Six months ago on April 1st 2008 I embarked on a voyage of discovery - both American discovery and self-discovery. What I have experienced has been undoubtedly the best six months of my entire life. I can't believe that on April 1st I was just landing at Boston's Logan airport high on adrenaline and thinking "this is amazing!", only to lay in bed that night feeling totally overwhelmed and filled with doubt. But I couldn't give up because I'd given up everything to do this and so many people were supporting me.

Over the next couple of weeks my confidence grew as I got out and about and started doing stuff and meeting people. I quickly became a prolific bus rider as I started whizzing around the country in my quest to visit all 50 states in the US. That aspect of my trip became a great conversation piece when talking to random people. I would always drop it in when people asked what I was doing in the country and they would be amazed. Typically they would then say "you've been to more states than I have" and I would do a fake chuckle and say "well, some of them aren't worth visiting".

Although it has now been six months since my arrival it feels like a blink of an eye now. But if I look back at the dozens of blog entries, hundreds of photos and the two and a half travel journals that I have filled with my own private record of my trip I know it took a long time. If nothing else then my hair is evidence of the elapsed time because I didn't get it cut since I left England.

On my trip I have visited at least one town in each of the 50 states, plus the federal district of Washington, DC (which isn't a state). Outside the US I saw Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and Toronto, and I've just got back from a weekend in Mexico. I travelled 16,800 miles on Greyhound buses in a total time of 393 hours equivalent to over 16 24-hour days. I took eight internal flights - to get to and from Alaska; to get to, around and from Hawaii and then to get down the west coast without long bus rides. I went to roughly twelve National Parks, a few National Monuments and several more State Parks. I rented cars on seven separate occasions. Importantly, I bought a souvenir of each state I visited. (The only time I was unable to was in Detroit but I got a Michigan souvenir in Missouri.)

I have not cooked a single meal in six months. I have made a few sandwiches, done some toast and microwaved a few things but that's as far as I've gone. And although I had to do laundry every week I haven't ironed anything. I had to make a lot of beds though, because often hostels give you sheets when you check in for you to make your own bed.

I got through four pairs of sunglasses, a whole bottle of sunscreen and about eight books. I had to buy a new pair of shoes after wearing out the pair I brought in the first month. I bought seven CDs, several new T-shirts (replacing things I had brought with me), one new shirt when I was soaked by a thunderstorm and had to buy something to get dry, and a new pair of jeans when my old ones wore out. Not to mention the new camera after my original one broke. And the whole time I have been living out of one 50 pound backpack with a day bag for extras. My backpack is on its last legs. I dumped the metal frame in the hotel room in Lawrence, Kansas after it kept poking through the material into my back, and now it has a growing tear in it. Plus it just looks battered.

I had to buy a laptop just to be able to get regular internet access, and I got a TomTom GPS to do the navigation for me when I was driving alone. Those two things right there were such amazingly good purchases. Without the laptop I would not have been able to do the trip at the speed and with the flexibility that I wanted because there are just no internet cafes in most places, although there is wi-fi everywhere. The TomTom didn't just help while driving. I had not thought enough about how I would get from bus stations to where I was staying and TomTom saved and guided me on so many occasions that it became a standard piece of my kit.

People are bound to ask me where my favourite places were so here they are: southern Utah (for the National Parks), Alaska (for the rugged wilderness of the place), Hawaii (for its green, lush beauty) and New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles (as my favourite cities). My favourite region was the south because it truly does have the best hospitality and, possibly, the best food. But each region has something that I liked about it. The only exception might be the Great Plains which, after the first ten corn fields, holds nothing exciting.

It's hard to pick a single best time but I get the warmest fuzzy feeling when I think back to the times I had a car and was driving around the western states like Utah, Wyoming and Montana. I think it is because I'm just cruising around with my music playing, a full tank of gas and a beautiful world to admire out the window.

There were many other places that were nice or where I had a lot of fun too. There were only a relatively small number of places which were just plain boring or bad. In those places I did find it hard travelling on my own, because there's no one else there to pick me up when the place isn't inspiring me.

There were some things I didn't get to do. If I came back again I would like to spend more time in the west, specifically in the Wyoming area and get out on horseback. I would like to hike down the Grand Canyon, camp overnight and hike back out again. I'd like to go back to Alaska and get up above the Arctic Circle and really see the Northern Lights. I'd like to go to New Orleans with a bunch of people and party. I'd like to spend more time in New York City. I'd like to see New England when it isn't cloudy and still coated in a few feet of snow. I'd like a lot of things, but the main thing is that I have wanted to do this trip for years and I actually did it, and for each thing I'd still like to do there are five things that I have done and loved.

Although I feel about ready to go home to England I don't want to leave here, and it's not just because it's 80 degrees outside right now. There are a few things that I am really going to miss about this country. First and foremost are the people - as a whole they are the nicest people I've met and I've felt so welcomed and even loved by them. I have met hundreds of people and, while there are exceptions, most people are so friendly and chatty. Secondly I'll miss the bars and beer. The bars served me extremely well in being able to get dinner and watch TV and get talking to people sat near me. And - people back home are going to hate me for saying this - the beer out here is great. I'm not talking about Budweiser, Coors and so on. I mean the regional beers that you get all over the place. From my memory most English pubs have the same standard lagers on tap everywhere with a couple of standard bitters, but I'm seeing much more variation here so you order your beer by style rather than brand. (And you often get a frosted glass out of the freezer.) I'm going to miss the convenience of everything, the cheerful service in bars and restaurants, and the cheapness of things. And finally I'm going to miss the breadth and magnitude of the landscape out here. England may be a "green and pleasant land" but that's it. There are hills and fields. The forests and so-called mountains would get laughed at by the forests and mountains out here. I've driven on roads that are at twice the altitude of Ben Nevis.

There are some things I'm looking forward to at home though. It's a cliche but I'm missing a good cup of tea. Also sausages and bacon out here are just terrible and their idea of breakfast is nothing like a full English breakfast. I'd like to see my friends and family. I'd like to watch a TV programme without it being interrupted every few minutes by commercials. I'd like not to have to watch a commercial for 'male problems' during every break. And if I can't have that I'd like them to actually use the word 'penis' in the commercial and not beat around the bush by saying 'special area'. And I'd like to not be bombarded with rampant commercialism everywhere I go.

I've been trying, over the last few days, to work out exactly what it is that I have really truly loved about this trip and it came to me just this morning. I have loved the freedom that I had. I have been going where I want, doing what I want for six whole months and not had to worry about the complexities of life.

I would like to take this final opportunity to thank everybody back home and out here who has been reading my blog, and those who have sent me messages. And, although most won't read this, I need to thank everybody who has been kind to me on my trip - this includes people I've met in hostels and hung out with, locals who have taken the time out to chat with me or even take me places or show me around. I plan to pay it forward and be nice to any tourists I come across when I'm in my own country. And since I have collected many email addresses and Facebook connections of people I've met there's a scary chance that some of these same people will be expecting guided tours of London. Luckily I've been telling people that now's not a good time to come to the UK or Europe until the dollar strengthens and the exchange rate is more favourable.

I will not try saying that everybody should do what I did because it was very unique to what I wanted to do. But I would strongly encourage people to follow their dreams and do what they've always wanted to because, otherwise, it may never happen. It probably won't be exactly how you imagined it but, in other ways, it will be better than you could ever imagine. And it will change you forever. And you will be able to tell people for years to come what you did.

I have: learned American history in Boston and Philadelphia; walked around in awe in Manhattan; had buffalo wings where they were invented at The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York; marveled at Niagara Falls; seen the 'home of democracy' in Washington, DC; seen the depressing city of Detroit; been invited by locals to play poker in Virginia Beach; been kidnapped in Wilmington, North Carolina; partied in Miami; seen alligators in Florida and a Louisiana swamp; trodden the path of African American history in Selma, Alabama; enjoyed the sights, sounds and food of New Orleans; met myself in twelve years time; had a mineral bath in Hot Springs, Arkansas; been inspired by the story of Lewis & Clark at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri; been to the largest shopping mall in the US; seen the vastness of the Great Plains; hiked and adored the National Parks in Utah; gambled in Las Vegas; had my birthday in Yellowstone National Park; driven over the Rocky Mountains at the continental divide in Glacier National Park; seen Mt. Rushmore in the midst of a motorbike rally; ridden a bus for 30 hours; seen the highest point in North America in Alaska; had a close encounter with a bear; hiked on a glacier; fallen into glacial water; been to the highest point in the Pacific at Mauna Kea, Hawaii and seen a billion stars; watched lava flow into the ocean; hiked the spectacular Na Pali coast in Hawaii; taken my first helicopter ride; been wine tasting in California; toured an aircraft carrier; spent a weekend in Mexico; and relaxed in sunny Southern California for a while.

And I did it all with a great big smile on my face! I love this country, I love the people, I love what I've done here, I love myself for having the courage to do it. I love life. And I hope you do too! :-)