a jacket just to walk the streets - unless, of course, you count the bullet-proof vests that are a necessary part of day to day survival in parts of Los Angeles. Strange as it seems to say this after the sweltering heat I've experienced in many places across the country so far, I honestly believe...