The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

I started the day in beautiful sunshine at my overnight stop in Amherst, NY. There was nothing to tempt me to hang around my same-y, chain-ey hotel, so I called my breakfast nourishment and not entertainment and set off to Niagara Falls.  Like a lot of American locations, everyone thinks they…

It was hard to tear myself from the comforts of last night’s hotel this morning. It was comfortable and the service was superb. The concierges were sophisticated enough to recognise, as all the best European hotels will, that a Ferrari should be parked prominently under the watchful eye of the…

I made it as far as Cooperstown, NY today; arriving too late to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. I decided to overnight here and visit it in the morning. My effort to find a room for the night online failed for lack of signal, so I bowled up at…

I started yesterday with a splendid breakfast, enlivened by a brief and unexpected political row. The other guest at my B&B, also English, took exception to a remark I made to our hostess about tax rates in Britain. He informed me that it was my “duty” to pay taxes and that…

I rest tonight at Bar Harbor ME. It’s a tourist hot spot in its off-season; a good time to be here in such mild Spring weather. Maine is mine right now, to all intents and purposes. Give me a few more days of acculturation, and I will say that’s “awesome”. Right…

Yesterday was Day 1 on the road. I started gently, covering just over 200 miles from NJ to RI via CT. I stopped by New Haven to wander around Yale University’s buildings for a while and made friends with Winston (pictured) who mooched a couple of bucks and tried hard…

Friday morning began at our HQ in Battery Park. After a briefing we moved to the area around Ground Zero. Our tutors encouraged us to approach people to take their photographs and I struggled all day with my English reserve. When told we were students sent out to do street…

So far, it’s all been fun. Speranza is still clearing customs but I don’t need her yet as I am beginning my photography course in NYC this afternoon. Last night I went out for drinks with an Austrian-American friend who divides his time between Vienna and Virginia but happened to…

  The great road trip begins tomorrow when I fly to New York to take part in a National Geographic photography course. Speranza is currently being subjected to an x-ray examination by US Customs. I hope to push the big red start button, deo volenti, next Monday. In the meantime,…