Not realising what I was letting
myself in for, 15 months on the road,
17 countries and 65,000 kilometres I
left my Tiger at Southampton Docks,
got the train home and booked my
flight to New York.
Almost 12 months to the day since
my last expedition I set off again.
Manhattan and a hostel in Harlem no
longer a no-go area. Some sighting
seeing especially to the Ground
Zero museum having been up the
South Tower on a previous visit,
poignantly the Tiger key ring carries
an elongated penny squashed at the
top of the South Tower.
A bus ride to the docks to find
my Tiger and surreally I was riding
around Manhattan pissing off the taxi
drivers, I’d just point to my number
plate getting wry acknowledgement
and with absolutely no plan in my
head set off for Deadhorse Alaska,
well I had to make Deadhorse by midsummer.
Looking at a map I thought
Philadelphia, Declaration of
Independence and of course Rocky
would be a good place to start, which
it was, I’m an excellent tourist and
love museums, art galleries and
all a place has to offer. I long ago
realised that although we speak the
same language Americans are a very
different breed, drinking a welcome
cup of coffee I saw the chap at the
adjoining table staring at me, seeing
me look up he said “I suppose you’re
one of those god dammed hippies”.
Whilst I have an earring, wearing my
motorcycle boots, holey jeans and
t-shirt, it was a tad judgemental.
On to Gettysburg to tour the
battlefield, I climbed an observation
tower to get a better view of the site
and was joined by a couple. We got
chatting and discovered that I lived
in Dymock, England they lived in
Dimock, Pennsylvania, 3 hours up
the road, come and visit with us,
sadly the wrong direction so onto
Pittsburgh.
Many, many times whilst travelling
the road I have been amazed by the
friendliness, curiosity and hospitality
of strangers, who then become good
friends. When pulling into a gas
station often someone would come
over for a chat. “Where are you
going?” “Are you travelling alone?”
“Aren’t you scared?” “How old are
you?” And, “what do you do for sex?”
The most frequently asked questions.
This often results in invitations to
join them for coffee, a meal or even
an invite to stay the night.
I discovered Couchsurfing when
backpacking with an English girl
around South America and now with
a Couchsurfing profile I determined
this was my way forward. Bruce
offered to host me, but he would be
at his cabin fishing. It was difficult to
find, off grid in the woods and after
asking many people who had never
heard of him, I borrowed a phone to
find he was just down the road.
I had purchased a local sim card
but this didn’t work as the system
required a local credit card, not
accepting my Visa or Access cards,
only in America, a phrase I was to
use on many occasions. I ended up
having to buy a handset.
This was my first experience
Couchsurfing on my own and there
was some apprehension being in the
middle of nowhere with somebody
I did not know but Bruce was so
friendly and welcoming I never felt
that way again. I love Couchsurfing
and have now couch-surfed all
around the world meeting many
amazing people and making some
good friends. It is, for me, the best
way to travel meeting and staying
with local people you experience,
albeit briefly, their lives and way
of living, even better you get to
experience some amazing times.
I had planned to stay with Bruce
in Pittsburgh a few days later but
TRAVERSE 68