5 States 5 Weekends: Part 2

After spending a day in beautiful Maine last week I decided to go to Rhode Island for the day today. In case you missed the last post which you can find here, I’ve challenged myself to visit 5 states in 5 weeks to make my spring a little more interesting. I was lucky in that it was a beautiful day because the weather has been terrible for most of the week. 

5 States 5 Weekends: Part 1

Lately I’ve been really boring so I decided to set myself a challenge to give me something to do in my spare time. After considering a number of possibilities like seeing how long it would take me to eat my own body weight in chocolate I decided that most of my ideas were ridiculous and that the challenge shouldn’t involve eating, education or exercise. I came up with the idea of going to a different state every weekend for 5 weeks. First step was Maine.

Leave to Remaine

The other day I looked at my Facebook memories and realised that I used to be a lot less boring than I am now. I’ve done roadtrips across the entire US and explored countries on my own but lately I haven’t spent a night away from home in ages.

Determined to rectify this sad situation I decided to book a weekend on my own up in Maine at late notice. I booked round trip tickets on the Amtrak Downeaster to Portland, a 110 mile, 2.5 hour trip from home (Amtrak isn’t known for its speed). I was a little worried that it would be freezing and terrible especially as they got a foot of snow 2 days before my trip but it wasn’t too cold in the end.

There’s a number of inhabited small islands in the waters surrounding Portland and they have a daily mailboat service. For just 16 dollars I booked a 3 hour trip on the boat and got some great views of coastal Maine. It was cold as hell out on the water and I was the only one dumb enough to be up on deck but I love being by the sea. Hope you like the photos from my trip!

“The Most British Thing Ever!”

As a British person living in the US I frequently do things that amuse my coworkers and friends and cause them to say “that’s the most British thing ever!” Here I compile a few of the most recent and ridiculous examples.

White Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! This year was actually my first ever white Christmas and it was pretty cool.

How to Have a British Christmas in America

This year I’m spending Christmas in the US and as I’ve only had one festive period when I’ve not gone home to the UK since I moved here I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to make my holidays as British as possible. Let’s be honest that’s the best way to not be homesick, probably (it might have the opposite effect). I thought that I’d share some of the tips that I’ve thought of with you.

Why Brits Live Longer Than Americans and Other Stories

I couldn’t sleep last night and, as often happens when I can’t sleep, I ended up reading a huge succession of random web pages.

Warm Weekend

It’s been a pretty warm weekend here with temperatures here currently 32C (90F) and showing no signs of cooling down. I’ve been out and about by the coast to try and keep cool and have shared some of the photos below.

10 Year Green Card!

Returning back to the US this weekend I discovered among the piles of junk mail that I actually had some good news; the Removal of Conditions (ROC) on my green card had been approved!

How to Not Look Like an Idiot in America Part 2

A while ago I wrote How to Not Look Like an Idiot in America, a slightly silly guide to how not to embarrass yourself as a Brit in the US. It was a long time ago but I’ve finally got around to writing a second part based on more things that I’ve embarrassed myself doing since. If you are a Brit living in the US you might just find this relevant.