Life updates + other chaos and confusion

After some sick days in the Big Apple, we flew down to Florida to spend some time with my family. We were staying with them, so it was a nice time to take a break from spending so much money as well. They have a big, screened-in outdoor pool, so it was nice to have the opportunity to chill for a few days and take things slow. We grilled, gossiped, drank, swam and had a merry time. 

My parents met us in Florida (they live in Iowa) so that we could have a little family reunion of sorts. My partner and I, along with my parents, had decided we wanted to visit New Orleans for a couple days because it was just a 3-hour drive from where we were in the Florida panhandle. Off we drove to the The Big Easy and let me tell you – New Orleans in July is BRUTAL. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I truly believe that humidity was created on the Gulf Coast. Every time we stepped outside, within 30 seconds we had a film of sweat and humidity on our skin. But you just have to roll with it because resistance is futile. Luckily air conditioning is set to sub-zero temperatures in every indoor space, which helps you dry off the current layer of sweat and grime.

Enough about weather conditions. New Orleans was such a unique place and a city unlike any other I had visited in the US. We were only there for 2 days, so we only saw the super touristy parts, but we also had some really great food while we were there. I can only imagine what the vibe is during Mardi Gras. (Note: Here is where I started to have some foot pain. More to come on that in the next section about the universe humbling me.)

After our short stay in New Orleans, my partner and I said goodbye to my parents and flew to Las Vegas for another short stay. This was the only point that we had a bit of trouble with traveling. There was no direct flight to Las Vegas from New Orleans, so we had a connection in Texas. Well, our first flight kept getting delayed and delayed, so our second flight kept getting rebooked and rebooked. All in all, we still ended up arriving in Vegas that evening, but our luggage did not make it with us. Luckily, it arrived at the hotel about 24 hours later and we had a few essentials in our carry-ons to hold us over.

I don’t want to mention too much about Las Vegas because it’s such a crazy experience. It’s somehow exactly how it’s portrayed in the media, but also not. I kept describing it as ‘Chuck E Cheese for adults’ because of the flashing lights and games. But also – there were so many children! I was a bit shocked at the amount of families with young children with them. I think of Vegas as an adult playground (get your head out of the gutter), so that really surprised me to learn that it can be a family-friendly getaway.

After 2 days in Vegas (it truly is enough to do it in 2 days or you may get addicted to gambling), we headed off to Portland. There, we stayed with a family member for a couple days and then picked up our campervan to start off our weeklong camping tour! Side note: We saw the film Nope while in Portland and it was such a nice experience. 

For one week, we took a campervan from Portland to San Francisco, making a new stop almost each day. We did a bit of hiking, but mostly just sightseeing and taking in the stunning views. I could write a whole separate blog post about this wonderful week, but here it would take up too much space. Anyone who knows me, knows that camping is certainly not my forte – I love living in the city and enjoying modern pleasures like indoor plumbing. However, this week we spent in the campervan was simply amazing. And I liked that it was just a week. 😀

The trip ended in San Francisco. There we gave back the campervan and spent 2 days in the City of Fog before heading back home to Hamburg. By this time, it was the very beginning of August. One evening, we decided to more or less bar-hop, but then we ended up staying at this one bar because it was so lovely. We met a few locals there and started to chit-chat, where we were also told that we were visiting San Fran during ‘Fogaust’ (combining fog and August). We also had a last hurrah with some really great Mexican food. I really, really liked the vibe of the city and if I ever had to move back to the US and could choose where to live, San Francisco would probably be in my top 5.