Good morning Chicago this is my post on my journey to Chicago.

Prelude

I have been to the USA a number of times both for personal reasons and when I was a touring musician. My first time in the USA was when I went to New York in 2003. i was in my early 20's had no moey but this band called "The Star Spangles" had invited the band I was in over to play some gigs . So we pooled our gig money together and I got a ticket. We stayed for 2 weeks and slept in a rehearsal room. Most days I had no money to eat so it was a bit of a struggle but it was so much fun. This opened the door to more trips to the USA culminating in this one. Here some clips of me playing in the USA.

Fronting and playing guitar in Philadelphia

Playing drums in Brooklyn

Why you going to Chicago ?

This was a common question I got from my friends when telling them my New York and Chicago travel plans. Well the actual reasons are quite long winded then the one I actually told them. Lucky for you the reader you get to read the reasons.

1.I have some friends in Chicago
2.Its a cool city
3.I am hoping to meet some Steemians there
4.I came into some extra money from my job and the deposit from my old
apartment
5.And finally I will answer this with another question Why does a dog lick it’s
balls?Cause it can and thats why I included Chicago in my trip.

Step 1 Travel Dilemma: who to book ?, what to book ?, when where ?

I had heard that flights to New York were cheap in February due to the cold weather so that was the main reason for this trip. Added to this was the fact that the last two years have been trying to say the least so this was a holiday for the new single me.

But it is so cold in February !

Shut up !!! I moved from sunny Durban South Africa to London and I have lived there for 17 years do you really think I am that bothered by the weather.

Once I had established where I wanted to go I need to organise everything. This also something I both love and hate.I tend to over think everything so faced with this task my mind goes to town. I will spare you the details about the details but what transpired was that I would fly into New York and out to Chicago on the same day. This way I would have more time in both cities and get rid of the majority of the travel in one day. This left me with the following itinerary

Train from Turnpike lane station > Victoria Station>Coach to Gatewick Airport> Fly to New York > Coach to La Guardia >Fly to Chicago > train to hotel

That's insane when will you sleep ?

Shut up ! When choosing to travel you need to change your paradigm surrounding sleep. You are not going to get any sleep but when those tired moments come, have a little nap, re charge and proceed.

Although that journey seems insane most of the times I was just sitting on my ass so managed a few little naps here and there. I am writing this now so I didn't die unless I traversed into a parallel universe while flying over the Atlantic. The only thing that really concerned me was if my flight to New York was delayed and I couldn't make my flight to Chicago.

Well as luck would have it the flight was delayed by an hour and a half, some asshole decided to he didn't want to take the flight so had to have his bags removed. I am aware I don't know the reason why he/she didn't fly but in true neo liberal fashion it inconvenienced me so I'm calling the person an asshole. I know I have leapt forward in the story here but there is not much to tell other than me walking and sleeping en route to the airport.
The actual flight was awesome I managed to get a whole row to myself however I couldn't fully relax as I was worried about making my Chicago flight. If I could not make the flight that would mess up not only my flight but my hotel booking.

I have to also admit at this juncture that towards the end of flight I shed a few small tears while watching a chick flick. It was about being single and stuff and some of the subject matter struck a chord. Now that I have got that off my chest please don't tell anyone. I have cocky sarcy image to uphold.

We touched down into New York and everything was flowing pretty quickly until I hit the JFK customs line which to quote Blackadder “ was moving no further than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping” but then my inner red assertive self spoke up.

If you don't ask you don't get

This is a mundane phrase but so true and not something I always do as I am naturally quite passive. What I am talking about was asking one of the border guards if I could skip tactfully skip the queue. I basically just asked one of them if they thought I could make the La Guardia flight. The first one kind of said yes until his partner asked where I was going and didn't seem to be sure if I could make it. He then said are you by yourself and then took me out the queue to on one of the shorter lines. I was happy with both myself and the fact that I could get my flight.

I then got the coach to La Guardia which only took around 20 / 30 mins and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Chicago was way more relaxing as everything had fallen in to place nicely . So I napped and then had a coke to prepare me for the last leg of the journey. Getting the train into Chicago central was awesome and the snow covered city made me think of Al Jorgensen holed up in his house somewhere many years ago making industrial music in the freezing cold. Here is a video of my journey.

music is by me it's a unrealsed track called "be a kid when your a kid, be a man when your a man"

Once I had got to Chicago i checked into my hotel listened to Buckys radio show and then went to the bar that my friend works at.

After many drinks my night got blurry and I don't really remember getting home but glad I did as I sit here now in my hotel room typing this and listening to some Thelonuis Monk.

What I will do today will be revealed in the next post stay tuned and Steem on