Welcome Everyone
Misadventures of a Scottish Wanderer? You might be wondering what the name is all about, but its exactly what it says on the tin. I am a wanderer from Scotland who seems so get into various mishaps wherever I go. This blog will introduce you to the weird and wonderful stories of my travels.
I live in a seaside town on the south west coast of Scotland, 2 years ago the miserable Scottish weather made me flee to California to work with a summer camp exchange program. Many people my age have done the same and i'm sure they too have made some of the most amazing memories.
The camp was for kids from inner city San Francisco, and afterwards I went on to do an awesome road trip with 3 other girls from camp who were all from England. We spent 4 nights in San Francisco, 2 nights in Yosemite National Park, 2 nights in Las Vegas, 2 nights at the Grand Canyon and originally the plan was 4 nights in LA.
Only I never travel well, something always happens, in this case it involved Hurricane Irene.
I found out the night before my early morning flight while sitting in a hostel computer room in Santa Monica, that due to weather issues my flight was cancelled. My Continental Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Glasgow was scheduled to have a fuel stop at Newark Liberty in New Jersey, this meant that while even one of my travelling companions managed to fly back to London Heathrow, I was stranded. The first thing I did was call my mum, told her what was going on and that I didn't really have any money to call around to find out what I should do, super mum came to the rescue and did the most incredible things to work out how to get me home.
The summer camp exchange program that I went with? No where to be seen, the London office was closed for a long weekend and the U.S office was closed. That was all ok because I knew there was an emergency number, only the lines weren't open either, some emergency line eh?
Luckily after 2 extra nights in a hostel in Santa Monica, some severe sunstroke after falling asleep on the beach a few days before and the second trip to LAX airport, I managed to get onto the reserve list that was 80 people long. My bag went to Glasgow when I didn't, but after 5 or 6 flights to Newark leaving without me on it, and a full 2 days after I was meant to, I was smuggled onto a spare seat on a flight. I say smuggled like it was illegal, but my name disappeared from the reserve list and when I went to go find out what was happening, the woman felt so bad for me that she escorted me to a seat on the plane and told me to pretend I was always booked on the flight. 6 hours later I was in New Jersey attempting to get to anywhere in the UK, No? so anywhere in Europe, "Copenhagen?" bit far... Yet the lovely Continental Airline worker attacked her computer and out popped a passenger cancellation for a flight to Glasgow the next day. "Will tomorrow do?" of course it did. Only until my flight over 30 hours away it was like a scene from The Terminal with Tom Hanks as I slept at a quiet Gate and washed in the public bathrooms. 4 days after my original flight, I arrived home 2 days after my bag.
It doesn't stop there however, I managed to make it home with no broken limbs until the day after I got home. I somehow managed to break my finger on my back door handle. Perfect!
Soo none of that put me off travelling at all...
In January a friend helped me make the decision to go back to America but to do a different camp, something new and somewhere different. After landing myself a job at a camp in NY state I was soo excited, then I found out my hours got cut in the pub I worked in the next day to a dramatic ZILCH. OH DEAR!
So I did what other silly people would do, I got myself a credit card to fund my little trip to across the pond. £1200 later I spent my summer looking after the most amazing kids and partying it up at the weekend. Afterwards I went on a Chinese bus tour with 3 other girls, again this time 2 from England and one from Scotland. We went to Philadelphia, Washington DC, Corning Glass Museum, Hershey World, Niagara Falls, Boston and back to the big apple where we spent our last few days shopping and enjoying the city.
All went well this summer actually, not counting the major wasp sting reaction I had, the spider bite or the mind numbing 4 and 6 hour layovers in Schiphol Airport.
Well I've been back from that trip now for 5 weeks exactly frantically searching for a job to pay for my next one lol, its just so boring being back but hopefully if I manage to land myself a full time job they let me have a career break and take me back after summer 2013 which will officially be my last year with the exchange program.
Getting old comes at a price, I need a grown up job by then so I can save up and get out of here for the last time :D
Well for just now, Chao!
Caz
