Driving Across L.A.

I spent my final evening in L.A. with my friend Scott. He picked me up in the early evening and we drove across the city. We walked from Santa Monica down to Venice beach. I still have some of the sand in my shoes, I’m still walking on that a small part of that beach.

After checking out the pier we headed back beyond Hollywood to Echo Park where Scott thought we might catch a listening party for the new Dirty Projectors release but it turned out that we were a couple of hours late. We grabbed some pizza in the store next door. Our final stop was Satellite in Silver Lake where we caught a short piece by a band from Portland before calling it a night.

The End Of The Line

Just three months ago, although it feels like a lifetime to me, I landed in Miami Airport without my bag, without a friend and full of anxiety. Today I’m sitting in Hollywood getting myself ready to get back on the plane and return home, with all of my bags, a number of new friends (sadly they won’t be coming home with me) and feeling incredibly content.

I know that not long after I return home I’m going to be hit with a wave of post-travel-depression. I’ve become very attached to my current lifestyle and it is going to be difficult to fall back in to “the real world.” There’s something really quite wonderful about waking up in a room full of strangers and knowing that in just a couple of days you’ll be pulling into a new city that you’ve never seen before. Every day is a new experience and there is no way to know what might happen.

I found something the other day that I really think summarises this trip for me:

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

The times I’ve shared with the people I’ve met across the continent will stay with me forever. It hasn’t all been about the people though, there have been views, tastes, sounds, and even smells that will bring me back to a city across the Atlantic. I guess we can strike this one up as the trip of a lifetime.

If you’ve been there, shared a moment, or just checked up on my progress,

Thank You.