I'm 23 and I'm in New York! Not sure which of those statements is scarier! My first proper day in New York and I'm meant to be a grown up too. I started the day with tears, as I read the birthday card Mum and Dad had sent over with Jo when she met me in New Zealand. Good tears though. I'm staying right next to Madison Square Gardens so took a picture of there first, then wandered up a vast length of 8th Avenue towards Central Park. I thought I'd found the Trump ...

I survived the Greyhound experience! The mumbling man who wasn't going anywhere, the man whose beard covered his whole face, and the woman who kept shouting and laughing did not ruin the trip and I managed to survive the whole seventeen hours. Not the most fun I've had, especially as a little Mexican man decided to sit next to me rather than the people with short legs so I was forced to crumple up behind a fool whose chair was fully reclined. Arrived in Washingt...

It's my final day in Chicago and whilst I'm not looking forward to the Greyhound ride, mainly due to every American's reaction to me telling them I'm even using Greyhound, I am looking forward to the next stage in my trip: Washington D.C.! I had planned to go to the Museum of Science & Industry yesterday, but as it only opened at 9.30 and I wanted to be back in the city for the free concert at the Cultural Center (spelt wrong I know, but when in Rome!) I dec...

After all my ravings about how awful the weekend hostel was, and it truly was awful, the HI is not proving too brilliant at the moment. Firstly they didn't put any soap in the soap dispenser until three days after I told them, secondly there's no toilet paper in the bathroom so the cleaners clearly don't check the rooms, and thirdly, the gross French woman in my dorm keeps getting grosser! This morning after breakfast she decided that it would be fine to run nake...

I'm back in a normal hostel that isn't tear inducing! Woo! After being told I couldn't actually check in until 3pm yesterday, whilst I had all my bags surrounding me like backpackers tends to, I stored my rucksack and made my way to good old Panera for breakfast. As you may have guessed from my description of the hostel it didn't provide breakfast: my stomach is grateful for this, as I can only imagine the state of it! I ordered a power breakfast sandwich, sound...