USA West Coast Adventure 2024
Part 1 – Section 1
Los Angeles, California – Saturday 28th September 2024
The day had arrived! I’d waited years for this day. When I was growing up, watching films and seeing Hollywood with the beautiful coastlines of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Malibu and other parts of California, it became a lifelong dream for me to go! A voice inside me always said, ‘Hopefully Sam, one day you’ll make it and get that chance to walk along the beautiful beaches of LA and soak in the Californian lifestyle.’ Now that dream becomes a reality!
At 7am on Saturday morning, I woke up at the hotel in Manchester Airport, where I stayed the night before. I decided to stay for a few reasons. First, it saved the early morning travel from my flat. Also, it saved any waiting at the terminal if myself or Sam were late for any reason. I decided to book a room at Crowne Plaza, which is near Terminal 3.
I went on the trip with support from Sam, who has supported me over the years. We have always been close, and he knows me inside out. Having Sam with me during the trip helps me with the social side of things. Also, if anything were to go wrong on the trip, I know it would trigger my anxiety and make me overwhelmed. Always having someone to talk to, who I feel comfortable with, is essential for me especially when travelling. It is helpful to have someone who I know can help me in these situations.
That morning, we met at the lobby in the hotel and walked to Terminal 3. I was feeling all sorts of emotions; excited because the dream was happening but also in shock that it was actually happening. The 10 year old me would never have believed it!
I am always nervous in airports. It doesn’t matter where I am going or where I am, I always get nervous and overwhelmed with the number of steps you have to go through and how busy the airports get in general. The steps that I need support with are:
- Check where the check in desk is
- Queue up to check bags in
- Navigate to security
- Ensuring that luggage complies with airport rules-what do I need to take from my bag?
- What to do if my bag gets checked
When I first step into an airport, my mind just goes into overdrive. It’s like a washing machine at full pelt on the last cycle! It causes me to feel overwhelmed very quickly and happens every time I have to navigate an airport. Having Sam with me calms the overwhelm and anxiety.
Our flight was scheduled for 10.55am to London Heathrow, where our connecting flight to Los Angeles was at 14.05pm. We checked in at Manchester Airport Terminal 3 at around 8.15am. I went through a gruelling 30 minutes of anxiety with security. I tried to manage this anxiety by taking deep breaths, telling myself to take things one step at a time and remembering that I had support there to help me at each step if I needed it. Next, we found somewhere for breakfast and enjoyed a holiday pint (of course!)
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After breakfast, we headed to the gate for the first flight to London Heathrow. The hour flight went smoothly, and we arrived at 12.10pm. We checked the departure board for our flight to Los Angeles and it was on time, expected at 14.05. That meant we had 1 hour and 50 minutes’ wait in at Terminal 5. We headed over to the lounge that I had booked at Heathrow, for food and drinks and to get out of the busy crowds. My case management team had recommended that I booked the lounge and I was really glad that I did because it got me out of the busy crowds and relax in a calm environment. I was able to focus much better in there and it stopped me from getting overwhelmed. I would definitely recommend booking a lounge to anyone who finds the airport overwhelming and I will book lounges for future trips.
Around 1pm, they were preparing to board, so we headed to the gate! Excitement was building. The 10 year old in me was bouncing. ‘You’re going to Hollywood!’, I thought. I took my Brain Injury Identity card with me and also wore my Sunflower Lanyard and my support, Sam, also had a support worker card. I got the brain injury identity card from a brain injury charity called Headway. The card includes a photo and information about how my brain injury affects me. It is really helpful for all travel, including airports, train stations and bus stations as it alerts the staff to the difficulties that I face. I recommend anyone who experiences difficulties with travel and has a brain injury to contact Headway, who can support with this.
We managed to get priority boarding, which we did not need to book in advance. Because of my sunflower lanyard, which you can apply for online or get in certain shops, we used the special assistance lane. We showed the staff the brain injury card and they let us straight through. We walked to the straight of the queue, which helped to reduce the anxiety that queuing in a busy environment would have caused. They scanned our boarding passes and we went to our seats, prepared and excited for the journey ahead…until the announcement came! Our flight to Los Angeles was delayed until 17.30, due to a plane change!
After a 3 hour 30 minute delay, I was so deflated and my mood changed instantly. It affected everything. I felt fatigued, my concentration level was low, my mood dropped and I had to go through the whole process again. Sam knew straight away it had affected me and he took over! He immediately said we would go back to the lounge so that we could relax and de-stress. We headed back to the lounge where we still had 30 minutes to wait. After that, he took me to a quiet zone near the gate so that I could calm down and process what had happened. The quiet zone helped me to refocus and prepare for re-boarding.
At 17.20, we once again got priority boarding and were the first ones on the plane. When seated for the 11 hour flight, my excitement returned and I was mentally calm, relaxed and ready. Once I felt the plane speeding along the runway and going into the air, the voice inside me said, ‘Next step Los Angeles, baby!’
After a smooth 11 hour across the Atlantic Ocean, we arrived at LAX Airport, Los Angeles at 9pm local time, but it was now 5am UK time! I was happy that we had arrived but extremely fatigued due to the travel and the delay at the airport. We got through customs quickly, picked up our luggage from the carousel and headed to the shuttle bus, which was taking us to pick up the rental car that we had hired. We picked up the car at around 11pm and headed to our hotel in Santa Monica. The next morning, we woke in sunny Santa Monica at around 7.30am. Our hotel was on the seafront, just a two minute walk from the beach and a five minute walk from the Santa Monica Pier, which has been there since 1909.
The first day was a full chilled day. I always have a ‘chill day’ the day after I travel as it helps me so much with mental fatigue, knowing all I need to do that day is to relax and whatever I feel like doing. It takes the pressure off and gets my energy levels up to 100%. So, that day we walked on the beach and Santa Monica Pier and took photos by the end of the trail Route 66 sign, which goes from Chicago, Illinois, through eight states to Santa Monica, California.
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Monday 30th September – the lad is heading for Hollywood! That morning, I felt so refreshed from the chill out day so we decided to go on a bus tour, which goes from Santa Monica to Hollywood, rather than taking the car. We got on the bus at around 10am, stopping off at Beverley Hills before arriving at Hollywood. When I arrived at that Hollywood sign for the first time, I was constantly pinching myself and couldn’t believe I had made it. I was here! I never thought I would have this chance. As a 10 year old, I never thought that it would be possible for me to travel but I kept that dream inside me and that’s all I needed.
We walked along Hollywood Boulevard, saw the celebrity signs and even got the chance to have my own sign! We saw all of the main attractions of the boulevard, including the Chinese Theatre, Madame Tussauds and all of the nearby restaurants and shops. We decided to head into Madame Tussauds, where we took lots of photos with celebrities. Then we enjoyed a burger from the famous In and Out.
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The following day, Tuesday 1st October, we enjoyed breakfast and a walk along the beach in the morning, then decided to head out in the car back to Hollywood! We drove for around an hour from Santa Monica to Universal Studios. If you know me, you will know I am a massive Harry Potter fan, which was the main reason I wanted to visit Universal Studios. I have previously visited Universal Studios in Florida in 2019. Once inside at the Harry Potter section, my inner child came out again. I felt like that 7 year old child again, watching my first Harry Potter film. I fell in love with the films straight away and still love them, now! If you’re a Harry Potter fan, I’m a Gryffindor and hate Slytherin. Also, when the day comes that I meet that lucky lady in my life, she’s going to be a Ravenclaw. ‘When the brave meets the wise,’ I can see it now. As we arrived at Hogsmeade, my Gryffindor scarf was out and around my neck. Next, onwards to The Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer. After ‘one or two’ Butterbeers, it was straight to Hogwarts Castle. I’m very lucky to say I have ridden both Harry Potter rides at Universal Studios, previously: Escape from Gringotts’ in Orlando, Florida, and now, ‘The Forbidden Journey’ in Hollywood, California. Both were very good and I recommend them! We enjoyed walking around the park and particularly enjoyed Springfield's from the Simpsons, where we enjoyed a ‘Duff Beer’ in Moe’s.
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Sea World, San Diego, California
Part 1 - Section 2
Wednesday 2nd October 2024
Today, we planned a road trip to Seaworld, San Diego. This was part of a two week itinerary. The itinerary included six nights in Santa Monica (which included a day road trip to Sea World, San Diego) then four nights in Las Vegas, finishing with three nights in San Fransisco. We made the itinerary before travelling so that I knew day-to-day what would generally be happening. We mainly stuck to this itinerary, however, things were added to the itinerary and some things were spontaneous decisions in the moment.
The day started early, setting off at around 8.50am. Just over 2 hours later, we arrived in San Diego at around 11.15am. We had skipped breakfast, due to an early start, so we decided to head into the park and get something to eat and drink, first.
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After eating, we wandered around the park, spotting dolphins, Beluga whales, turtles and many more sea creatures. I’ve always wanted to see dolphins and this was the first time I had chance to see them – they didn’t disappoint! I had expectations due to what others had told me. They were so nice and friendly and just watching them swim, do tricks and jump in and out of the water felt like the experience of a lifetime. It makes me want to swim with dolphins even more than I did before. That would be the memory of a lifetime.
We also went on some rides, such as the rollercoaster ‘Manta’, which was fast and fun. We got wet on the River Rapids and ended the day with the Orca Encounter show, which included watching the whales and learning more about the sea creatures from the staff. After the trip to Seaworld, I was really fatigued so we decided to have an early night so that we could enjoy our final day in Los Angeles the following day. A five hour round trip car journey, long day out and general business of the last few days meant I knew I had to adjust to have an early night or risk burnout for the rest of the trip.
I always like to make the most of the last day on holiday, wherever I am. I decided to get myself an LA Galaxy football shirt to remember my time there. We got up at around 8am, ate breakfast and headed to the LA Galaxy stadium in our rental car. It was a 35-40 minute car ride to Carson from our hotel. When we arrived, we took lots of photos outside the stadium and David Beckham’s statue. He played for them from 2017-20012. At around 12.30, we headed back out in the car to Malibu. After about an hour of navigating through the highways and traffic of Los Angeles, we had arrived. We found a bar/restaurant, where we stopped for food and drinks. It was a lovely place and the people were friendly and welcoming. There were no egos in there, which I really liked and respected. This was the case wherever we travelled in LA – the people were spot on and we had no issues.
We ended the night in Santa Monica at around 10.45pm as we were up early the following day. Next destination, Las Vegas!
