Nice and early on Sunday morning, numerous trek groups met up in the hotel lobby. We were met by a friendly, if slightly eccentric looking guy in his late 20s (a little square of blue facial hair to go with his nice pair of mutton chops). Once we got to our van, he introduced us to an additional trek member who'd gotten a little tied up from before - Seamus the pirate monkey, stretched out on the front grate of the van. It was clear we were in for an interesting fortnight.
Eighteen people signed up for the Atlantic Dream trek and so we had been split into two groups, leaving a comfortable number of 10 in each. This was pretty cool as it meant more space in the van and in the trailer. We got to know each other pretty quick. There were two Australians, two Scots (including me) and four English people (Not a very diverse group I'll admit but at least we spoke the same language). I gradually found that there is one downside to this set up. You are pretty much stuck with the same people, often whom you've never met before, for a whole 2 weeks. Now these girls and the one guy (yes a distinct lack of male company) were essentially lovely people. I just came away from the trek with the feeling there was not really anyone I truly bonded with. Anyhow, most of us were recovering camp counsellors up for an amazing time. And despite my own personal reservations, our trek leader seemed to love us and over time, considered us one of his best groups of the summer. He was pretty much one of the gang - He seemed pretty caring and even though he acted like one of us he still held on to his leadership responsibilities (mostly ^_^)
He was very informative throughout the whole trek and had everything well-planned. After leaving our New Jersey hotel, we headed for our beautiful camp ground and spent a rather 'conservative' day in Washington D.C. Our day in Washington provided a perfect example of the flexibility of the trek. Just because the trek leader has something on an itinerary, doesn't mean you have to do it. You can opt out of an activity and he definitely gave us the opportunity to question his plans but we pretty much loved what he had set out for us. In Washington, we all split up to go see different parts of the city - whether we wished to go to a certain Smithsonian museum or few or to just go shopping. Later on we were given the option to go to a baseball game (which two girls from the other group actually opted out of). We were given the chance to have the real American experience and getting steadily drunker with overpriced venue food watching the worst team in the country was actually better than I expected.

After Washington, we spent a night in Virginia before heading to Tennessee to climb Chimney Tops, party of the Smoky Mountains range. This was a rather exhausting climb followed by a nerve-wracking ascent to the top where a fall could potentially be severely injurious or fatal. However, the view was definitely worth it when we got up there.
After Chimney Tops it was a quick descent into debauchery as we travelled further south. After our sojourn in the Bible belt, the party part, of what our tour leader described as the 'party' trek, had essentially begun. The great thing about our trek was that were came across other trek groups on our travels and there were at least 3 other groups staying at the same campsites as us up until New Orleans. At our new campsite our trek leaders had quite wonderfully arranged for us a belated 4th July party for every group and they went all out on it. We had fireworks, got a giant keg of beer and generally had a riotous time (Thankfully, we were pretty much the only campers there). Nursing a hangover, it probably wasn't the best thing that we were white-water rafting the next day. However, the water was rather refreshing and it was, quite simply, great fun.

We then hit New Orleans which definitely exceeded my expectations. So much happened there that there is possibly too much to write about. However, we stayed in a beautiful apartment-style hotel with the comfiest beds and pretty furnishings for a cheap $90 for two nights. Despite the hurricane, New Orleans is probably my favourite city in the US - The French Quarter looks amazing and our nights out in Bourbon Street were legendary. We sampled some Creole cuisine; we tried a yummy 'Hurricane' (the rather ironically titled cocktail drink invented long before Katrina) and wandered about in a few of the tacky Voodoo shops. This was a city not to be missed!

After New Orleans we had some close encounters with some gators on a swamp tour and then headed down to sunny Florida. Ok, so it was not so sunny considering it was Hurricane season but the weather held up when we reached Panama City Beach. This was our first beach stop and it was largely spent relaxing and hanging out by the beach at night. It was also the place where we took revenge upon the other Atlantic Dream group for stealing our beloved Seamus (Revenge = Their van, their trailer, cling-film and some rather 'dirty' materials). However, the best experience of the beach was definitely jet-skiing, with dolphin encounters. Amazing!

After Panama Beach, we headed for Orlando. When we reached our campsite we were pretty upset as there was a loud, heavy storm going on and at least two of the girls had already contemplated paying for a hotel room. However, our trek leader surprised us with quaint little holiday cottages. The joy of this discovery was overwhelming. The next day we spent a day in the Magic Kingdom of Disneyworld. Even though it was still a bit wet we most of us regressed and became 10 year olds for the day and had such a brilliant time.
However, I'm really glad that we didn't spend another day in Orlando, even if part of me really wanted to. Our trek leader had tweaked the standard trek itinerary and had made our final camp stop Key West in the Florida Keys. I'm so glad that he made that change. Key West, the home of Ernest Hemingway, is a paradise and provided us with the perfect finale to our trip. Our trek leader cooked us a delicious seafood and steak BBQ on the beach on our last night

Pictures of Trek America

Our water front location in Key West - I didn't even sleep in a tent the first night

• 
• 
• 
• 
•