365

365 days, 16 countries and a full circumference of the globe. So how much would a trip like this cost? The tickets, 20 flights, cost almost exactly £2000. We bought a couple more, at about £120 each, along the way. A long van rental in Australia? Just over 50 days in the off season cost us about £1500 between us. Considering that was our accommodation as well it wasn't too bad. But if anyone if staying longer than a couple of months then buying a vehicle is the way to go.
Our American Subaru set us back a couple of thousand quid and we sold it in a rush for about £900 with it's nagging new fault!


So the real cost it just living. All in all I probably spent about £12,000 just on food, getting around and sightseeing. I bought only a couple of momentous from the trip as carrying the newly purchased items or sending them back expensively is a hassle I can live without. It was enough to carry a backpack and another bag in my hand on those long travelling days, not that they were packed with clothes. For the first 6 months I survived on one pair of boxer shorts!
Since I've been back in the world of odd new phrases like 'credit crunch' many people have asked me what my favourite country is. I've not even scratched the surface as far as world travel goes but I'd definitely like to see more of Japan and New Zealand. America's landscape is amazing and just everyday living in South America was for me the true spirit of what a trip like this is all about.

One person has asked me what my worst country is and to be honest that's an even harder question. I plumped for Bolivia because the people were miserable, there was a lot of civil unrest once we left, but there's some truly beautiful scenery there. The unwanted attention in China and the annoying con-men in Bangkok were only minor bugs in an otherwise exceptional trip. We spent a year almost constantly travelling and encountered only one dodgy situation and even that was not a full week into the trip.
Would I do it all again? Well, yes. I'm not sure if I'd stay away for as long as a year again but six months definitely. Although, for anyone who hasn't already done the year trip then I would recommend it unquestionably.


I've been set a back and left speechless soo many times along the way with soo many memories that keep coming back to me that will stay stored away in a dusty corner of my brain forever. I've come back a red wine and green tea drinker but other than that nothing has changed except for my massive appreciation for the great country of my birth. It's funny how much things about your own country you miss, good British ales for one, and how much the people who live here take everything for granted and really do a good job of putting it all down.
As I go about my daily business I often think that at this very moment there's guys in flip-flops and shades doing some welding in China. There's a bronzed, beer bellied 50 year old guy catching a few waves on his surf board. There's a tour guide explaining the Inca ruins in three different languages. There's a perfect Argentinian steak being served, a stunning American mountain range being snowboarded, a huge New Zealand glacier being explored inside and a funk band playing in the dark clubs of the white city of San Francisco. Whatever it is, wherever it is, when you're travelling there's always something going on and it's almost impossible not to love it.

An American tale

So what of North America. We'd driven right across country dipping in and out of Canada along the way. We'd covered about 26,000 miles in the Subaru and a around 2,500 in hire cars in the 6 months we'd spent here. We'd visited around 31 of the American states, staying in some longer than others. We passed briefly through states like Maryland but stayed a month in California.
There's a reason for that, California has to be one of the most vast, varied and interesting states. It has the best city in the country in San Francisco and has the best national park, Death Valley. A state like this has everything anybody like me could want, surf, snow, winding coastal roads, Spanish towns, desert, cities, huge wilderness, large mountains and vast forests. If there's any state that can beat that I don't know anything about it.


As far as I'm concerened, the states of the west far outweigh the ones to the east for things to see and do. The east may have some picture box towns and a couple of decent cities but it can't compete with the sometimes wacky nature of the land of the west.


We kept largely away from the vast wilderness of Canada as the cold further south in the U.S. was as much as we cared to take. There's vast areas to explore there, maybe one day I will.
On the whole I hate North America and I absolutely love it. Over 90% of the towns and cities aren't worth visiting at all as they're all so generically the same. But it's the nature, the massive expanses, the unbelievable scenery and the feel of an endless outdoor playground that still make North America a place you must visit. If you can put up with crap food and worse culture then you will be rewarded with some of the most weird and wonderful landscapes on this planet.

The last leg

One night left in Miami, one night left in North America, One night left of a year long trip. It's been a long and ever eventful journey.
Our last night was spent in South Beach Miami in a boutique hotel that bore little relation to all the other cheap motels we'd stayed in America. A bit of luxury for our last night.
Although the majority of Miami is dull sprawl, spending a couple of nights in South Beach is great. We're in walking distance of everything, including the bars along the front near the beach. It's a good, and rare, place to be in America where you can sit outside sipping cocktails in the balmy weather of a an evening. The art deco buildings surround the few streets around our hotel and the beach front with their neon glow at night. Starting with a free bar for an hour at our hotel we're merrily set up for an evening of reflection of the previous year and anticipation of going home the next day. Sipping Mojitos in South Beach is a classic way to end it all.
Another truly American experience was had in the morning of our last day, eating a full breakfast at an American diner. These places are fairly few and far between, a lot more so than I'd thought, but many chain diners exist. It was excellent to get into a proper independent diner and have 'the works'. Even more typical was the foreign owners, Cubans this time, as the majority of films would have you believe that America is run by middle class white folk.
We stroll the beach in the blazing sunshine and wonder if Manchester will be this warm, of course not! Still, I don't know what people are talking about when they say everyone around here looks like models, maybe they mean hand models because the majority are damn ugly.


Just before we leave a guy with designer clothes, brand new trainers, gold chains and a bag full of stuff asks us for five dollars, I tell him to sell his shoes.

On the way to the airport we stop off to have a look at the odd looking Bacardi building, I'm not even sure this has any other purpose than just looking square but it's decent either way. I didn't realise this was the base for Bacardi but it makes sense being so close to Cuba and the Caribbean.
So that was it. All that's left is getting our flight and wondering whether British Airways would massively charge us for getting all our luggage on board, including two snowboards and boots. Luckily for us they didn't. In fact it turns out that BA was probably the best airline in the world we'd flown with. They make American Airlines look like the Wright brothers on their first crossing.
Miami is an odd place, I like it and I thinks it's terminally dull at the same time. I couldn't help thinking of the tv series 'Nip Tuck' and wondered if it might have been better if it'd been shot in Clitheroe. But that's America. They paint an amazing picture of what isn't always an amazing place. Us Brits are better at saying how bad everything is and how much worse it's getting when the real truth is that we're living some of the best lives in the world.
I've got butterflies in my stomach with nervous tension about coming home. Back to the real world, working weeks, wages and the end of constant travelling. What lies ahead?

More beer please

West Palm Beach sounds like a place dripping with cash, large holiday resorts and bikini clad models. Well it did to me. The reality is another story. Around our motel is apparently gang territory and it does look pretty run down. Even so it's not exactly the Favellas of Rio.
We're here to see one of my favourite bands, Pearl Jam, handily supported by another of my favourites the Kings of Leon. The venue itself is typical Florida, an outdoor amphitheatre. The lightening and rain has been lurking around today but as the dark sets in the weather calms down.
As we queue to collect our tickets a guy at the front is holding everyone up. He's a one-legged guy who's trying to get into the more expensive area to no avail. I can only describe him as the typical Vietnam war veteran you see on American films and TV. Tie-dyed head handkerchief, 70's rock t-shirt and a 'far out' Californian accent. It would've been more amusing if Kings of Leon weren't already playing we couldn't get in without our tickets.
Once in we realise that the Kings of Leon aren't as popular n their homeland as they are back in good ole Blighty. It's a decent set which is only let down by the dour American crowd. Ah, let's get some beers in to quench our thirst in this intense humidity. It's not that simple. For starters beer is £5 a pint. I can stand that on an occasion like this, and with a wad of cash that we have from the car sale, but the real problem is actually getting served. No-one is willing to serve us without valid I.D. We both have our UK driving licenses but when the bar staff look through their huge book of state driving license photographs, for recognition purposes, they don't have it. Understandable, I suppose, that they would have Hawaii state license pictures and no UK ones, even if the UK is about as close! Our only hope, as we're advised, is to approach the sheriff and see if he'll escort us to the bar. How ridiculous. We ask the sheriff and his idol looking deputies if this is possible but they tell us by law they can't do it. However, they do point us in the direction of a more lenient barmaid. We buy one beer and don't bother with all the messing about again. Disappointing and nowhere near rock and roll enough for my liking.
A great set by Pearl Jam that couldn't even be interrupted by a couple of large planes descending very low overhead on the way into land nearby. After the gig it takes around two hours to get off the choked car park.
Next day we drive south to retirement paradise Fort Lauderdale.

We go to have a look at the long beach but even though the sun is out it's far too windy to be hanging around. A woman tells us about the ills of sea lice that can get inside your swimming costume whilst you're in the sea, lovely. Let's get to South Beach, Miami.

Miami without the vice

How do you sell a car in America? Good question. A couple of well known car sales chains offer to buy used cars but for ridiculously knock down prices. As I find out, local car sales firms aren't interested in buying cars unless you're buying one of theirs. When you don't have an American phone number or permanent address advertising the car can be difficult. Luckily there's a free classified ad website on which we advertised the car and hoped for a response. It was just at this time when a loud knocking noise developed whilst driving. Oh good.
We decide to spend the last few days of the trip around the Miami suburbs and hopefully sell the car. Miami and it's districts is absolutely huge. It's a shame that the only real good bit is so incredibly small at South Beach.


We spend a few days visiting car dealerships whilst stopping in the infamous Miami-Dade area. Infamous because during the rather dodgy Bush election of 2000 the whole country, and some of the world, had it's eyes on this county. Why? Because of the refusal to recount the votes or even finish counting the votes cast in this district.
Pretty much the whole of Miami is complete and utter dirge but there are a couple of bright spots. We spend an evening in Coral Gables which is an area of upmarket restaurants set within and around Spanish Colonial buildings. We actually get the opportunity to sit and eat outside somewhere in this country, which is very few and far between. Luckily our food isn't complete tripe either, unlike what we see on everybody else's plates.
We're having no luck with the car sale and consider that an auction may be our only way to get rid of it. Not that we can find the car auction. We spend a couple of hours trying to follow internet directions to no avail.
Upon returning to our motel we find that a couple of people are interested in our car from our web advert. After a few phone calls and an eventual meeting, we sell the car and collect the cash within a couple of days. With 3 nights left of a year's trip some people would consider this complete lack of planning to be somewhat fortunate. Me too.
With a hire car sorted for the last couple of days we drive towards West Palm Beach for yet another complete fluke, the chance to see one of my favourite bands at the first gig of their new tour. The timing is beyond jammy.