My USA/Canada Review

Tuesday 18 July:

Morning, I buy more treats today, go on a long bus ride to the airport and check in drama free.

Today is not about the flight but rather an overview of my trip as a whole:

Reviewing the places I visited:

New York:

An incredible place! You could spend a whole holiday there and still have more to explore. If I had to chose any state to live in based on where I have gone so far I would 92% go there (lost 8% as the weather is not as great as the west coast). It has such a great atmosphere, the people are nice, there aren’t so many druggies on the street and it feels (at least where I have explored in New York) like a relatively safe place.

Boston:

Definitely didn’t spend enough time there to build a solid opinion but I liked the small town kind of vibe it had.

Niagara Falls:

Beautiful, definitely a must see. Could be a day activity – going on the Canadian and American side.

Toronto:

I really enjoyed the area. The weather was a bit disappointing. There was so much to see and it was a nice walking distance between places (not too far). 

Vancouver:

Another place that I honestly would live in. The weather was amazing. The people are friendly. It doesn’t have such a big atmosphere but the beach and mountain give it its glow. It’s a relatively safe area with tons of places to explore. The one downside is that downtown is easy to travel to by foot but besides that you do need to use transportation although the bus drivers are extremely friendly as are most people.

Renton, Seattle:

The vibe in Seattle is hip and happening. The area I stayed at, on a lake, was beyond stunning they have a great 4th July, people are friendly and the weather is great. I know that where I stayed it was a safe area but I am aware that most of Renton is going down.

Hood river, Oregon:

Such an amazing place. I was lucky enough to be staying at a place in the middle of everything. It has so much to offer – mountain, beach, wind surfing. It is a mostly tourist area so it is designed for tourists to enjoy. Such a great friendly area.

California:

San Francisco – the area I was staying at the majority of the time, at the Green Tortoise Hostel which is by far the best hostel I stayed at, was a vibey place, as for the rest of it it’s not great. The weather is bad, even in summer but the Golden Gate Bridge and the other attractions I went to were beautiful.

Los Angeles – it is a city that has so much to offer at all different levels. The problem I found though was that it was difficult to go to these places – everything is quite far away especially if you are using public transport so if I were to go there again I would somehow hire a car to go around as it is not walking accessible. The weather is incredible as well as the beaches (and security on the mountain).

With California I’ve got to say I’m disappointed. I think it’s always been a dream of mine to go to Hollywood and the area is not what I expected. There are lots of drug addicts and although I experienced this in most places I visited this trip, the catcalling is absolutely constant and disgusting to an extreme and for the level I experienced it I would not choose to go there again. But stating the obvious that’s only what I experienced in the areas I went and some towns you could tell were better than others.

Overall I had an incredible travel experience around a tiny amount of the coast of North America. I really enjoyed the experience and loved that I could go and just focus on what I wanted to do and see as a solo traveler. I hope to continue traveling for years to come once I start earning an income as this trip was kindly sponsored by my dad as a month long ‘gap year’ for me. I honestly had one of the most amazing times of my life. 

Thank you for joining me on my journey

Goodbye for now

XOXO

Yael

I spent my entire

Monday 17 July:

Today is beach and shopping day. Because I haven’t swum in California yet I go to the beach! I chill out at Santa Monica beach and then decide to go to Cosco to buy bulk treats for my fam. I then realized while I’m outside Cosco you need a membership to go in and it costs money. Defeated I decide to go to Walmart. After taking 1/3 buses I realize that I will only get to Walmart at 19:00 and to my hostel at 22:00 not including shopping time. It will take too long and I’m not taking the buses when it’s dark so I take a 2 hour ride back to the hostel. There I buy some treats, eat supper, decide to do more shopping in the morning and go to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

Walking to the Hollywood sign

Sunday 16 July:

I wake up early on Sunday morning to get a start on my day as it takes 2 hours by bus to get to the hostel I’m staying at tonight. I arrive and decide to go about on my brave journey up to the Hollywood sign. I walk up to (20 mins) Griffith Observatory and go around there and see things about planetariums. Then I continue my 1.5 hour journey up to the Hollywood sign. 

The walk was fine but I was directly in the sun and sweating like crazy. If you don’t believe me maybe this will prove it. OFFICIAL BEST CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE EVER – sweating and red in the face, walking along a big path not for cars a security car goes past me and sees the heat in my face and so he asks if I want water,. Of course I do and he takes out a cold bottle of water from a cooler bag and gives it to me. Then he looks at me again and says I could use another. I get 2 ice cold waters, wow!

After walking and trying to call my parents but getting cut off every second since I’m on a mountain I eventually reach the top. I look around and wow it’s beautiful but not what I wanted. I walked to the back of the sign but it was still worth it. Being 14:00 I walk down via to Bronson Caves where I see caves, I know unexpected right? 

I get down and it’s already getting late so I stop by Target to buy a suitcase (because next flight I can check in my suitcases). I then go back to the hostel, have dinner and go to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

I may have walked for over 4 hours

Saturday 15 July:

Morning! I wake up, we have breakfast/kiddish and then at a good 10am I go off and start my day. Today because of Shabbos I get to walk around and explore the area I’m staying at (west Santa Monica). 

My plan for the day is to walk to Venice Canal via the beach and on the way back to stop by Venice beach and Santa Monica beach where I will chill and swim.

I walk for 2 hours soaking up the atmosphere around me, stopping to go on Santa Monica Pier until I reach Venice boardwalk where I then ask people where Venice Canal is. I ask this woman who explains to me where it is and after walking another 10-20 minutes and not seeing the street signs for those roads she told me I start doubting myself and ask about 5 different people (young) and apparently no one knows (not even locals). Kind of knowing the direction of where I should head from looking on google maps before shabbos I leave the boardwalk and walk for another 15 minutes. After walking around aimlessly I decide it’s not worth it and head back. I happen to walk past this couple and ask them if they know where it is and to my surprise they do and they were planning to go past it on there way home. We walk there and it was beautiful. I walk around for a bit taking mental pictures. 

I then walk back to Venice boulevard. Not knowing the time and how long it would take me to get back I decide to be stupidly sensible and decide to walk back and not stop and swim at the beach. I go past Venice beach, Muscle Beach (where I see people doing cool workouts), past an old lady walking hopscotch with her walking stick and a group of us start cheering her on. At Santa Monica beach I decide to just stop and rest my feet for a second. I then walk past more beaches and the walk back takes for ever. After Shabbat I figure out that I walked for over 24 kilometres. After about 56 years I finally get off the beach area and walk to their house.

I get back at 6pm and eat and chill, hanging out with the children until Shabbat cams out. Then I eat some supper and go to bed. 

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

One of the classic LA tourists

Friday 14 July:

I wake up, eat breakfast and then try check out but fail to because no one is there. I go on my way to the people I’m staying at for shabbos, so I drop my things off there, chat a bit and get started with my day. I start off walking down Rodeo Drive, going into Beverly Hills and there I walk around and explore the place. After I look around I make my way to Runyon Canyon where I walk around for a bit as well. Wanting to go to the Hollywood sign but a bit confused and short on time I decide to go past sunset boulevard and then go to the walk of fame. It was cool to see celebrities names on a star and look around the hip and happening spot but tbh it was really tiring. 

I then go on a long bus ride back to where I’m staying, we go on a walk up the mountain and see the view of LA as  a birdseye view, I shower, get ready for shabbos, have supper and go to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

Had to almost call 911 today but I’m in LA

Thursday 13 July:

Good morning, I am up bright and early at 3 and by 4am I am check out the hostel, have my luggage with me and am waiting at the bus stop with a really sore stomach (maybe food poisoning). After about 2 minutes of waiting I see this lady cross the road and sit down next to me. Then OFFICIAL TERRIFYING YAEL DRAMA. I will confidently say that I have a sixth sense when it comes to sketchy people. I unfortunately have had many scary experiences with these people and have gained a gut feeling when it comes to this. I also am very interested in psychology and crime. This lady sits next to me and I can see that she keeps glancing at my bag which is between my legs (secure). She starts trying to talk to me, get some information and probably trying to get me to think she is friendly. She asks me if I’m leaving and I say no, prevent conversation and then secretly text my family group to tell them to answer my call and that I’m next to a creepy stranger. I call them and they pick up and then I hear my dad saying ‘HEYYYY I’m putting you on speaker, we can all hear you, how are you doing?’. They hadn’t seen my message and obviously I couldn’t tell them to read the text as this lady who is watching me is there and will get sus. I try continue the convo with my parents while also thinking of how I’m going to tell my parents to look at their damn phone. I walk towards the street with my bags looking for my bus and as I do that I tell my parents to look at their phone. They see the message and now that I know they know I’m in trouble I see that the bus said it came even though it didn’t and decide I’ve got to get out of this situation. Terrified I run away in the dark and this lady crosses the road and follows me – I scream at my family asking them what I should do. Call 911? My dad having my location kept a close look at it to make sure he knew where I was. I don’t know and I don’t hear them properly as I’m shaken with fear. My stomach is so sore and I can hardly move, my head is spinning from the fright. I lose her eventually (I think she gave up) but I’m scared she’s going to come back. My parents tell me to look for other people, maybe pull over a car. I didn’t want to pull over a car as now I’m paranoid about everyone – what if they are part of this elaborate plan. I find a group of friendly looking people and ask if they can wait with me while I wait for a ridiculously expensive Uber (US Ubers are crazy expensive when converting into Rands). They were so nice and stayed with me and they knew which area to avoid, they were also tourists and a bit scared now. I get into the Uber, tell my parents I’m alright and arrive at the airport.

In pain, feeling sick and adrenaline causing a drop in energy I make my way past security honestly not thinking how I’m going to cope getting through as I honestly can hardly walk. I manage to make it through and curl into a ball on the chairs waiting for the flight. By the time boarding comes I’m feeling way better. After an hour and a bit I’m in LA, yayyy.

I arrive in LA and go to the hostel as they emailed me the code and everything, where I find no obvious office, so I just dump my things and get on with the day.

I start off by going to the California Science Center which was all planetarium based things and it was really cool. I then go on to the MOCA where I look at art as if I really understand these paintings that have a childish messy look to them (it’s free that’s why I went). I go from there to the Bradbury building which is just a very old building that for some reason is a tourist attraction. I go to the last bookstore which is a massive bookstore that has an amazing atmosphere but no Faye Kellermann. I go to the Broad which is by far the best place I saw today, there was this whole light show artwork called the ‘infinity mirror’ which was incredible! The artworks had so much variety so it was easy to find at least one artwork that you would like. After that I walked around artwork district and had supper at grand park.

I arrived back at the hostel early  and went to bed, exhausted from the eventful day.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

Going to all the beaches in the rain…cause why not

Wednesday 12 July

I wake up, get dressed in my beach clothes – we going beaching today! I eat breakfast and get started with the day. I go outside and it’s freezing – I have my jersey with me and bus to Twins Peak hoping that the sun will come out after the walk. The sun does come out in San Francisco as is usual normal in the afternoon. I walk up Twins Peak and it’s even colder than on the ground. Freezing I call my parents for some guidance on what I should do. I have done everything possible that I would enjoy in San Francisco and I’m so stuck. 

I decide to just make my way to the beaches and see what happens. On the bus the sky turns blue (yayyyyy). I start off going to Ocean Beach where it windy and gray (10 minutes of sun)! I sit there, have a snack and then get a smoothie. I then go to Murphy’s Windmill that my dad could see was right next to me on the tracking app he was using.

I go on to the next beach, China Beach,  which turns out is closed as they are doing renovations. So I walk to Baker Beach and sit there eating my lunch. I go back to the Chrissy Field East Bridge and walk along the promenade they have there and then decide to go on the cable car as I didn’t go yesterday.

I check in with bard and they haven’t had to tube come in. 

I arrive at the cable car with cash and wait in a long line to go on the cable car. I eventually go on and wow. I didn’t want to go at the beginning cause I was like “I’ve already walked up all the roads that they go on” but it was the experience of being on a cable car. I got to stand, I got to sit, I got to hang out and it was SO MUCH FUN. I had the time of my life. I got back to the hostel, got everything ready for tomorrow morning, chatted and went to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

Lands end trail, mosaic stairs, gardens and new people

Tuesday 11 July:

Urggggg – I’m tired. The girl above me had her alarm going on from 5 in the morning and she kept hitting snooze which meant every time I started drifting off the alarm would come on. By 8 I can’t stand it so I get up and ready before the girl with the alarm. 

I have breakfast with the person I met yesterday and someone else, look at my planned out day and  get going. I start off going to Lands End Trail which supposedly is meant to have a great view of the bridge – I didn’t see anything as it was super cloudy. I walked down to Miles Beach, and then continued to the trail going past boards with stories of boat wrecks that happened here because of the clouds. I continue walking until I reach the Sutro baths where I stay for a while. It is pretty cool but not the most exciting.

I then bus and walk up a steep road to get to the 16 Avenue tiled stairs (mosaic). The whole thing – the stairs and plants around the stairs were so gorgeous. I start walking up the stairs super impressed with myself that it was easy, clearly I’ve become fitter from all my walking around until I am 2/3 done and I start huffing and puffing up the stairs. I reach the top and see the view. Walking up the beautifully designed stairs that were made by the neighborhood was worth it.

I then walk through the Golden Gate Park to the San Francisco Botanical garden which was free as it was the second Tuesday of the month. The garden was beautiful and had plants from different countries in different sections – it was so green and luscious, filled with flowers, lakes, bridges and more. I had my lunch there and then went off the Haight Ashbury which is a hippie town. I went into some stores and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

I tried to go on the cable cars but you needed cash which I didn’t have or you could book a ticket via an app which wouldn’t allow me to book as my postal code is different to the American one and when trying an American one it knew I wasn’t from there.

I arrived back at the hostel and met a new roommate and then went to an activity the hostel was offering. We went out to an Italian restaurant and I met some new people which I talked to the entire time and actually we left the supper early to go back to the hostel and talked some more as it was freezing outside. The thing about the cold is that apparently the weather we were experiencing is the typical San Francisco summer weather which is crazy – I don’t like it at all.

I then went to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

THE Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 33 along with so much more

Monday 10 June

I wake up, quickly get dressed and ready and rush to the station. I ask the women working there if anything has been reported. Nothing. The truth sinks in. I have lost my friends artwork that she spent hours on. I look around the station devastated. I feel terrible.

I go back to the hostel, eat breakfast and get going to my new hostel which I was going to be staying at for the rest of my time here. I get to the hostel and drop my bags off as checking in time is later in the day. I start off going to the Filbert street stairs and walk up all of them, going through peoples gardens and get to the Coit Tower which I didn’t even know was a thing nor knew the Filbert stairs led to that. At the Coit Tower there was a stunning view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I then walked to the Ferry Building along Pier 33. I went all the way to Oracle park where professional basketball is played (the Giants).

I accidentally went back into the neighborhood Tenderloin (the dangerous area), I must not have planned my routes for the days in San Francisco well enough. There I tried to see the Illuminated SF which for some reason I couldn’t find, so I walked past the City Hall and then went on my way to the Wave Organ. The Wave Organ is a structure by the sea that has concrete hollow bend tube like things that allows the sound of the waves to go out and you can hear them. It was really cool.

I made my way to the Presidio Tunnle Tops which is a whole area on top of a tunnel full of greenery – there is a kids park, a place to have a barbecue braai. It has a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the sea. It’s a great idea. I then walked along the path to the Golden Gate Bridge Viewpoint. The walk there had probably one of the best angles of the bridge and it was very busy which made it fun. I got to the bridge and walked halfway and then decided to turn around as there was a cycling lane and walking lane and because it was so crowded it was doomed there was going to be an accident. 

I arrive back at the hostel, get an introduction and go to my room. There I meet a wonderful person who is from France and we chat and then I go to bed exhausted.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael

San Francisco: no accommodation, painted ladies and slides

Sunday 9 July

4pm and we are up and getting ready to go to the airport. We are in Portland now as yesterday evening we drove from Hood River, said goodbye to Alex’s amazing aunt and drove to Portland to Alex’s other grandma to be closer to the airport. We stopped at a coffee shop to get a cup of joe. Then OFFICIAL YAEL DRAMA, Alex asks me out of courtesy how I am getting to my hostel so off I go on my phone to find out because I actually don’t know. I find out that even after going over the hostels in New York I forgot to book a place for tonight. I hurriedly go on booking.com to find a place and choose the cheapest option as I’m only going to have to stay there one night.

We then arrived at the airport and said a horrible goodbye, we didn’t have a long enough time together and off I rush with my suitcase, bag and a art tube with Alex’s art that I’m giving to the school (Herzlia) as she was the top art student last year.

I get to my Terminal and there I am an hour and a half early for my flight to San Francisco. I need the bathroom so I ask people to watch my stuff and they tell me kindly that apparently they can’t as one of the passengers is actually a flight attendant on the airline and apparently they can’t look after my stuff. So off I go to the bathroom with all my luggage.

After waiting in the airport for an hour we get told that the flight is going to be delayed an hour, so I wait another hour and then board the plane. The plane ride is only two hours and I get to San Francisco fast. 

On the bus I get a message from my dad, he tells me to check all the unsafe places in San Francisco to be careful there. I go and check to places, most of them say that you can walk there in the day just be careful and try not be there at night. The only place that says stay away from this area if possible turns out to be the area I’m staying at for the night – yayyyyyy.

I get to the station I need to be off. I try get  out but my card is not working to open the doors so I put my stuff down and try again. It doesn’t work so I pick up my bags and go out of the door that people with strollers/wheelchairs go through. I walk to my place, doing to angry walk I do to prevent dangerous people from talking to me at get to the hostel. There I put down my stuff and go out to explore.

I start off going to Ghirardelli Square where I look around and see a beautiful view of the sea just below the square. I then make my way to Lombard street which is an attraction as it is very windy and had a great view of the city. It was really funny as they had traffic assistants directing people cars as to when tourists could go in the middle of the street to take photos and when the cars were allowed to drive down the road. Union square was next – which was great to see. Then I made my way to Alamo Square park where I saw the painted lady’s which was beautiful housing and in fact  the whole neighborhood had really cool houses. 

Next stop was the Castro which is a mostly LGBTQ+ area, taking pride in expressing themselves. It was a great lively town full of good noise. Then off I went to Acme Alley where I slid down the Steward Street slides which were so much fun – you sat on cardboard as a protector and slid down a steep slide.

I went on to see the Cypress Street murals and Balmy Alley and saw beautiful artwork on the walls. I walked through the Mission District and then bussed back to the hostel which was free for 18 year olds and younger (wooooh, only time I enjoy being 18 in America). 

Then OFFICIAL YAEL DRAMA I get to the hostel with a stinking suspicion that I didn’t bring Alex’s artwork with me to my room – I run to my room and don’t find it there, where did I leave it? I’m sure I brought it to the hostel and ask the guy working at the hostel, he thinks I didn’t bring it with me and we check the cameras – I didn’t bring it in. This makes matters worse – I run to the train station and ask if they have seen it – the guy working there says no but to come back tomorrow morning. I feel sick. I go back to the hostel, eat supper, set an early alarm and go to bed.

Goodnight

XOXO

Yael