NOTE: This entry is part of a series in which I fly over 40,000 miles in two years. Read the introduction here.
I would never have done this a few weeks before. After flying through six American states and touring Seattle in three days all I can say is that the experience was incredible.
Its amazing how travel can bring out so many emotions in a short span of time: fear, happiness, loneliness, excitement and everything in between. Living out of a backpack for a few days helps you look at life differently. I recommend that you try it.
- Routing: BUF-CLT-PHX-SEA-SFO-PHL-BUF (plus driving YYZ-BUF and back)
- Mileage and Cost: 6899 miles for $244 equals 3.54 cents per mile (target: less than 5 cpm)
- Remaining: 33101 miles in 1 year and 279 days
- Goofs: (1) Climbing onto an empty, unfinished train platform and getting stared at by a hundred people on the other side. (2) Dropping my transit ticket and having to give the guy who found it a dollar to get it back.
- Travel tips: (1) Don’t forget to take the charging cable for your phone. (2) Pack much lighter than you think you need to. Your backpack will start hurting after a day or two. (3) If you get caught by a long flight delay ask the airline for an alternate route (I flew CLT-PHX-SEA instead of CLT-SFO-SEA and saved six hours).
- Soundtrack: Bhangra
- The great: Washington State Ferries, Museum of Flight, Pike place market (and the very first Starbucks)
- The good: Seattle pub crawl tours, Laser dome (and the Space Needle), Central Library, US Airways and United Airlines.
- The bad: The large number of homeless people on every block in downtown Seattle. They were harmless though.
Would I do it again? Well, I’m off to California in a few weeks! This time my stay will be longer and less comfortable.
To read detailed trip notes for this journey please click here to continue.
