Well here I am, the trip I have been counting down for so long has finally arrived. The long haul flight went surprisingly quick considering I couldn’t manage to sleep, even with my sleepy oils and binaural beats. However I didn’t even have time to twiddle my thumbs as pretty equipped with movies, tv shows, kindle full of books, a mag all about the royal wedding and of course my thoughts, that soon enough (slight exaggeration) the captain was announcing that we will soon be starting our decent.

So welcome to America! I’m so glad I was still in an English speaking country as once I cleared customs it took me at least an hour to find the right bus to take haha such a big airport with many levels and terminals. Probably should have just asked someone right from the start but determined, independent me thought I could do it by myself. Eventually made it safely to the hostel and nipped out for a walk along Santa Monica Beach and checked out the Pier…

and muscle beach which kept me well entertained with muscles everywhere 😉

Couple of first impressions stand out for me: it truly is just like the movies, lots of big cars, lots of takeout joints, and sadly there are so many homeless people. I was warned about the homeless but I really didn’t imagine there would be  quite so many, on every corner with a cardboard sign, often a dog and often a really nice pair of kicks. Even today I saw a man with 2 trolleys filled to the brim and a laptop??!!!

With only one day to check out LA I decided on a hop on hop off bus to navigate the big city. Best decision ever and even got it half price as staying at the hostel so bonus there. Checked out the famous suburbs where lots of big names live, explored the Original Farmers Market and walked the Walk of Fame. Wet my appetite for tacos with taco Tuesday, 99c each, and got as close as to the Hollywood sign as I had time for before returning back on the last bus to Santa Monica.

Not too many exciting photos but tomorrow begins my Mexican aventuras. My Spanish is certainly non existent but hopefully smiles and hand gestures will get me out of the airport and into the country of 127 million people haha wish me luck!!