As mentioned in my into the desert blog post, I arrived in LA on the 3rd of August 2014. I immediately headed straight for my hostel in Santa Monica. I made the decision to fly over about five days before Ross and Dunc were due so I could see a little bit more of LA. So for the next few days I roamed the streets of Santa Monica and Venice Beach, photographing as much as I could. I was also fortunate to be able to catch up with my cousins while I was there. Andrew and I had spent lots of time travelling in 2013 throughout Europe so it was good to catch up with him while he was living in LA plus his brother Jono, who had been living and studying in New York, was also in town. So on my final day I headed back to the airport to meet up with the boys who had just flown in from Australia.

We then spent the next four to five days on the road through California, Nevada and Utah before unfortunately having to come back to LA early due to the cancellation of Speed Week. This did give us the opportunity for me to head out to Joshua Tree with my friend Devin but also to spend some extra days in LA including heading out to Burbank to Bob's Big Boy to check out the cars one Friday night. I then said my goodbyes and headed to LAX on the Sunday and flew out to New Orleans to travel for the next couple of weeks by myself.

Los Angeles (Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Burbank, Abbott-Kinney)

1 - 3: Santa Monica Beach, 4: Venice Beach skatepark, 5: Venice Beach, 6: Beach house - Venice Beach, 7: Mike O'Meally's house -West Hollywood, 8 - 10: Bob's Big Boy - Burbank, 11 - 12: Griffth Observatory, 13: Hollywood sign, 14: Abbott-Kinney St - Venice Beach

Arriving in New Orleans late in the afternoon, I headed straight for my hostel. It was crazy walking out of the airport into the humid and sticky southern air which would be a constant while I was visiting. The next few days was spent exploring Bourbon and Frenchmen Streets, visiting the old plantations, the fantastic world war 2 museum and partying at night. I did enjoy my time there but didn't have many photos to show for it but I also though it was a little overhyped to what I actually saw and experienced. I then headed south to Mexico for a week before flying back up to Austin.

New Orleans

1: Bourbon St, 2 & 3: Greenwood Cemetery, 4: City Park

After almost a week in Mexico I was back on the move again and headed to Austin. This was one of the destinations I had been looking forward to the whole trip and it didn’t disappoint. As soon as I arrived, I caught a bus into Downtown Austin. Only cost $1.25 which is ridiculously cheap. I then headed for my hostel, Firehouse Lounge and Hostel. It was very cool, really comfortable beds and the sweetest hostel bar tucked away behind a book shelf you could ever imagine. It’s also close to 6th St which means an easy walk to the best bars. After dropping my stuff off and having a shower, I was picked up by friends of my brothers, Marissa and Jeremy. Marissa and Jeremy were originally from Florida, which is where my brother had met them, but had moved to Austin for work. First stop was for some food so went to Torchy’s tacos. Best tacos I’ve ever had hands down and such a diverse selection. It was great to be eating some amazing food again after the average stuff I had been consuming in Mexico. We then headed back towards 6th st and hit up a few bars, drinking and having a sweet time. The next four days were full of drinking, eating and checkin out all the awesome sights that Austin had to show. Eating Franklin’s barbecue was definitely one of the highlights, I’ve never eaten meat that delicious before so it was worth the 1.5 hour wait in the line. Also visiting uncommon objects which is probably the coolest antique store i’ve ever been to and buying a cool new ring was a great experience. Austin just has a great vibe that makes you feel so comfortable and every there is having a great time. But alas my time was up so I headed back to the airport, bound for my second last city of my trip, San Diego.

Austin

1 & 2: Hope Outdoor Gallery, 3: Greetings Sign - South Congress, 4: Zilker Metropolitan Park

So my last stop was San Diego. I didn't have many expectations of San Diego but was blown away by how cool it was. I did a lot of sightseeing while I was there including checkin out Old Town, Pacific Beach and heading as far north as La Jolla. I got lots of great pictures, partly due to the amazing natural light that exists in California year round. I then decided to travel by Amtrak back to LA for a couple of days before flying home to Australia. I would highly recommend that to anyone doing the journey between the two cities. It's a great trip that for 3/4 is directly next to the Pacific Ocean. I then spent my final two days in LA which gave me the chance to visit Griffith Observatory and also drop off all my film to Richard Photo Lab who are the best in the business. They did have convenient location right in West Hollywood but have moved their operation to the up and coming area of Valencia, just outside of Los Angeles.

Once again I had another amazing time visiting the USA, meeting lots of great people and capturing so many great shots. I can't wait to get back over again as there is so much more to see and experience.

San Diego (Old Town, Pacific Beach, La Jolla)

1: Trolley - Old Town 2: Berta's - Old Town 3: USS Midway 4: WW2 memorial statue 5 & 6: Pacific Beach 7 - 11: La Jolla