The blue bits above are all the places that I stayed at least one night.It is over now and it was better than I imagined. People ask me what was my favorite bit, a question I can't answer because the "bits" were all so different; it would be like comparing favorite music to favorite building to favorite food etc. I feel full and need time to digest it all properly, but some things I know already...
The United States is a beautiful place, inhabited by energetic people who, like most of the rest of us, are ill-served and misrepresented by their administration... Obviously I don't mean that there are no mean-spirited, ignorant or nasty people but there are no more than in Europe... And maybe there are a few less because the American Dream is constantly being reinforced by enthusiastic new immigrants; I particularly noticed a large number from the Asian sub-continent who, as they did here, have embraced the host culture with enormous relish.
It is a nation of overconsumption and that does get under one's skin... Too large portions, food routinely wasted... It also gets under their skin as there are many grotesquely fat people, so fat that they are restricted to wheelchairs, on some occasions they are pushed around by their teenage children whose knees already need bracing because of the enormous weight they are required to carry. The obesity is not universally spread... ironically but unsurprisingly whereas the poor of the world starve, the poor in the USA tend to fat... there also seems to be geographical influences; in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana the overweight are overrepresented but in Tennessee, New Mexico, Texas and California the way of life and the people seem healthier.
I was pleasantly surprised by the degree to which the indigenous peoples have started to organise themselves... In the past I have seen the twin evils of hopelessness and alcohol eat away at them but on this trip I sensed in the Hopi and the Navajo a new and impressive sense of self-worth and confidence.
The main aim of the journey was to see as much music as possible and this was a complete success... The Rock n Bowl evening of Zydeco legends, the remarkable Ponderosa Stomp, George Jones in Nashville, the Broken Spoke in Austin, Crosby, Stills and Nash in Albuquerque... All marvelous and only a couple of evenings planned in advance, I just happened upon the rest... I know that the USA is not the be all and end all for popular music but it is where you get to see more and better music than anywhere else.
All this having been said, one of the main reasons that I love to travel is that it reminds me of the beauties of marvelous London... It is very good to come home.
