Camp America & travelling the USA

So this blog post is about 10 months too late, but since I didn't have a blog back then.. this post will have all the benefits of hindsight ;).

Last summer on the 21st of June I packed my bags and headed off to the sunny US of A for 3 months. I had applied to do Camp America and was lucky enough to have been quickly offered a place at a camp for children with Special Needs in New Jersey, about an hour on the bus from the bright lights of New York City! 

First off, for anyone thinking about doing Camp America my advice would definitely be DO IT! I will be honest and say it isn't all fun and games - by the end of the 10 weeks I was practically collapsing with tiredness, the close-knit environment is sadly prone to being a bit gossipy and bitchy, and I basically didn't feel clean for 2 months. But the pro's so, so outweigh the cons. You get to spend every day in the sun, make some amazing memories with some amazing kids, and gain a bunch of best friends you get to hang out with every day (I even met my boyfriend there and it'll be our first anniversary on Sunday, n'aww). 

Me & my friend on a Camp trip :)

A few of my best friends from Camp at our staff party (I'm the one 2nd from right)

After Camp finished, a group of us decided to go travelling round the States for a couple of weeks! I say that like we were really cool and just pitched up in different cities on a whim - we actually planned it with military precision about a month before, but shhhhhhh ;)

Boston

First off we hopped aboard a bus from NYC to Massachusetts for a few days. I LOVED me some Boston, it was so beautiful and really reminded me of being in England, especially with names like Cambridge! We went to Harvard which was amazing, it was early September when we were there so all the Freshman were being welcomed, I was so jealous. Literally everyone seemed to be arriving in glossy black 4x4s with tinted windows. We also checked out all the touristy stuff like a huuuuge aquarium, and of course Fenway Park where the Red Sox play. I know ZIP about baseball, but I absolutely loved the tour anyway so I'd definitely recommend it to anyone! We also went on a mad rampage for a Cheesecake Factory and got a taxi to the outskirts of Boston to satisfy our love for the red velvet ;). In fact, the only downside of the Boston experience was when we rang up 3 Dunkin' Donuts to see if they had any birthday cake donuts left, and NONE of them did... shame on you Boston (I STILL haven't had one!)

Obligatory selfie ;) (I'm the one in the middle)

New York

When we left Boston (sob) we headed back to New York and spent a few days in the Big Apple :) because Manhattan is seriously draining on the purse we stayed out in Brooklyn. It was about half an hour on the subway into the city, but we shared an iPod and had Lana Del Rey on repeat so that was fine ;). The area we stayed wasn't the most glam, but our hostel was awesome and we met some lovely people there. Aside from being big Sex and the City ladies and shopping on 5th Avenue ;) we made sure we did the touristy things too! Ground zero was really moving, and the ferry to Staten Island was cracking. But my favourite experiences were quite ordinary, getting slices of pizza in Times Square. I'd wanted to go to NYC ever since I first saw Friends, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

                                     

Coney Island, this place is SERIOUSLY cool, any city that has a beach gets a thumbs up from me - especally one with a wonder wheel ;)

                                       

                                       

Phantom of the Opera on Broadway!!! It was INCREDIBLE

 

Brooklyn Bridge is beautiful :)

Houston, Texas

After New York we met up with some more friends at the airport and headed on down to Texas! It was so so hot, my fair English skin didn't know what to think. We stayed in a really cute little area, and it was definitely our favourite hostel experience. We did LOADS in just a few days: the main priority was naturally NASA (the geek in me thought this was the main priority anyway) which was unbelievable and I'm so glad I've seen it. We went to a zoo and took selfies with meercats, went to a baseball game (not the Yankees admittedly, but there WAS an onscreen proposal so that was unbeatable) and went to the famous Sundance cinema. Everyone was so friendly in Texas, and it was actually my favourite place we went by far. My only criticism would be that we ended up having to spend a small fortune in taxis, as Houston isn't really built for the pedestrian visitor and public transport wasn't fantastic - but luckily our hostel was so cheap that it didn't matter quite so much.

NASA

New Orleans

Our last stop was New Orleans! I was only able to stay a couple of nights and only really got one full day here, as sadly I had to jet home to start Uni :( but we definitely made the most of our day! In the morning we headed out to see some alligators. My favourite was called Brokejaw Betty because she likes to get into lots of scrapes, I figured she had some character ;) the bus we got out to the swamps was good because the driver almost acted as a tour guide, pointing out the site where there was a voodoo graveyard. Apparently if you go there you can curse people, naughty naughty. He also recommended the best places for bread and butter pudding in town, if only I liked the stuff :(.

In the evening we headed out to Bourbon street where all the jazz music was. The bars were all amazing, and the music was so good! I didn't even think I LIKED jazz until I went there. If only I could have stayed for longer!

SO, that concludes my brief reminisce of my travels last year :).

I would recommend going round the States to ANYONE, it was so much fun and I had the best 2 weeks I think I have ever had. I think if I'm ever lucky enough to go back I'd love to go round the west coast, and see San Francisco and LA, and of course the grand canyon :).

Has anyone else been travelling round the USA to the same places, or got any tips for travelling the West Coast? I'd love to hear them!

Becoming the very best that you can be.

Sometimes life gets stressful and you don’t have a lot of time alone with your thoughts. But since I finished my 3^rd year of Uni last week (YAAY!) I’ve had some time to relax and recover, and in wedged in that a bit of thinking time - and in that time I decided on some “life tips” for myself. Nothing revolutionary, or even particularly interesting – but I think they might help me J

·   Before you say something, ask yourself if you’d be embarrassed to have it repeated.  I don’t think there’s a person on earth that hasn’t said at least one thing that in hindsight they are quite ashamed of. Whether it’s a catty comment about a friend, or a joke that could actually be perceived as quite unpleasant. But once it slips out, it’s so easy to get repeated and even passed back to that person. It’s the old “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Solid advice by Thumper from Bambi there. I know when I say something nice about someone, even if there’s no way they’d find out, it just makes me feel good J so do it for that selfish reason if none other! ;)

·     Try and be a bit healthier. Notice I say “healthier”, not healthy! I am very much someone who loves curling up with pizza and ice cream and completely depriving myself of that may be good for my hips, but would almost certainly make me very sad! But sometimes too much fatty/sugary foods makes me feel gunky, I’m afraid I have no technical term for it. It ends up making me feel lethargic, has nasty effects on my skin and I just generally end up feeling yucky on the inside. I try and balance this with some salads and substituting chocolate for fruit, but I want to start doing more exercise. I love horse riding (which does take a surprising amount of physical effort, despite everyone who says the horse does all the work!) but I want to start going to the gym more. I stopped going this year because my workload and placements stepped up a LOT this academic year, but now it’s summer I have no excuse. Exercise classes keep me motivated and I always leave with endorphins fluttering around me J boxercise, let us get reacquainted.

·         Be someone YOU’D like to spend time with. By that I don’t mean stop being yourself, or pretend to be someone you’re not. But I think it’s easy to assume people will always be there for you, whether its friends, a partner, family. But taking people for granted is something that causes the destruction of so many relationships. If you think of a compliment, say it. If something someone has done has made you smile, tell them. Small gestures mean so much, and even a text message that takes 20 seconds to compose has the potential to turn someone’s day around. If it’s something you’d appreciate, chances are someone else will too!

·         Be grateful for small things. This is bordering on cheesy, and I don’t want to get my snorkel and get too deep now. But I am henceforth going to try and focus on the little positives of my day than the little niggles! I am very much someone who can get bogged down by little worries, and blow them up into big things in my mind rather than thinking “oh well, happened now!” which would be a much healthier thought process. Instead, I want to focus on all the lovely things that happen every day that we take for granted, whether it’s a nice meal, a quick phone call with a friend, or even just some nice weather. It doesn’t have to be a day with a trip to Alton Towers to be amazing/ memorable.

·   Turn negatives into positives. A long and stressful day at work can dictate and ruin your whole day. Or, you can think “I have accomplished so much today and worked so hard, I’m proud of that”.

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our cicumstances"

- Martha Washington