Sat here writing this and I just cannot believe that the trip is over. I honestly had the best six weeks and met an amazing group of people. If you are considering booking a Trek America tour – do it! You can read more about the trip here.
*I am not affiliated with Trek America*
Flying to Newark
On May 28th I made my way to Heathrow airport to embark on a trip of a lifetime. At this point I was so nervous about what was ahead of me. I met two of the girls that would be on my trip at the airport. After saying goodbye to our families, it all started to feel very real. We had left everyone behind to travel with a group of people we didn’t know – for six weeks!
We landed in the afternoon and we made our way to Hilton Newark Hotel. After putting our luggage in our rooms and settling in we made our way down to the lobby where we met the majority of our group.
Meeting the Trek Family
It wasn’t long before we were all chatting away and laughing. When we later went back to our rooms I was so excited for what the rest of the trip was going to bring.
Tornado in New Jersey?!
We all went to bed around 9/10pm, knowing that we had to be up early the next day to meet our tour leader and set off on the trip. I had just drifted off to sleep when I woke up to check a notification on my phone. It was a tornado warning. As I do in most situations like these – I checked twitter! To which I found lots of surprised and concerned residents as they never get tornado warnings in the area. Not going to lie, we were all chatting on our group chat and we were pretty scared haha! Somehow I eventually managed to get back to sleep!
Meeting our leader
The next morning we were down in the lobby waiting to meet our leader. (Yes we were trying to guess who it was, looking around the lobby) He eventually came over, introduced himself and we introduced each other. We had to go around the room saying our name and one thing we enjoy – one by one everyone had to repeat what everyone had said. So the person at the end had to repeat 14 names and hobbies. This put me on edge but it was still fun and it did help us remember each other!
On the road again..
For the first of many times we loaded up the van and headed on our way to Philadelphia!
Of course we made a stop at the rocky steps, yes we did run up them haha! Our leader then parked up the van and we had time just to explore as a group – having this time so early on in the trip really allowed us to bond from the start.
When in Philly
First off we stopped for a Philly Cheese steak – so good, you have to try it! Our leader recommended opting for cheese whizz, I didn’t really know what this was or if i would like it but I went for it anyway and I did enjoy it. They have several options, it would be nice to try some different variations.
After lunch we made our way over to Independence Hall. We then went to Elfreths Alley – A historic street dating back to 1702. It was really fun to take a nice wander around Philadelphia – we had plenty of time which meant we could all chat and get to know each other.
Quick stop at Walmart
Our leader decided to cook us dinner the first night which meant we didnt need to do a big shop. But he did allow us to pick up anything we didnt have – PILLOWS!
Setting up the camp
The first night your leader will show you how the van needs to be packed and unloaded and how to set up the tents. After a couple of nights you will be able to do this very quickly – so don’t worry too much if you don’t camp often.
We all sat at the tables for the evening, chatting and having a laugh. We were lucky to be put in a group where we all had similar humour. This is the great thing about Trek America – everyone is likely to be in a similar position to you and have similar interests! Don’t worry about travelling solo you will make friends.
Cherry Hill Campground
Our first campsite was Cherry Hill Campground. This turned out to be one of favourites. The facilities were good, our site was right next to the bathrooms. There was WiFi, an onsite shop and a good swimming pool.
This first day made us feel so comfortable together and we knew we had a good time ahead of us. We all still couldn’t believe we were actually in the USA.
Continue reading Trek America 2019
No Comments