All packed up and ready to go home. It will be a long, long few days getting back. I'm sure the girls will be very happy to see us!
We spent the morning on a mission to get one last souvineer I
You spend a lot of time walking and travelling in Vegas. On the map, things don't look far away. "Oh look, it's only 4 casinos away". But what you forget is each casino takes up almost two blocks! Needless to say we've burned off the junk food we've been eating.
Aaahhh I can't wait to get home and have REAL FOOD again! A lil bit of meat with 3 veges for dinner, and a bowl of cereal and milk for lunch, mmmm. They are luxuries we haven't had while travelling.
Things we will miss about USA:
- Self flushing toilets (awesome, once you get used to them. The first time I experienced one I screamed and nearly jumped through the door!)
- Cheap booze
- The shopping; some stuff like make-up, shoes, designer brands etc are heaps cheaper here, even with the exchange rate
- The summer weather
- Spending time just the two of us, getting to sleep in, not having to wake up to baby through the night
- Their deep fried steak (think I might have to try find a recipe for it at home for Chad)
- Our hotel room. The place we are in now is bigger than our 2 bedroom flat at home!!!
- Just how big, huge and diverse it is. We've been here a week and a half and feel like, other than vegas, we could have easily spent another week in each city. There's so much to see and do!
Things we won't miss about the USA:
- 'Nice' people. If someone if being friendly to you, you can bet they are after your money
- The homeless people
- Tipping and prices at shops not including sales tax. Never go to a $5 lunch bar with only $5. You end up adding on the 12% tax or whatever it is, plus 15-20% for a tip, and $1 per drink from the bartender.
- Customer service, mostly it's been so bad!
- The freeways (Chad). Personally I liked them but Chad hated them!
- The money. $1 is a note, and they go right up to $100. All the notes are quite similar and easy to mix up. The coins are crazy; dimes, quarters, nickels, and 1c. They give you change in 1 cent coins- so annoying!
- Not having other people to talk to. I love Chad but being part of a couple can cut you off from getting to know other people. That, plus the 'anyone who's being nice is trying to sell you something' means the other travellers aren't very friendly or approachable.
- The junk/fast food culture. Bring on home made, healthy, REAL food!!!
- The 'dumb and dumber' culture. Which probably has to do with the "I'll sure your ass!" culture.
Favourite attractions of our holiday:
- Disneyland
- Alcatraz
- The Las Vegas Strip at nights
- The shopping
- Santa Monica
- The carousels and roller coasters
- The tour of San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge
- The Phantom show
We have so many good memories to take back with us.
As it is with travelling, we have loved some of the places we have been and would happily take some of the things home with us. However there's no place like home. Being away has shown us (again), how lucky we are to live in a country like New Zealand.
It's clean, it's green, with beautiful scenery. The people are friendly, and not so you will tip them. Our government provides things like the benefit- well to do people, bitch all you want about it, but it's this that keeps people off the street. Having a large homeless ppopulation doesn't just affect those who are homeless, but everyone in the community. The racism is nowhere near as bad as it is in America and the gap between rich and poor is less.
Feeling very blessed with the country we live in xoxo
I'm super nervous about going home again. We haven't really got any plans on what's gonna happen- actually that's not true. There is a plan but I'm not sure it's the right thing to do so we've got to decide what's gonna happen. I hate the deciding- it stresses me out- so I'm just trying to breathe, not let it get to me, and think 'Whatever will be, will be. We will sort it out when we are home.'
Another 30 hours and we should be back on home shores!!!
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