I’m currently in the Westin Hotel in Seattle, Washington. I’ve been sent here by Amazon. Originally I was going to be here for a week, but that got extended to two, and then three. It’s recently been changed back to two weeks, so I’ll be leaving here on Friday.

I’m going to go to the bay area for the first time since I lived there back in 2005. I imagine both I and the area itself have both changed a hell of a lot since then. For a start I am now married. 🙂

As soon as I found out I would be coming back to the USA I began making a list of all the things I want to eat and drink while I’m here. A lot of them are junk food. Some are things I can’t really get in Seattle, but should be able to find in the bay area. I’m really looking forward to going back there and I hope at least some things are exactly how I remember them.

When I first came to America it was almost everything I wanted it to be. I’d come from living in Mansfield for the vast majority of my life, to living in a large city or suburban area surrounding a city. I could get on BART and be in San Francisco city centre in under an hour. I could drive for under an hour and be at the top of a mountain.

Now I’ve come to Seattle 8 years later from London, and it feels anti-climactic. London is a bigger city than Seattle. It has a bigger population, more expansive transport systems that take you from anywhere to anywhere else in short order. It’s quite a strange feeling. I always had this idea of America in my head when I was younger, and the bay area fulfilled, or even surpassed that expectation. I guess didn’t realise that it wouldn’t be as impressive when coming from somewhere other than Mansfield.

I still like Seattle quite a lot. I would like to spend more time here if possible, but I don’t think I’m anywhere near as infatuated with the idea of America as I was before I saw more of the rest of the world.