Taxation without representation

Phase 3 of my travels has well and truly begun...I am currently kickin' it in my cousin's apartment in Washington, DC and it's all breezy goodness baby.

Rewind. I've been here since Friday afternoon, arriving by bus to the amazing news that a friend of my cousin had just moved out of DC that morning and has a swanky rent-paid empty apartment with cable TV, just waiting for me to occupy. So I basically have my own place for the week, only a 5 minute walk from my cousin's and an awesome pizza place around the corner. Catching up on sleep is a luxury I haven't been afforded in the last 3 months, so that's what I've spent a lot of the last few days doing, and it's just bliss. We also went to the Eastern Market fare, Georgetown, drove up to West Virginia (getting extremely lost on the way) to go tubing down the river, but got there too late so ended up just hanging out around the river.

Prior to DC I was in the crazy city known as New York with friends from camp. First night involved 9 people in a 4 person room...good times indeed. I also did the touristy thing; Statue of Liberty, Soho, Greenwich Village (the best part of NYC), Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, watched a Broadway show (Rent is incredible), saw John Mayer perform on the Today Show at Rockerfeller Centre, free Maccas on 42nd Street...I heart NY.

It's incredible that almost a week and a half has flown by since I finished at camp...my last night was spent partying and looking at the beautiful Connecticut sky one last time...I even saw a shooting star for the first time. A fitting end to an incredible summer.

Early Monday morning everyone got up at the crack of dawn to finish packing and hug and cry their amazing friends goodbye. A bus/train ride into Grand Central station began and finished with me shedding tears like an absolute nutter, but it made me realise how ridiculously grateful I am for the friendships and experiences I've gained this summer (and the ones I already have back home and all around the world)...I'm blessed beyond belief, and who knows if I deserve it, but I'm holding onto these beautiful people for as long as I can.

And yes, I mean you. And you. And you.