My Journal from 30 years ago today reads, “May 5th, 1990, I caught the Greyhound bus at 7 am in Key West and headed toward New Orleans.”

              This joyous bus ride lasted a crazy 29 hours long door to door with multiple stops along the way. Leaving at 7 am, and I arrived in New Orleans a little after noon the next day! My journal is somewhat hard to decipher, but it seems the stops where I changed busses were Orlando, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Biloxi, and finally New Orleans. I have vague memories of truck-like stops, a small strip mall with a convenience store and the bustle of other travelers unloading one bus and waiting for the driver of the next to show up. Usually true to the Grayhound style this would be in the worst part of town that smelled like a trash can!

             As I rode along the highways, napping as I could, the views from the bus window more than made up for the lack of beauty at the bus stations. Coming from a small country like England, I was in awe of how much open land I was traveling through. Between the towns were huge expanses of tree covered land especially across the top of Florida. Watching it pass by through the bus window, I wrote,

“I feel as though I need to attack life a bit more aggressively, and try to be different – to lead a useful life that counts for something, but what can I do?”

Conversations

             Fellow travelers I met on this leg of the trip covered a full 3 pages of my journal. Conversations with strangers opened my eyes to many different walks of life. There was Maria from Columbia, who had lots of questions about England, and we discussed politics. A French lady from Seattle, who was “impeccably well dressed and intelligent.” We ate breakfast together in Pensacola, FL, during the bus change.

            Later on that New Orleans bus trip, I sat for 3 hours scared for my life sitting behind 3 extremely loud men. They were discussing how best to kill people and arguing about how heavy cars were! After this crazy overnight bus ride, I splurged $4 to pay for a cab from the bus station to the hostel. This kind of thing was not in my budget, but after an overnight bus ride, it was well worth it! So now for New Orleans and time for some music!

        My journal notes, “Arrived at the hostel by noon and went straight out to the Jazz festival. It was packed with people from everywhere.

Music was pouring out of every corner and at $10 per ticket, with 6 stages of Soul, Blues, with some Ragtime bands mixed in, it was well worth it.

 

Later, I ended up walking through Bourbon Street after the festival finished and found Jazz screaming out of every doorway. Ate some amazing Cajun food under the most fabulous sunset sky. I hope the photo turns out.”

Thankfully it did – see below! (No filter 35mm Kodak camera roll)

Photography – Old School

          Traveling 30 years ago, I took all my pictures with real film. This is something we don’t think much about today. Buying roll of film with 24 photos, then having that developed could run you around $10. This adds up quickly if you’re a snap-happy traveler. I would carry a few rolls of film to use and every couple of weeks mail a few back to England or just keep then in my luggage.

        

There was no checking to see if I captured a shot just right in the moment. I wouldn’t know for months until I developed the film how it turned out!

Loving photography at the time, I used a set of Cokin filters. This is crazy to think of today, but I would put a physical filter over the lens to get different effects. We have it so easy now with all the post editing that can be done to photos.

       While traveling and having this “film roll” limitation, I only took photos that would evoke a memory. A picture that would capture an emotion of a place or something completely unique, and a memory to keep. Even then, I just hoped the photo would turn out as I imagined.

Disclaimer

        Before scrapbooking was a thing, I put together 4 albums when I returned home and had all the film developed.  Using the best of my pictures, along with tickets and other interesting mementos, I glued it all in these 4 albums! Therefore, what I am sharing on these blog posts, are photos, of my photos that have been stuck in a scrapbook of sorts. So, I apologize if they are of lower quality than we are all very used to in this digital age.

      The next day I walked around the French Quarter and later the Garden District. Both parts of town were full of beautiful southern homes with romantic balconies.

       I journaled,

“I am getting used to being alone. Also, I love hitting the road every couple of days. It suits me well and prevents me from getting bored. I spent some time planning the next few stops and how much money I have to spend.”     

      Honestly, I cannot remember how much money I took on my trip. It may have been about 1000 Pounds. Hostels were around $10-$12 per night and as a vegetarian, I wasn’t spending much money on food. The YHA (Youth Hostel Association) had a guide, that listed all the hostels in the US, the price, and amenities at each. This was super handy when you’re finding the best ones to stay at. Saving cash for tickets, events, souvenirs, and buying rolls of film was, I considered, a much more important way to use my money. My only big purchase had been a pair of Timberland shoes in New York. I had planned and saved up for these before my trip knowing they would be cheaper in the US. Everyone told me they would get me around the world and back. And they were right! You will see them in the post from the Grand Canyon.

        “May 8th, 1990. Catching the 5:30 pm overnight bus from New Orleans, through Houston, to San Antonio, Texas.” Another night on the bus!