I’ve been back in the USA for just over a week. A few days in LA, best forgotten quickly, and now on the East Coast. I’ve popped down to North Carolina, to its Outer Banks for a few days, mostly to soak up a bit of aviation history (The Wright Brothers!) but also to see a bit of its coast. (Awesome)
I write this from Tappahannock in Virginia, right near the waterways which make up Chesapeake Bay. It’s part of the whorl which I have long dreamed of seeing, having read books about its history, and also novels which feature the bay, and its many tributaries, in the story. Very impressive.
After three months in Mexico though, the US does come as a culture shock. Where life in Mexico happens on the street, and there is at best a cavalier respect for the law, and rules, here it is strictly by the book. Police and State Troopers on every road, speed limits which you should respect, and a niceness which takes a bit of getting used to. Everyone is sir, or Ma’am. and roadside and zebra crossings respected. That said, I’ve met a lot of nice people who seem happy, if not surprised, that I’ve chosen their part of the world to visit.
But, and I’m not the first person to point this out, the food here is shit. To much it, to heavily processed, and to fatty. And this comes from someone who enjoys a good meal, in particular of heavily processed fatty food. I should be in pig heaven, but sadly I’m not. One meal a day is my limit in the USA.
But all is good. I’m having fun, and I’m heading North tomorrow. Chicago and Wisconsin are my aiming points. Chicago because it sounds like a city everyone should see. Wisconsin. Because as you’ve probably gathered, I like places off the map.
Speak soon.
About Campbell
I am an Australian based, radio and TV, bimedia journalist, with a growing passion for the online world. Currently my main area of responsibility is the South Pacific region, covering its issues, events, politics, and sometimes its natural disasters.
I have worked as a reporter covering Australian politics, crime, regional and rural affairs, working in places like Launceston and Hobart in the state of Tasmania; Mount Isa and Brisbane in Queensland; and from my current base in the city of Melbourne. The place I know call home, and which I have fallen in love with as a place to live.
I have previously worked as a stationhand, shearing shedhand, road train driver, gravel crusher operator, fence builder and as an auctioneer.
Above all else I have a passion for travel, and as "The view from Swanvale" demonstrates, that passion is for seeing the world from a relaxed point of view. Still I will be talking about things which worry and concern me, and also sharing some examples of my work.
The land of the free, the brave, and the overfed
I’ve been back in the USA for just over a week. A few days in LA, best forgotten quickly, and now on the East Coast. I’ve popped down to North Carolina, to its Outer Banks for a few days, mostly to soak up a bit of aviation history (The Wright Brothers!) but also to see a bit of its coast. (Awesome)
I write this from Tappahannock in Virginia, right near the waterways which make up Chesapeake Bay. It’s part of the whorl which I have long dreamed of seeing, having read books about its history, and also novels which feature the bay, and its many tributaries, in the story. Very impressive.
After three months in Mexico though, the US does come as a culture shock. Where life in Mexico happens on the street, and there is at best a cavalier respect for the law, and rules, here it is strictly by the book. Police and State Troopers on every road, speed limits which you should respect, and a niceness which takes a bit of getting used to. Everyone is sir, or Ma’am. and roadside and zebra crossings respected. That said, I’ve met a lot of nice people who seem happy, if not surprised, that I’ve chosen their part of the world to visit.
But, and I’m not the first person to point this out, the food here is shit. To much it, to heavily processed, and to fatty. And this comes from someone who enjoys a good meal, in particular of heavily processed fatty food. I should be in pig heaven, but sadly I’m not. One meal a day is my limit in the USA.
But all is good. I’m having fun, and I’m heading North tomorrow. Chicago and Wisconsin are my aiming points. Chicago because it sounds like a city everyone should see. Wisconsin. Because as you’ve probably gathered, I like places off the map.
Speak soon.
About Campbell
I am an Australian based, radio and TV, bimedia journalist, with a growing passion for the online world. Currently my main area of responsibility is the South Pacific region, covering its issues, events, politics, and sometimes its natural disasters. I have worked as a reporter covering Australian politics, crime, regional and rural affairs, working in places like Launceston and Hobart in the state of Tasmania; Mount Isa and Brisbane in Queensland; and from my current base in the city of Melbourne. The place I know call home, and which I have fallen in love with as a place to live. I have previously worked as a stationhand, shearing shedhand, road train driver, gravel crusher operator, fence builder and as an auctioneer. Above all else I have a passion for travel, and as "The view from Swanvale" demonstrates, that passion is for seeing the world from a relaxed point of view. Still I will be talking about things which worry and concern me, and also sharing some examples of my work.