Phoenix (Arizona)

We arrived in downtown Phoenix in the early afternoon. First we drove to the motel, our last all-American experience (including an almost sleepless night with a dramatic marital dispute in the motel courtyard that ended after what felt like hours with the wife sleeping in the car), and dropped off our luggage. Our brightly coloured van was a stark contrast to the 50 shades of grey the motel had to offer. We quickly went to the Escape Campervan office to return our van before they closed. Everything went smoothly. We had collected some useful items over the past few weeks and left them in the office for the next renters. In Chicago, where there were only three vans outside the office, we had taken a pack of tea and a dustpan from a very small pile of giveaways. Here in Phoenix, at least 50 cars decorated the car park outside the office and the massive amount of giveaways were stored in several full-sized shelves!

For the first time in 79 days we did not have our own car. We called an Uber to get to the city centre and were dropped off in the geographical centre of Phoenix. At first glance, the city was really boring, but we soon found out that most of the magic happened a few blocks north. As we walked, we noticed that the city actually had some nice artwork on the walls and in the streets, which made the area surprisingly photogenic! We grabbed a coffee at the Hidden Track Café and walked down East Roosevelt Street where we found small shops, more cafes, restaurants and a brewery that we added to our "to-visit" list for the evening. Although we had promised ourselves not to buy anything to make our luggage too heavy for the flights, we quickly broke our promise when we found what appeared to be a molten Salvador Dali-style disco ball in one of the boutiques. We just had to have that. Who wouldn't? The two men who worked in the boutique gave us tips on where to go for dinner and beer. We had already decided on the latter, but their suggestion for dinner was perfect: ramen soup.

After dinner we enjoyed our last evening in the USA in pleasantly warm temperatures in the beer garden of the Arizona Wilderness Brewpub with an IPA and a sour beer. We reminisced about the last few months, indulged in the fresh memories the trip had brought us, tried to choose a favourite part of the trip, failed, tried to come up with a top 5, failed again, and were a little sad to be leaving this exciting continent „so soon“. But we were also really happy to have done the trip and grateful to everyone involved who either made it possible or contributed to the experience. It was simply fantastic.

After any long journey you are confronted with the harsh reality of everyday life. But we have played this game a few times now and we have learned one thing: there will always be another trip. For sure. Just be patient. It'll be awesome!Read more