"Always take the scenic route" 

Before I start I would like to say that I am not affiliated with Trek America, all views/opinions are my own and I just want to share my experience with you all and hopefully give you an insight into what my trip involved if you are looking to do one yourself, which I would definitley recommend!

** I would also like to add that if I state any activities that I took part in, I will be going into more detail with these in a future post.

Sunday 9th June 2019 

It was van appreciation day! It was going to be a long drive to Amarillo. We set off around 7:30am. We had a 2 gas station shops, a Walmart stop and we had lunch in the park. Whilst in the van we of course had to play "Is this the way to Amarillo" and have a little sing along. We didn't arrive at our campsite until around 6pm but once we did it was the usual routine of setting up our tents and the camp. It was so cold tonight we were all definitely feeling it and decided to get changed into jeans and hoodies/jackets. Our evening meal was booked at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. We got picked up from our campsite and then taken to the restaurant. I had sirloin steak with chips and mac & cheese with a peach and strawberry bellini. Once we were all done we got taken back to our campsite in one of their limos. 


Monday 10th June 2019

It was so cold all night, I didn't really sleep much plus we could hear trains driving past all night. We were setting off at 7:30am and heading towards Santa Fe. Our first stop was at Cadillac Ranch, It was time to get spray painting! It was pretty wet and muddy around the cars so we didn't want to get too close to them. It was then time to head back into the van. We arrived in Santa Fe and at camp, at 3pm a few of us decided to go to Meow Wolf for the rest of the afternoon. It was such a weird place but we had a fun time. Joel then took us to downtown Santa Fe where we met up with the rest of the group and had burritos.

Tuesday 11th June 2019

We are going to Monument Valley! We stopped by at the famous Forrest Gump point, where in the film he stops running. We were all taking photos stood in the road and you could just see Monument valley in the distance. We arrived and picked our spot to set up the tents, we had such an amazing view. We all decided to put up our tents but not put the outer covering on so we could wake up and see the sunrise. Once we were all ready and set up we headed over and went on our 4x4 jeep tour where we got our own guide and jeep and headed down into the valley. The guide told us about Navajo culture and about all the different rock formations. We stopped to have dinner where we got to try out their Navajo tacos, it was lovely! Then they put on a little show for us and started singing and dancing wearing their traditional outfit. They ended up getting us all up and dancing with them too, it was such a laugh. We then got back in the jeep as it was time to head back to camp, we got to see a bit of the sunset too on the way back. 







Wednesday 12th June 2019

It was an early start as we were up ready to see sunrise, it was beautiful! We all then got ready as we are travelling to the Grand Canyon. Once we arrived Joel gave us all bandanas and we blindfolded ourselves so we couldn't see. Joel then put us all in line and had us hold onto the person in fronts shoulders, he then guided us down to the edge ready for us to take our blindfolds off and see the view and oh wow it was amazing! I have seen photos of this but they just don't do it justice, the view is just incredible. At 3:30pm we set off as we were going on a helicopter! Me, Hayley, Rach, Courtney, Jemma and Crystal decided that we wanted to do the helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, we all got checked in and then our pilots came and took us to our helicopters. The ride was amazing and even though it was expensive it was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone. Once we landed back down, we headed to Starbucks as Joel needed to do a bit of work and it meant we could use wi-fi and get up to date on social media. Then we headed back to camp for hot dogs! 



 

Thursday 13th June 2019

We had to wake up super early this day as we were going to hike the Grand Canyon. We were doing the Bright Angel Trail. At 5:30 am we hopped onto the bus and we started the trail around 6am. The Bright Angel Trail has different stops along the way for me I knew I wouldn't want to go too far due to my asthma, so me and Courtney did the Mile-and-a-half Resthouse which like the name was a mile and half down and then back up again. The others carried on further which resulted in a 9 hour hike. As much as I would have loved to have gone further, my body wouldn't allow it and I struggled just doing this but so proud of myself that I actually did part of it. It was steep coming back up the hills and the paths were much narrower than I thought. We finally made it back to the top and then headed back to camp to where we were joined by an Elk sniffing at mine and Rach's tent! Luckily it just saw us and then disappeared. Me and Courtney decided to head over to the supermarket as no one was back yet, so we had a little wander around and had some lunch. We then met up with Jemma and Dean and headed back to camp, we noticed the rest of the group starting to walk back. Tonight's dinner we were having pizza at the rim of the Grand Canyon, so back in the van we got, picked up our pizzas and headed down. It was a lovely view watching the sunset.



 




Upcoming//
Trek America - Zion, Las Vegas, Los Angeles

"Never be afraid to be on your own, do things on your own, travel on your own, sometimes they make the best experiences" 

Before I start I would like to say that I am not affiliated with Trek America, all views/opinions are my own and I just want to share my experience with you all and hopefully give you an insight into what my trip involved if you are looking to do one yourself, which I would definitely recommend!

** I would also like to add that if I state any activities that I took part in, I will be going into more detail with these in a future post. 

Sunday 2nd June 2019 

We were heading for Nashville, Tennessee today and we set off around 9:30 am. Today's lunch stop was at the Parthenon which is a full scale replica of the one in Athens. It was such a lovely sunny day. Once we arrived in Nashville we got to our hostel and all got checked in then headed to our rooms, we were so excited as of us girls got to share one room and it was going to be our first proper night out. As it was still in the afternoon we all headed out to have a wander on broadway. I loved it! All the little bars playing live music, souvenir shops, all the cowboy boot shops, I couldn't wait to have a look in. I really wanted a pair of boots but they were a bit on the pricey side, so I didn't bother. We then went back to the hostel to get ready for the evening! Tonight we had a dinner reservation at ACME restaurant, I had a burger and a frozen Rose drink, we ate dinner on the roof top it was a lovely place and the food was great! Afterwards we all went to go do line dancing at the Wild Horse Saloon, I mean who doesn't go line dancing when they are in Nashville, right? I was so excited for this! The first session was at 8:30pm it was so much fun and just a laugh with the group. After that session had finished we headed out on the street to find some bars. We went into Kid Rocks, there was live music and the place was packed, it was such a good atmosphere. 



Monday 3rd June 2019 

Today's destination was Memphis! Our first stop was a Walmart and it was my groups turn to cook so me, Jemma and Courtney decided we were going to be making Chilli for the group. We grabbed all the ingredients we needed and some extra snacks for ourselves and met everyone else at the tills with their items. We went back in the van and played Elvis songs along the way! Once arrived at the campsite we set up everything for the night. I also noticed that the lanes were all name after Elvis's songs which I thought was pretty cool.  Graceland was another optional paid activity and a few of us headed over to the main entrance to buy our tickets. We bought the Elvis Experience tickets with the added planes section. I feel that if you go to Memphis, Graceland is a thing you want go and see and experience, I'm really glad I decided to do this as I found it really interesting to see all of his stuff and his house etc. After the tour had finished we had the short walk back to camp and it was time to get dinner ready. Ok so our Chilli didn't really go how we expected it to haha, the rice ended up being mushy but never mind the group still ate it, although a few wouldn't let us forget about it as it was a running joke for the rest of the trip. After dinner a few decided to stay at camp and me and the others went with Joel to Downtown Memphis, where we stopped to take photos outside Sun Studio and walked onto Beale Street. 





Tuesday 4th June 2019

It was an early start this day as we were in the van and ready to set off for 7am, we are making our way to New Orleans. During this van journey we had a bit of a karaoke session and were all singing Let It Go. We arrived our hotel and got ready for the evening on Bourbon Street. Joel made dinner reservations for us at Oceana Grill and I chose to have the chicken alfredo pasta, it was beautiful! Afterwards we separated off into smaller groups and headed out for the night. We tried out New Orleans famous Hand Grenade and Hurricane drinks, we then finished the night in the one of the oldest bars, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop bar. Then we all headed back to the hotel for some sleep! 



Wednesday 5th June 2019 

So nice to wake up in a hotel room and have your own bathroom, this is what I have been missing due to camping. We got ready for the day and headed out as this was our free day in New Orleans. Our morning started off with walk down to Café Du Monde to get those famous beignets followed by a walk down to the river front and then onto Jackson Square. We visited Louis Armstrong park and then decided to get tickets to go into the museum of death, which I must say was very weird but slightly interesting. We were getting a bit peckish so decided to head back to Oceana Grill for lunch, I opted for pancakes and syrup! We had another walk around Bourbon Street and went into little gift shops as I was collecting pins from each place I had been to. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and chilled our for a bit, Isaac came to mine and Rach's room, a few of the others were getting ready to go out for the evening be we decided to have a relaxing one in our room and ordered McDonalds to our room. 



Thursday 6th June 2019 

Our first stop of this day was another Walmart, we just loved Walmart, we could spend hours in there! Our activity for the day which we all chose to do was the Honey Island Swamp Tour, so cool to see alligators that close to us! We are staying at a KOA campsite in Lafeyette. Once the tents were set up me, Rach, Jemma and Courtney decided to hire out a pedalo on the lake, it was so funny, as we couldn't steer it and was rather hard to pedal but we had a laugh. For dinner this evening we were having burgers and then s'mores, yum! It was so hot this evening and I noticed there were a few frogs about (which I hate) so I went to bed for the evening, although I didn't really sleep much due to the heat as it was so hot in the tents, although I should have gone with a few others into the laundry room where they decided to sleep for the night as it was much cooler in there! 



Friday 7th June 2019

Another early morning! We woke up around 5:45am and got the trailer and van ready for us to set off on the road again. We are going to Austin, Texas! Our first stop was Buck-ees which is a huge gas station well known in Texas, it sold so much stuff from home stuff to a few clothes sections to food & drink. We made a stop off at the 'Greetings from Austin' painted wall to take a group photo. For our time in Austin we were staying at the Super 8, we checked in and got ready for the evening. We all met up and headed out for food, we were having dinner at a BBQ place called Stubbs. The food was delicious, I had the beef brisket, pulled pork that came with fries and onion rings and we had some cocktails. After dinner we walked to Rainey Street which was full of bars, so we had a few drinks there and then headed to 6th Street for some more drinks. 



Saturday 8th June 2019 

Once ready we headed out for breakfast at a food van named Paperboy I chose to have buttered toast with jam, it was such a sweet taste. Then it was time to get a taxi to Lexington as I was going skydiving!! A few decided to go to Barton Springs to sunbathe and the rest decided to come and watch/support me. The skydive was amazing (Like I have mentioned above I will go into more detail with this in a future post) although it was a nightmare trying to get a taxi back into Austin as we were just over an hour away. I think about 5 ubers cancelled on us and we couldn't even get a local taxi firm to come and pick us up so we were literally stranded in the middle of no where, but it was so funny and such an experience together as we all took photos sat in the middle of the road. Eventually we managed to get a taxi back to Austin and got ready for the evening. We ordered pizza to one of the rooms then headed back out to South Congress bridge as Joel wanted us to see the bats fly out when the sun sets. We waited a while and nothing happened so we just decided to head off back to 6th Street to find Voodoo Doughnuts. We grabbed our doughnuts then decided to head back for an early night. 


Upcoming//
Trek America - Amarillo, Santa Fe, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon  

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport" 

Before I start I would like to say that I am not affiliated with Trek America, all views/opinions are my own and I just want to share my experience with you all and hopefully give you an insight into what my trip involved if you are looking to do one yourself, which I would definitely recommend!

** I would also like to add that if I state any activities that I took part in, I will be going into more detail with these in a future post. 





Sunday 26th May 2019 

The day I was flying out to the USA to start my American adventure with Trek America for just over 6 weeks. This was a trip of a lifetime, a trip I had been counting down for just over a year and the day was finally here! I was flying from Leeds and Bradford airport down to Heathrow London and then onto Newark airport. 

I Arrived at Leeds Bradford airport just after 7am and said my goodbyes to my parents and headed through security. This was the first time I had ever flown on my own before so I was slightly nervous, but once on the plane I was settled and felt fine. Once landed at Heathrow I did have a fair few hours to wait as my next flight to Newark wasn't until 4:45pm so I wandered around duty free and other shops and made a few purchases, I bought the Urban Decay Reloaded and On The Run palette, By Terry lip balm gloss and a Ted Baker beach bag and flip flop set. I had some lunch and then just rang my mum for a little bit to pass time until it was time to board the place. I boarded the plane and take off was around 6pm due to a little delay on the runway. I actually really enjoyed flying by myself and plus there was no one sat in the middle so that was a little bonus and gave me a bit of extra space. Once landed at Newark I was meeting a guy called Shaun who was also doing the trip with me. I made my way through security and collected my luggage and texted Shaun to say that I had arrived and he was waiting for me at the other side, we met up then it was time to get the shuttle bus into New York City. We had a few days in NYC before the actual Trek America trip started so we were staying at the Amsterdam Court Hotel in Times Square. The location was great and it was a lovely little hotel. 



We woke up the next morning and it was time to explore New York City! I was so excited, we headed off to the Empire State building and bought tickets to go to the top. The views were amazing and it was a nice clear day! We wandered around Times Square and then went to Central Park as the weather was lovely and had lunch near by at Shake Shack. We walked to the Rockefeller but we didn't go up as we had already done the Empire State Building earlier on in the day but we stopped to have drinks at one of the bars just in front. That evening we headed to Planet Hollywood for food! The next day we planned to get on the subway and go to the 9/11 memorial. Afterwards we headed to Brooklyn Bridge as we wanted to walk across but unfortunately it started raining quite heavily so we only went so far. It was then time to make our way back to the hotel to collect our luggage as we were heading back into Newark to our hotel to meet the people who will be joining us on our trek! 


We got on the Newark airport bus which took us to the airport, we then had to get on the air train to take us to the area where we got onto our hotel shuttle bus. Once we arrived it was time to check in and head to our rooms! Once we had sorted a few things out we headed downstairs to get food and wait for the others to arrive! I was so excited to meet everyone as I had been previously speaking to quite a few, a couple of months prior to the trip starting so I couldn't wait to meet everyone.  They arrived and we all welcomed each other, it was strange that had all finally met after all that time and it was starting to sink in that we are in America now and we have 6 amazing weeks ahead of us and couldn't wait to see what the trip had in store for us. We all decided to have an early night as we were up early in the morning to meet the rest of the group and for the trek to start, so we all headed to our rooms. Me and Rach were room buddies and we settled down in bed for the night, then what happens.... our phones started alarming and we looked to see that we had a notification to say there was a tornado warning in the area. We opened the curtains and could see the lightening in the back group and we were all messaging on the group chat about its our first night here and we ended up getting that messaging, it was pretty scary but so funny! 




Wednesday 29th May 2019

The first day of trek! We headed down to the lobby and met up with our trek leader and a few new people who were joining us on the "Southern Sun". We filled out paperwork and got to know each other a little by playing a little memory game where we had to say our name and 1 thing we liked or a hobby then go round in a circle remembering what each person said and saying it out loud. Now I'm not going to lie, I hate doing this like this and felt so under pressure but it broke the ice between us all and at least we remembered everyone! Then it was time to head outside load up the trailer and hop into the van, we are travelling to Philadelphia! Our first stop was at the most famous Rocky steps. Obviously you have to run up these steps just like in the film so we did and a few others filmed us doing so, then we had our photo taken at the Rocky statue. 



We then had a few hours to wander around Philly ourselves. We went to Elfreths alley, saw Independence Hall and we also took this time to stop off for lunch and try out Philadelphia's famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, there are many places where you could get this from but our trek leader recommended us to go to Sonny's.



This night was our first of many camping nights. We were staying at Cherry Hill Park. Now this was the part I was worried about, I have never camped in my life or even set up a tent haha! All I was thinking was how am I going to cope for the next 6 weeks. But it was fine! Joel (our trek leader) showed us how to put them up and what to do with all the cooking equipment and it was much easier than what I thought. Once all the tents were set up we went to the pool for a bit, yes they even had a swimming pool! But then it started getting a little cloudy so we decided to head back to camp and we get settled for the night and Joel made us our dinner for the evening, we were having chicken pesto pasta! We all felt so comfortable with each other and it was only day one. 



Thursday 30th May 2019


This day we were heading into Washington DC and celebrating Courtney's birthday! We starting playing a game in the van where we counted how many American flags we could see, ALOT! I swear we got to over 100 haha. Once we arrived we had bike tour that was already included in our trek, but unfortunately I did not take part in this as I can not ride a bike, ok don't laugh but it's true haha! So I decided to sit out and have a wander around as there was a food court/little shopping centre near by. Once the others arrived back from the bike tour we headed over to the Smithsonian National Air & Space museum and looked around there, we had our first of many McDonald's for lunch, then me and a few of the girls decided to walk to the White House, but it was closed off due to something that had happened. Whilst we were out it started to rain and we got drenched! Luckily I had brought my waterproof jacket but I was still soaked and my trainers were like puddles. We had to take cover at the Lincoln Memorial and meet up with the others until Joel came to pick us back up to take us back to camp. Joel arrived with pizza for us and we were all dry and celebrated Courtney's birthday with cake and balloons! 


Saturday 1st June 2019

We were travelling to Ocoee today! We stopped of at a Bass Pro Shop, a shop which is really American, that sells hunting/camping/outdoor things. Me, Rach, Hayley & Courtney decided to go try some samples of Moonshine. We arrived out our campsite - Adventures Unlimited we even got a complaint when we arrived for "taking someones space" although none of their stuff was there so we just set up our things. This is where we also did our optional paid activity of white water rating along the Ocoee River. The majority of decided to do this so once camp was set up we headed down and got put into our groups. Once the rafting was over we were went and just wanted a nice warm shower so we headed back to camp to get changed and tonight's dinner was going to be chicken fajitas! This campsite was very busy! We sat around camp having drinks, playing ring of fire and listening to music, it was so much fun! We even had a few drunk guys come over who were staying on the campsite too.


Upcoming//

- Swimwear x3  (Only ended up wearing 2) 
- Sports bra x2 
- Gym leggings x1 
- Leggings x1 
- Jeans x1  
- Denim shorts x1 
- Cycle shorts x1 
- Pyjamas x2 (long pair for colder nights, then I did end up buying a 3rd pair out there)
- Jogging bottoms x1 (travelled in) 
- Hoody x1 (travelled in) 
- Dresses x6 (including day dresses and 2 night time dresses)
- Underwear x14
- Socks x7
- Walking boot socks x3
- Fluffy bedtime socks for cold nights x1
- Bras x5 
- Waterproof jacket x1
- Tops x5
- Trousers x2 


SHOES// 

- Flip flops x2 (one for the shower and one for a comfort/around the campsite) 
- Walking boots x1 
- Trainers x2  
- Sandals x2 (nice enough so I could also wear on an evening if wanted to) 
- Low block heel x1 - This is a personal preference, I wanted a low block heel mainly for vegas to go with my outfit. Some wore heels and others wore sandals so just chose what is most comfortable for yourself as there is alot of walking so I didn't want a too high pair.


ACCESSORIES// 

- Jewellery (but remember, try not to bring anything too expenive in case it gets damage or broken/stolen) 
- A watch (although bare in mind if you're doing a long trip like myself you have quite a few time differences),
- Hair things (bobbles, clips/slides, bandanas/headbands, brushes, tangle teezer)
- Straighteners/curlers/hairdryer - Now this is optional and I didn't bother with any of these myself, I have long hair so I let my hair dry naturally as it dried very quick in the heat over there or i just used hotel hair dyers when staying in accommodation for the nights. You could also just simply ask to borrow someone elses or if you're in contact before going on trek, you could organise for one person to bring staighteners, another bring curlers, another bring hair dryer etc and share that way. 
- Sunglasses
- Hat


TOILETRIES// 

- Face wash 
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Shampoo/Conditioner 
- Hair detangling spray 
- Shower Gel
- Razor 
- Body lotion
- Dry shampoo
- Medications
- Deodorant 
- Bug spray (essential and brings lots of it haha!) 
- Face cream
- Sudocream
- Sun Cream
- After sun
- Carry bag with a hook (I found this easier as I could just hang up in the showers or on the back of the door) 

I did origanally buy full sized items of all my toiletries but ended up just taking travel sized ones in the end due to the weight limit and just purchased a few extras once out there! 


ELECTRICALS//

- Phone
- Ipod
- Kindle
- Chargers
- Portable power banks x2 
- Earphones/headphones 
- External memory stick that I could use for my phone to back up all photos 
- USA adapter plug
- Cigarette plug charger with multiple USB points (perfect for the van)


DOCUMENTS//  

- Trek documents 
- Insurance documents
- Hotel vouchers
- Cash/money card
- Visa (esta)
- Passport
- ID (although a few places would only accept the passport therefore I just carried both with me at all times) 
- Trek tips/city guides ( instead of printing these off I just downloaded these to my phone to make it easier and handy if I was out and about) 
- Flight information ( I also downloaded my airline app so I got any notfications delivered to my phone) 
- Bank cards incase of any emergency 

EXTRAS// 

- Packing cubes, 
- Head torch/hand torch
- Sleeping bag
- Sleeping bag liner (optional, I didn't but I knew the odd ones who did, just in case the weather was hot, it was more comfortable in that than a sleeping bag)
- Self inflating matt (I had one and was going to take it, but in the end it didn't fit in my case with everything so decided agasint it, trek do supply you with a foam one though so it is only for extra comfort if you wish to take one or could simply buy once over there from a walmart) 
- Microfibre towels (I took 3, face towel small, body towel and one extra for my hair) 
- Shower cap (One to use for my hair but I also took extra which came in handy to put my mucky walking boots in)  
- Travel pillow (for planes or comfort in the van) 
- Sleeping pillow (I bought mine from walmark for about $3, made sleeping in the tent at night much more comfortable)
- Re-useable waterbottle
- Locks (for suitcase, backpack and for hostel lockers)


And I think that's pretty much it! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.