Barefoot

We were in The Haight, San Francisco, when I saw her. She was sitting cross-legged outside a tattoo parlour in frayed olive green trousers, a long-sleeved black top and beads around her neck. She was also barefoot, the soles of her feet black and grimy.

Every time anyone walked past, she would smile sleepily and raise her hand to beg, but she didn't say anything. Very few people gave her money and if they did, it was mostly coins.

After about 10 minutes, which was how long I spent looking at tie-dye t-shirts in the shop next door, she got up and left.

We were on Haight Street and it was about three in the afternoon. My (then) boyfriend had gone off and disappeared into a dodgy-looking shop three doors down while our other friend was looking at colourful skirts somewhere at the back. Somehow she'd never struck me as the tie-dye type.

The t-shirts hanging in front of me swung to one side and a face poked through.

"Hey." My boyfriend was back. "Found some good stuff. I even met a guy who told me his whole life story."

"Really now," I said.

"Really. Let's go look for something to eat."

We passed the tattoo parlour, some kids getting high by the corner, the jewellery shops with the tongue and navel studs, more kids, the smoke shops and the shops selling kinky underwear when I saw her again, the barefoot girl in faded black, her brown hair turning red in the sun. 

This time she was standing outside a '60s record store, once again reaching out pathetically, asking for money. "Please? Please?" she said as people walked by. 

The three of us found a small pizza place across the street and I watched the girl as she continued to beg for spare change. "She's not asking for money to buy food," my boyfriend said in between bites. I asked him how he knew.

Chomp. "She would say so, right? 'I haven't eaten since yesterday, I need some money for food', etc. She didn't say that, so the money's for something else." Chomp chomp.

I thought about what he said. Do people really tell the truth when they beg? I've given spare change to people who'd said they hadn't eaten since the day before or needed money for a train ticket home, only to see them buying cigarettes a few minutes later.

The girl, in her early 20s, was getting ready to leave. She looked around one last time, her arms lowered, her hands no longer reaching out for sympathy. I saw her shoulders hunch as she looked down at her bare feet and in that instant, I felt guilty and turned away.

When I turned back to look, she was already gone.

The birth of a road trip

In October 2009, a group of friends and I flew into San Francisco, rented a car, drove to Los Angeles, acquired another car, and drove to Boston. After Boston we took a bus south to New York City and from there went on to Washington, DC.

Our journey looked like this:

©Burzum

Before our (pretty long) drive I had never gone on a road trip let alone visited the US, so the idea of driving over such a large expanse of land was both very exciting and a little daunting. The great thing about travelling nowadays, though, is the wealth of information that's available for the taking. As long as you know how to search for the information you need, you're almost guaranteed of finding it. 

Like most road trips, or trips in general, the route we eventually took wasn't pre-planned. My friends and I knew that we would be flying into San Francisco and flying out of DC, but we hadn't entirely decided what was going to happen in between. We knew that we would be stopping in Los Angeles, Austin, Memphis and New York City, but other than that, the route was still very much a mystery. 

It was only when we were in LA that our route was finally mapped out. I still remember that day; three of us were in our hotel dining area, either on our laptops or having coffee when the fourth member of our group came across a website called Auto Driveaway. This company does something rather interesting- it relocates or delivers vehicles from anywhere in the US to another location in the country. Vehicles, whether they be trucks, bikes or cars, are transported across the country pretty regularly for various reasons. Maybe a large national corporation wants to transport a company car from one branch to another, for instance, so it contacts Auto Driveaway.

But the really special thing about this company is that it doesn't transport the vehicles - you do it. You do the delivering. The company connects customers who want their vehicles delivered with people who don't mind driving it to the collection point. It was that link, that connection, which allowed us to figure out our route.

We found out from Auto Driveaway that there was lady living in LA who wanted her Jeep delivered to her daughter in Boston. It was like magic. We looked at our map, saw the great distance in between and took less than five seconds to say yes, we would so love to drive this lady's car all the way to Boston. 

Which we did. At the end of our road trip, we drove a total of 5,380 miles (8,658 kilometres) through 14  states. 

On The Rock

The noticeboard itself was plain and black and unexceptional, but the words stood out. Right at the top was "21 March 1963", and directly beneath it: "Assorted dry cereals,  steamed wheat, 1 scrambled egg, 2 milk".

I was in the dining hall and that was the breakfast menu. Only it wasn't my breakfast. 

March 21, 1963 was when the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island shut down, and the breakfast on the noticeboard was the last meal the inmates had before they were transferred to a replacement facility. 

"That make you hungry?" a middle-aged man next to me motioned towards the noticeboard. "Not really," I laughed.

***

Before Alcatraz opened as a US Federal Penitentiary, it served as a military fortress in 1853 and later, as an Army prison. Alcatraz began receiving Civil War prisoners in 1861 and following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, began receiving civilian prisoners from the mainland. Finally in 1934, due to rising costs, the military was forced to shut down its prison and hand it over to the Department of Justice. 

The Justice Department acquired Alcatraz at the right time. Following the Great Depression, America was hit by a crime wave in the late 1920s and there was public clamour for order to be restored in light of the surge in organised crime. Much louder, though, were the cries for a more secure,  'special' kind of prison for these dangerous criminals. Alcatraz Island, isolated and surrounded by the strong currents of San Francisco Bay, was the perfect solution. Work began in April 1934 to upgrade Alcatraz into a high-security facility. 

One gets an idea of how the inmates lived, on a tour of the old cell blocks. In one section on the ground floor, I saw lockers where inmates' shoes, clothes and towels were stored. It was a clear day and sunlight streamed through the windows, falling on the shoes that were arranged neatly on low cabinets nearby. 

Officially, no-one has ever escaped from Alcatraz alive. The story of Frank Morris, however, suggests otherwise. Morris, found guilty of various narcotics-related crimes, arrived on Alcatraz Island in January 1960 and reportedly began planning his escape soon after that. Within a few months, a concrete plan was devised with the help of three other inmates-brothers John and Clarence Anglin and another man called Allen West.

This true story is the subject of the movie 'Escape from Alcatraz', with Clint Eastwood playing Frank Morris. If you've seen the movie, you'll remember how the four of them scraped through the air vents at the back of their cells and dug a tunnel out of the prison. That was indeed how Morris and his friends had escaped. The great thing is that you can see Morris' cell in Cell Block B, furnished just like it was at the time of his escape. There's a dummy laying in bed, just like in the movie and the dug-out air vent is clearly visible. 

On the night of the escape, everything went according to plan, except that Allen West couldn't leave his cell in time. Some of their personal effects were found on nearby Angel Island, but Morris and the Anglin brothers were never caught. The official view is that they drowned in San Francisco Bay, although their bodies were never recovered. Morris would be 86 in September if he were still alive.

Standing in the dining hall, I looked up again at the noticeboard on the wall. I tried to imagine what meal times must have been like. 

I imagined the inmates eating and drinking, maybe even laughing, as they quietly planned their escape. 

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Before arriving in San Francisco, all I knew about it was that it had Alcatraz and street trams. I also remembered an old song vaguely- something about wearing flowers in your hair- but apart from that, that was all I knew about the city. 

Looking out across the bay at Pier 39. The Golden Gate Bridge is in the distance

Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf is a good place to start from when you visit San Francisco. This is where you get to see great views of San Francisco Bay and with that, Alcatraz Prison and the Golden Gate Bridge. There are  loads of shops, restaurants and cafes in the area so it's a nice place to spend the day and stroll around. Pier 39 is also where you might be able to see the famous California Sea Lions.

There are lots of interesting shops at Fisherman's Wharf but the one I couldn't resist going into was Chocolate Heaven. You won't miss it- even from outside, you'll see the mounds of chocolate on display, crafted into all sorts of shapes and with dozens of combinations- white/dark chocolate with rice crispies, white/dark chocolate with walnuts, white/dark chocolate with whole almonds- anything at all. 

San Francisco is famous for its sourdough and clam chowder and Boudin Bakery is the perfect place to try both. This was where we had our lunch and although it was a simple meal, I'll always remember how delicious it was. No photos, I'm afraid- I completely forgot to snap photos of what I ate! Just look out for Boudin as you walk farther up the wharf. Their bread, which they've been baking since 1849, is lovely and their chowder is simply amazing. Another great thing about this bakery is that you can see the bakers at work through the glass windows.

If you're looking for a place to sit down and rest after all that walking, Fisherman's Wharf Beach is farther ahead past the shops and restaurants. I thought this was a particularly scenic spot- it was a clear day and people were taking time out with their families and in one case, their dog. I don't swim and I'm not exactly a beach person (give me a mountain or hill any day) but there's something very pretty about sailboats and the way their colours contrast with the sea and sky. 

This tiny dog was running around like a mad thing, trying to get at the seagulls

Getting there: 

We took the F-line street cars to get to Fisherman's Wharf but you can also take Muni buses no. 8x, 39 or 47. Public transport information is here while driving and parking information can be found here.

San Francisco is an interesting, laid-back city and you're sure to enjoy it as much as I did. Just remember not to refer to it as "Frisco" or "San Fran"- locals apparently hate it when outsiders do that. Just "SF" is fine. And don't forget those flowers for your hair, either.

This week's photo- Pacific Coast Highway, California

There's nothing like the blue of the sea contrasting with rocks or mountains or grass, only to reach upward to meet the blue of the sky. This was along California State Route 1 or the Pacific Coast Highway, the road we took from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was a windy morning in early October when we set out soon after breakfast. We stopped for lunch at Monterey, whizzed past Carmel (thus failing to stop and say 'Hi' to a certain Mr Eastwood) and reached LA close to midnight. What a beautiful drive.

This week's photo- Muir Woods, CA

Let's just say that I'm not very tall, so I'm used to looking up! These are giant redwood trees in Muir Woods, taken from below. Named after Scottish-born American environmentalist John Muir, this was one of the nicest places we went to in San Francisco. Muir Woods is just 12 miles away from the Golden Gate Bridge and a great place to get some fresh air. Some of the world's tallest trees are located here- the tallest redwood in Muir Woods is 260 feet tall and the oldest is estimated to be 1,200 years old. I love this place.

Tips for a great road trip

I'm a great fan of solo travel but I also enjoy travelling with friends. Looking for travel mates for short, one-week breaks shouldn't be too difficult but if you're talking about road trips or anything longer than two weeks, you're allowed to be more selective than usual. 

Remember that because you'll be spending weeks, maybe months, with this group of people, day in and day out, it makes sense to keep a few things in mind:

1-  Please, please pick someone you actually like

You don't have to be close friends with them, but you should actually like them enough to want to spend time with them. If you cannot stand being with someone for more than 10 minutes, you're looking for trouble by going on a road trip with him.

2- Be nice

Remember: it works both ways, so you need to work at being a good travel mate as well. Don't be difficult; if your friend prefers to drive early in the morning, let him. Don't expect everything to work out as planned and be prepared for your trip to be delayed by things like bad weather, a car breakdown and -okay then- a really bad hangover. In other words, don't be a pain in the butt. 

3- Divide your duties

Making sure that everyone is responsible for something may sound unnecessary, but it isn't. I've been on trips where one single person made all the decisions-food, accommodation, date of travel, destinations. You'll be happy in the beginning because you'll think that a load has been taken off your hands, but you'll get resentful when you finally realise that you have no say in anything at all. When someone else is calling the shots, it becomes his road trip, not yours. Everyone needs to be in charge of something.

4- Use the Net

There are a whole bunch of resources on the internet relating to road trips. Use Travelmath to calculate travel time and distance and Google Maps for routes. For our drive around America, we looked at RoadTrip America and Road Trip USA for ideas, but there are obviously loads of other sites you can use. If you're planning a road trip in the US, look out for options to deliver a vehicle from your location to another city, ie. to 'driveaway' a car for free, and design your road trip along that route. We did exactly that, and delivered a car for a woman in Los Angeles to her daughter in Boston. Have a look here for more information.

5- Be familiar with the route beforehand

This tip sounds like a no-brainer but its one of the most important. Bearing in mind the large distances you might be covering, always keep track of how much gas you have and where the next town is- you don't want to be out of gas, at night, and 200 miles away from the next gas station. Try to fill up your tank whenever you see a gas pump because you don't know how far away the next one will be. This is particularly important, for example, in large, spread-out states like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

A road trip is one of the best ways to get to know a country. You pass through small towns and get to see places you normally wouldn't if you were on a tour or travelling by train. If you ever get the chance to do a road trip with a good bunch of mates, go.

Road trip, USA

Road trip- two of my favourite words, when put together. There's nothing quite like dropping everything, grabbing a map and a friend or two and jumping into a car.

This might sound strange, but I felt kind of nostalgic during our US road trip. Which is weird, because I'd never been to the US before that. Maybe 'nostalgic' is the wrong word; whatever it is, it's that warm, happy feeling I got from driving past small towns, from crossing over into another state and laughing at funny signboards.

This is real, there's a town called Zzyzx on the way to Vegas

U-turn for Devil Dog, somewhere near the Grand Canyon

If we happened to be on the road, lunch or dinner would be at a diner in one of the towns along the way. Portions were huge so we usually ended up sharing. 

But above all, there's something really nice about driving in a country which (still) calculates its distances in miles. There's something old-fashioned yet different about it.

A mile somehow has more character than a kilometre. It sounds more authentic to say that you drove thousands of miles across a large country. 'Thousands of kilometres' somehow just doesn't do it for me.

I loved being told that it was 347 miles (thank you, TravelMath, you served us well) from Houston to New Orleans. I loved finding out at the end of everything that our drive from San Francisco to Washington DC through 14 states covered a total of 5,380 miles (8,658 kms).

The rest of the world can muddle along with its kilometres and kilogrammes. I find any country which tells me that it's 50 miles to the next town, terribly attractive. So attractive that I would love to go again.

People at work

One of the best things about travelling is that we get to see how the rest of the world lives. People fascinate me; even when I'm at home, I love sitting in cafes just to check people out. 

People-watching becomes even more interesting when you're travelling but after some time you realise one thing: that although you expect someone from the other side of the world to be different, the reality is that we're pretty much the same.

Trishaw driver in Hanoi, Vietnam. First thing I wondered was how old he was.

Fruit vendor in Hanoi. The dragon fruits look gorgeous

We met this guy, who calls himself RaRa Superstar, on Venice Beach, LA. He told us he divides his time between Italy and the US depending on the time of the year. What a life! 

Ooh, don't they look pissed off! This was in Bali.
These three, especially the women, are the grumpiest Balinese I've ever seen.

Hotdog seller in New Orleans

A woman selling bananas at the Tonle Sap near Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Yum. Just in time for the New York City Marathon!

This week's photo- New Orleans

A bus stop along Canal Street in New Orleans. Love the colours!