So last year in September I did a two week trip to the east coast of the USA and visited San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Gran Canyon, Joshua Tree Nationalpark, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco again.
Some places we (me and my travelling partner) just visited for few hours at others we stayed for a day or two. But let's start at the beginning:
At the start of my semester holidays I realized I had a lot of free time on my hands because I didn't have anything to hand in or any exams and since I started studying I didn't travel much and only for a few days at a time.
Knowing I wanted to travel is one thing but now I had to find a place I want to travel to and someone who wants to travel there as well and had the time and the money to do so. Where I wanted to travel to I knew pretty quick either Australia and New Zealand or the USA. Finding a fellow traveler was not so easy, either my friends didn't want to travel or they didn't have the money or the time. What was I to do now?
I thought about travelling alone, but I would have prefered to have company.
Not too long ago I had heard about plattforms for people who are looking for travel companions and I thought this might be the solution! So I went and checked them out, some just seemed weired and untrustworthy but one seemed really good and I did some background checks. The website is reisepartner-gesucht.de. At first I just read the differen
t ads from people who where already looking for company for travels to Australia and America. I wrote to several of the people (The next post will be about the things you will have to think about and do before travelling)
Sometimes I didn't get answers and sometimes they already had partners or the timespan in which they wanted to travel changed or they couldn't travel for one reason or an other at all. After reading and answering on ads I decided to place an ad myself. I shortly introduced myself and described what I had in mind for travelling.
I got a few answer but one didn't know what her budget was for travelling and after over a week she still didn't know it and I'm conviced she she didn't seriously look for a travel companion and these people are really annoying if you are searching for one. So if you aren't really looking for one don't put up ads or answer to them.
Someone else seemed to be a good travelling buddy but suddenly she remembered that she wanted to do a lot of partying and drinking and I wanted to do sightseeing and cultural things and it annoyed me that she remembered it after we had been talking and planning for over a week. And I started looking rather late for a fellow traveller and time was running out!
By chance I stumbled upon an ad which seemed to be fitting my idea of a holiday. She wanted to do a roadtrip on the US west coast with sightseeing and so on. We got into conntact and our plans where pretty similar. She already had a travel route worked out and a car booked, her fellow traveller couldn't make it, so she was looking for a new one.
We emailed regularly and talked via Skype without picture because she didn't have a got Wifi connection. Usually you should meet with a potential Travel partner or skype with picture so you get a feeling for the other person and can decide if you can get along. We couldn't do it for different reasons which is kind of dangerous, but I knew that if we shouldn't get along when we meet in San Francisco I would travel alone. That I could afford it.
When we decided we would travel together I booked my flight and a bed at the same hostel she had, she already had her tickets. We decided we would split the rent for the car and the gas as well as for the accommodations. The plan was that she payed for the car and I would pay for the accommodations and the the gas. At the beginning it worked but over time she sometimes payed. During our travelling we both always wrote down who payed what and how much. At the end we check what we both payed and we saw that she had payed more. She gave me her account information and when we were back home I transfered her the money I owed her.
Well that was more in the direction of what happend after our travelling together ;)
Now let's get to the point of what I packed for the holiday. I knew I would buy a lot of clothes during the holiday so I didn't pack too much. One long pair pants another I wore during the flight and two short pairs, a handful of shirts and a warmer cardigan and a thin one, enough underwear for 14 days and a small and a large towel.
I had a small bottle for shampoo and shower gel, deo, a toothbrush and toothpaste and tampons for emergencies. Sunblocker I bought in the US because I forgot mine at home ;D
And of couse I took make up with me but only essentials, MAC Face&Body, concealer, blush, bronzer, an eyeshadow palette, lipstick and mascara.
I hardly wore any make up becasue I was on holiday and spend a lot of time in the car and I bought some things at Sephora, MAC stores and at drugstores.
Well I guess that's it concerning the planning and preparing for my roadtrip at the US west coast.
Oh and I had to do the Electronic System for Travel Authorization also called ESTA.
The next post is going to be about things you should pay attention to if you plan a holiday.
Till then, have a great time ;)
