End of the Trip Summary

It’s been a couple months now since the trip ended and I thought I’d take the opportunity to reminisce and look back on the experience as a whole. I asked the boys a few questions about their time in America.

What was your favorite city and why?

• Sean: “Favourite city for me would be San Francisco, as I did my favourite activity which was seeing Alcatraz and cycling the Golden Gate.”
• James: “Favourite city was Portland because we stayed with Jim who was awesome, the hipster area was really cool and quirky, we had a great night out in that really cool club, and I had the best donut of my life.”
• Glenn: “LA was my favourite because there was so much to do! And loved the rush of almost dying in Compton lol!”

What was your favorite activity/event/attraction?

• Sean: Visiting Alcatraz and cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge (as stated above).
• James: “Favourite activity was the Beatles Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas.”
• Glenn: “Hard to choose my favourite thing because there were so many! The baseball was cool, experiencing seeing a different sport!”

What was your favorite meal/restaurant?

• Sean: “Favourite meal was shrimp and fries at Ivar’s in Seattle, or I had really good ribs in Vegas.”
• James: “Favourite meal was the Boudin bread chili bowl in San Francisco.”
• Glenn: “Favourite meal was Shake Shack as it’s been identified as my favourite ever burger.”

What do you like best about America and Americans?

• Sean: “I like that they’re all friendly (even if it’s just for tips) and the size of the portions of food so you know you’re getting good value.”
• James: “Best thing about America is the friendly welcoming nature of everyone.”
• Glenn: “America overall was class! Favourite ever holiday.”

What do you dislike about the US and its culture?

• Sean: “The constant tipping is probably the worst thing.”
• James: “I dislike the cost of everything, every little thing costs money, even just climbing a mountain.”
• Glenn: “One dislike about America is the tipping. In the words of Mr. Pink, ‘Why is it okay to tip these guys over here but not these guys?'”

What is your best memory or favorite moment from the trip?

• Sean: “The first moment I saw Crater Lake and was taken back by the sheer size and beauty of it and again with the top at Snow Lake as the view was insane! LAFC v. Galaxy derby was also another highlight. I’d seen the atmosphere was good from clips on YouTube but it’s a whole other world when you’re actually there. And all the food I ate, I don’t remember eating something that wasn’t that great or huge.”
• James: “Driving into Malibu was one of the most beautiful and scenic parts of the whole trip, with the sun shining down and obviously Malibu by Miley playing it was something else. The night out in Portland was unreal. Starting off in a few bars then meeting Rachel and going to the dopest underground hip hop bar ever. Ending the night with pizzas and donuts, it’s was pretty damn perfect.”
• Glenn: “One of my best memory’s was that bar in LA! Looked very uninviting but turned out to be the friendliest place of the trip. Loved experiencing all things American e.g going to a baseball game. And I still miss the food. Everyday is pain thinking that we can’t get half the good food there, here.”

Personally, I think one of my favorite memories is the first time we went to the beach at MacKerricher State Park. We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to relax after driving all day. My dad’s 50th birthday party, the night out in Portland we spent with Adel, and watching fireworks on Chandini’s mom’s roof for the 4th of July are also definitely highlights.

Just for fun, I’ve put together every photo the boys took with the “what’s up” pose, from Vancouver to Vegas:

Over the course of the trip there were quite a few things the boys found odd about America, which I compiled into a list below.

• How big our microwaves are.
• How straight some of our roads can be. James was a big fan of this.
• 4-way stops – “In the UK we just know to slow down at an intersection.”
• Turning right on a red light.
• That we have cupholders in our stadiums, and vendors walk through the crowds selling beer and other goods right to your seats.
• Putting garlic in mashed potatoes. (Sean Snapchatted me once after the trip to tell me he was making mashed potatoes my mom’s way, as if that’s not the way basically all Americans make it).
• Child-proof containers – they have no idea how to open them. “American kids must have really nimble fingers.”
• Speak-easies – I must have had to explain this concept to James eight different times. I don’t think the Brits can comprehend the idea of a prohibition on alcohol or bars that operate in secret.
• Drive-thru banks and pharmacies. We like our cars.
• Jaywalking. “Can you really get in trouble for it?”
• There are gun shops everywhere.
• Having to pay for museums and to go to National Parks.
• Between the delivery fee, tax, and tip, ordering a pizza is absurdly expensive here.
• White gravy. They heard so much about it they thought it was the only kind we had.

Additionally, there were a few things I found weird about the boys:

• They use a fork and knife to eat everything—even cake and ice cream!
• They consider a roll with bacon and ketchup to be an actual meal and not a sad snack for a starving college student.
• They’ve somehow managed to get this far in life without a driver’s license or car (except James).
• They’d never had real guacamole, queso, margaritas, an Arnold Palmer, or sourdough bread.
• What we call flats, they call pumps, which is very confusing.

We learned a lot about each other over the course of this trip and I’ll never forget these three incredible guys or the fun we had together. Hopefully someday we’ll reunite—for a road trip through the UK next time! Until then we’ll have this blog to look back on, and this great slideshow Sean made.