Sob!

17 B.C.E.

Really tough weekend.

Took advantage of my parents being away visiting friends to start moving my gear over to their place. Consequently the flat is in a state of semi-habitation and I’ve been on a weird emotional rollercoaster. Maybe deep down it’s because Englebert did so badly at Eurovision yesterday, but it’s probably more to do with the happiness I found in this flat. I came here from a place I stagnated in for nine years, partly driven out by the ever-multiplying angry potheads below me. You don’t normally leave a lodging when you still enjoy living there, or at least I don’t. Possibly it’s my brain screaming at me that it’s never a good idea to go back to live with your parents (except for those three nights at Christmas that pass in the blink of a festive eye), but on another level I know I’m doing the right thing. This trip is going to be the most amazing experience I’ve ever had…it’s just the whole getting around to making it start that’s a bugger!

Focus, Jimbo, work will keep you sane! Now go and make your sarnies for tomorrow (and don’t trip over the boxes again). 

It’s fun to stay at the Y…M…C…

23 B.C.E. 

…Gray!

That’s right, these two young men have found a place they can go when they’re short of their dough and they don’t want to get stung by inflated Noo Yoik prices. Here’s the link:

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Vanderbilt-YMCA/New-York/815?source=googleadwordshostelsbynamebroad&kid=466142&aid=2&gclid=CK29h7-hkrACFRQrfAodcSWDpQ

And here’s the location:

We chose the Vanderbilt YMCA because:

• We get our own room (bunk beds, just like when we were kids).
• There’s free wi-fi in the room (usually it’s just in common areas).
• It comes with cable TV (might get to see a LIVE police chase).
• The location’s half-decent (i.e. it’s in Manhattan).
• Virtually everywhere else is already booked up for our budget.

So, we’ve taken the room for a total of four nights…and let’s hope there’s no one else on the same floor and we get the bathroom all to ourselves (a highly unlikely scenario!)

It may be cheap and cheerful, and they don’t include breakfast, but at this stage of the game it would be a bad idea to get hooked on quality of any kind.

There’s a LONG way to go after we leave this metropolis…it’s likely to get a lot worse!

The shortest entry in the world...ever!!

29 B.C.E.

The novelty of writing a travel journal before actually travelling has worn off somewhat.

Either that or I’m too busy planning, organising and drinking to write anything!

Stuff - a week's worth

37 B.C.E

It’s been over a week since the last update! Here’s some highlights that happened:

• Had the last of my jabs and got given a prescription for 120 100mg tablets of doxcycline. I’ve seen them online for as little as 4 pence per capsule…surely they’re mixed with flour for that price?

• Car insurance runs out on the 21^st May so I have to arrange cover for the following 22 days, then pay £47.50 to get it cancelled. Bastards.

• Finding a camcorder that will fit our needs is proving even harder than finding a netbook. I’d be happy for one to fall out of the sky and land in my lap, even if the lens got a bit cracked from the impact.

• There is a big debate going on between myself and the matriarch of the clan about whether a sleep sheet should be made from 100% pure silk, faux silk, or a blend of different silks. I’m currently in search of another 99,999 signatures to get it discussed in the House of Commons.

• Signed up for something called Whatsapp, which effectively lets you text people for free and should be very useful for keeping in touch with Tim if we go off in different directions some days. But why do I get the feeling it’s not actually free?

• My Halifax Clarity credit card arrived the other day and I’ve got the parental unit analysing the small print for any pitfalls I may have missed. It supposedly let’s you use it abroad with no extra fees…but why do I get the feeling there are extra fees?