America (So far) - Part I

America (So far) - Part I

Short stories to go with photos of my time in America.

Trips born out of spontaneity are the best trips. In the summer of 2009, my good friend Ranney and I talked casually about maybe taking a road trip through the American South-west. We wanted to see strange roadside attractions and visit friends on the way. We wanted to get lost in the middle of the desert and drive on empty, straight roads to nowhere. He was going to be back home in San Diego that summer and I really had no plans at all in London. There were no concrete plans though until I got a message from Ranney sometime in mid-June. It simply read - "We got a car, let's go".

A week later I was flying into San Diego for a two week road trip (which included me sneaking into Mexico without a visa from El Paso, Texas). The funny thing about that trip was that a last minute change of plans forced us to fly into San Francisco to pick up the car the next morning from a family friend. We were only in the city for a couple of hours, I was jet lagged and had almost no sleep from the past two days. But I clearly remember thinking that I'd want to come back here. Now I live here. It's funny how things work.

For my first Spring break in America, I thought I had the obligation to do something trashy and over-the-top. Something that screams Spring break. I needed to go somewhere where I'm surrounded by people I might not even want to be around, where there are bright lights and a million college kids who won't remember much of the trip. So naturally, my girlfriend and I booked a flight to Vegas.

I had read somewhere that the trend of Las Vegas in the eyes of the developers at the moment is to move away from themed hotels, to make it classier. I hope they never do this. The main attraction of Las Vegas, at least through the eyes of the foreign, is the sheer absurdity of the city. It's amazing and you can't help but to fall in love with it. We want to walk down the street and see a fake Eiffel Tower and a giant Pyramid and a recreation of Venice. It is a symbol of everything excessive, tacky but most importantly fun. That's the beauty of America. The message is, "Who needs to go anywhere when we have it all right here? Plus you can drink, smoke and gamble everywhere!" It might not be sustainable and Vegas might have seen better times but I hope it never changes.

I'm not a fan of long flights, something I should have probably thought of before I decided to move out to San Francisco. To make up for this, I decided to stop by on the East coast on the way back to Brussels for the winter break to visit friends. Of course this turned out to be a road trip and over the course of five days, I managed to see four states (New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island).

This was a trip about food, about visiting new places but most importantly it was a trip about seeing the people I used to live with and seeing where they grew up. I'm used to moving and I've had to say goodbye to friends many times before. It's easier now because the world is a lot smaller but you always end up thinking about "the good old days". One thing I have learned though is that no matter how many times you leave, you'll always end up home again even for just a little while. It was nice to see life in the homes of my good friends on the East coast. I had always thought that I would end up going to school somewhere out here but the road trip I went on with Ranney which started this thought will now end this thought. There was something I couldn't let go of when I flew out from California. I could not stop thinking about the things I had seen.

And for now, this is my home.