Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUSLY: The Complete Wrestling Observer Rewind 1991-2001


1-7-2002	1-14-2002	1-21-2002	★

NJPW was thrown into chaos this week when Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima, and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion Kendo Kashin all abruptly quit the company, along with 5 of NJPW's front office employees, and are headed to AJPW. Needless to say, this immediately killed the working relationship between the two companies and NJPW is already attempting to forge a new partnership with NOAH. There's also said to be a significant power struggle within NJPW right now behind the scenes that will likely be straightened out whenever Inoki returns to Japan (he's in Los Angeles right now). Tatsumi Fujinami is NJPW president but in the wake of losing these big stars, and the disappointing TV ratings for the Jan. 4th show, it's rumored his days may be numbered. There's rumors that Inoki may take over the role for the first time since he was forced out of the position back in 1983 (long story, bunch of financial scandals, Google is your friend here). Muto is currently half of the IWGP tag team champions and they were scheduled to defend the titles next month and he volunteered to still work the show, but NJPW wasn't having that so that won't be happening now and the titles will instead be vacated, along with the Jr. title Kashin held. And of course, the IWGP title is also currently vacant due to Fujita's injury, so all of NJPW's top titles are vacant right now (the only other active title is the Jr. tag belts, held by Gedo and Jado).
Lots of rumors floating around about how this happened, but the gist appears to be that Hiroshi Hase was the architect (no Seth) behind this whole thing. Reportedly, Muto (and maybe some of the other people who left) may be purchasing a stake of AJPW from Motoko Baba so he'll have some ownership say. The long-term idea is that Mrs. Baba will step down in a few years and Muto, who by then should be ready to retire (lol) will take over the role as AJPW president. Of course, that was the original plan for Misawa after Giant Baba died, but he and Motoko Baba couldn't get along and Misawa eventually left and formed NOAH instead. It's also worth noting that Kashin in particular wasn't thrilled about doing shoot fights while working in NJPW, but felt pressured to by Inoki and he reportedly wanted out of the company even if the AJPW thing hadn't been an option. As for Kojima, he and Tenzan have been the best tag team pro wrestling has seen in years and from an in-ring perspective, may have been the best pure worker in NJPW so his loss is going to hurt a lot too. The office workers who left are mostly accounting and merchandising people who will be doing the same jobs for AJPW.
One bummer of a note here is that, before this, Muto had talked of putting together a dream match against Misawa. But as long as Motoko Baba is breathing air, an AJPW star isn't going to work with Misawa, so that's probably a dead issue (yeah, sadly we never did get that match).
One final note: Muto also tried to recruit NJPW rising star Hiroshi Tanahashi, who most believe has the most potential of anyone in the entire company, to jump ship with him but Tanahashi decided to stay (oh man, can you imagine how different things would be if he had gone).
On Raw this week, Vince McMahon teased the impending arrival of Hall, Nash, and Hogan, saying he's going to do something soon that even he will regret. Vince has reportedly caved on most of Nash's demands, including the reduced schedule. Hall will be making less money than Nash and will be given an even lighter schedule, because he's a single parent with custody of his children (and Dave questions how fucked up Dana Hall must be if SCOTT is the one who has custody). And of course, you gotta figure Hogan ain't working a full schedule, since he hasn't done that in a decade and probably ain't gonna start now. Of course, this puts WWF in the same position WCW was in a few years ago: having all the top stars working TV and not appearing on house shows, which is something WWF used to openly mock WCW for. Now they'll be doing the same thing, with the same guys. It's something that killed WCW's house show business long before the TV ratings started going down. There's also the issue of how they'll get along backstage, since many of the agents (Dave says Gerald Brisco in particular) were very vocally against bringing these guys back. And then there's John Laurinaitis, who has a lot of power backstage now and he and Nash used to butt heads constantly in WCW. So things are gonna be interesting.
In a bit of a surprise, Vince has also agreed to let them use the NWO name and gimmick, and that reveal was made later in the week on Smackdown when Vince talked about killing the WWF with the help of the NWO. As of now, there's no plans for Triple H to join the group. X-Pac will probably find his way into it, given his relationship and history with the group. Nash is reportedly pushing for Shawn Michaels to be involved, but Dave has heard that's unlikely because there's still some fences that need to be mended there between Shawn and some in the company. But then again, Nash has gotten his way on everything else he's asked Vince for so far, so who knows? Anyway, Hall and Nash have officially signed, but Hogan still hasn't finalized his deal as of press time, but the office has been told it's inevitable and to start making plans as if he's signed. It's expected all 3 men will probably debut at the No Way Out PPV next month.

WATCH: Vince McMahon announces the arrival of the NWO

The Royal Rumble is in the books and was a huge success. Critically, it was an excellent show, nothing MOTY-worthy or anything, but nothing bad at all and was a legit sellout. Coming out of the show, it appears Chris Jericho will be defending the WWF title against Triple H at Wrestlemania, though that can still change. Triple H winning the Rumble was expected but made the most sense. The Rumble match lasted just over 69 minutes (nice), surpassing the 1993 Rumble and, as far as Dave is aware, making it the longest mach in WWF history (a famous Pedro Morales vs. Bruno Sammartino match in 1972 was reported in all the newspapers as lasting 75 minutes, but it was actually only 65 so don't come at Dave with no "well actually..." bullshit)
The return of Mr. Perfect and him being put over like a major star (he lasted until the final 4) proves that WWF has no intention of letting any other competitor get off the ground and will nip that in the bud before it ever happens. Hennig has been available for more that a year (WCW released him before they folded) and WWF never seemed interested, but as soon as XWF came along and made him their featured star (with plans to make him the face of the company), suddenly WWF swooped him up. Hennig's appearance was meant to be a one-off but it was known they were likely going to offer him a deal if he was impressive, and they have. It may not be a huge get for WWF, but it's a massive loss for XWF and pretty much renders their entire first set of TV tapings meaningless now, and Dave says that was precisely the point. Vince left the door open for competition once before and it nearly killed him. He won't make that mistake again (not until 2019 anyway). Dave says to let this be a lesson to any new promotion trying to start up: make sure you have people signed.
Other notes from Royal Rumble: Goldust, who was also a one-off for the match, is expected to sign a full-time deal as well. FlaiVince street fight was way better than it had any right to be considering it was between two guys over 50, one of whom isn't even a trained wrestler and the other hasn't wrestled in nearly a year since the final Nitro. Jericho retained the title over Rock in an excellent match and Dave notes that no one in the history of wrestling with the kind of main event star power Rock possesses has ever done as many jobs as him. Maven dropkicking Undertaker out of the Rumble match was the biggest pop of the entire show. But then Undertaker spent the next several minutes beating poor Maven nearly to death, lest anyone think Undertaker was actually trying to get this kid over or anything. Overall, Dave thinks it was the best Rumble match in several years.

WATCH: Maven eliminates Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble

The tradition of Memphis wrestling on WMC-TV has been revived! Sorta. The show, dating back to the 70s, has been off the air since last spring when the TV station refused to allow them to tape shows in their studio anymore. For the next few months, they aired a bunch of "Best of" shows but those eventually stopped in December and they've been airing infomercials in that time slot ever since. But this week, a show featuring Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher in the main event, taped at a nearby casino in Tunica, MS aired on the channel in the usual Saturday morning time slot. Dave says the production quality was garbage and there was no local publicity for it, so it probably did a terrible rating, but it's something (pretty much just one last dying gasp, this doesn't lead to anything).
Carlos Colon said he's going to cut back on being an active wrestler because he wants to spend more time with his kids. Dave points out that most of his kids are wrestlers in his company, so maybe he's actually trying to get away from them.
NJPW star Minoru Tanaka announced his engagement to former women's wrestler Yumi Fukawa, who retired last year (did some research and they're still married to this day. Tanaka still wrestles in NOAH and Fukawa is an actress in Japan).
Atsushi Onita, who has been issuing grandstand challenges to Antonio Inoki for months with no response, has now challenged Naoya Ogawa for a match and wants it to be a benefit show in Afghanistan for the kids there. Dave says don't hold your breath for that one either. Onita says if he beats Ogawa, he wants the match with Inoki. Again, none of this is happening, just Onita trying to work his own angle. Neither Inoki nor Ogawa want anything to do with him.
Goldberg participated in a charity golf tournament this week and while there, he made some comments about going to the WWF. "I personally believe that everything I've stood for when I got into the ring would be compromised and succumbed to the circus-like atmosphere that's out there, and that's putting it mildly. I would be an imbecile if I gave up half my money to work for a company I didn't respect." Dave wonders if his tune will change when that WCW contract money dries up (yup). Also, at the same tournament, they did a funny little angle with Goldberg throwing his caddie into a lake.

WATCH: Goldberg torpedoes his caddie into the lake

Superstar Billy Graham has reportedly lost nearly 60 pounds in just 3 weeks, most of it water weight due to edema he's suffering from and all the other liver issues he's currently dealing with.
Bruno Sammartino did an interview talking about the role he has in a new low-budget movie called Saloonatics where he plays a mob guy with cancer. Sammartino talked about how uncomfortable he was with all the profanity his character had to say but he eventually got more comfortable with it and was able to put aside his personal feelings and eventually was okay with it. (No idea where the full movie is, but here's a trailer and yeah this shit is LOOOOOOOW budget).

WATCH: Saloonatics trailer

Former WCW announcer Mark Madden is in some controversy in Pittsburgh, where he hosts a daily sports talk show on the local ESPN radio station there. A few weeks back, the sports media in the city was swirling with rumors about NFL star Kordell Stewart's sexuality. Madden went on his radio show and criticized people who were spreading those rumors. A writer who works at the radio station then went on the air and accused Madden of being one of the main people who fueled those rumors and claimed Madden had said things in the past on his show implying that Stewart is gay. Madden denied ever saying that, demanded the guy find the tapes to prove he ever said it, and basically felt like the guy ambushed him live on the air with the accusations. The radio station apparently agreed because the writer was fired when he refused to apologize (for what it's worth, several people have made accusations about Stewart being gay over the years and he's always denied them, and even successfully sued someone a few years ago for claiming he had a relationship with him. Who knows and who cares? Not anybody's business anyway).
Jake Roberts was on a radio talk show in England recently and said some interesting stuff. Said he plans to stay in the UK for the next 2 years. Said he could walk back into the WWF and have a writing job tomorrow if he wanted it. Dave scoffs at that and says I guess he prefers wrestling in front of empty indie show crowds in England instead of earning a steady paycheck. Jake also talked about the scene in Beyond The Mat where the movie alleges that Roberts asked an indie promoter for crack cocaine as his payoff for working the show. Roberts denied it happened and said he doesn't trust a promoter with anything, so he wouldn't trust one to get him crack. Well okay then. Claimed he left the WWF last time because he wasn't comfortable with the angle he was doing with Jerry Lawler, feeling like they were exploiting his sobriety. Dave pretty much rolls his eyes at all this, because Jake was actually fired for going on a bender and no-showing a bunch of events (I'm glad we all love Jake now, but he was still 1000% full of shit and off the deep end during this period).
Iron Shiek missed an appearance on the Opie & Anthony radio show this week because he was detained for several hours at the airport. Turns out he wore his curly toed wrestling boots on the plane and because this is 4 months after 9/11 and only 1 month after the attempted shoe-bomber, and let's be honest, simply because Iron Shiek is Middle Eastern, people freaked out. And when they wanted to examine his boots, he initially refused to let them and, well, you can imagine how well that went over with airport security.
If WWA's PPV in Las Vegas happens next month, Bret Hart has agreed to reprise his role as the on-screen commissioner. As best Dave can tell, no one else has really been signed on for the show and the MGM Grand doesn't know anything about this alleged plan to hold the event in their arena and in fact, WWA hasn't even applied with the Nevada commission to get a license to run a show anywhere in the state and it's almost certainly too late to get one by the scheduled date. So Dave is skeptical that this even happens, and if it does, he can't see it being in Las Vegas. (Surprisingly, it does happen and it is in Vegas, but we'll get there.)
Speaking of the Nevada athletic commission, XWF brought a bunch of wrestlers and a wrestling ring to the National Association of Television Program Executives conference in Vegas, with hopes of putting on a live show and impressing all the TV execs and trying to secure a TV deal. But the XWF didn't get permission from the Nevada commission, so they weren't allowed to use the ring and do a show. Whoops.
Speaking of XWF, morale is in the dumps in that company right now. Losing both Hulk Hogan and Curt Hennig (neither of whom were signed but had been working with them) as well as Sting reportedly not being interested has killed a lot of the excitement about the promotion for people within it.
Notes from Raw: Flair cut an emotional promo about his history in wrestling and how he was on the road so much and put wrestling ahead of his family and not seeing his kids and all that stuff. During the promo, Lawler made a sarcastic joke about Flair needing to have his priorities in order, which Dave thinks is pretty rich coming from Lawler, who lived the exact same life and wasn't much of a father to his kids either (which Lawler has admitted, to be fair). They're continuing to tease a Triple H/Stephanie split, with him being annoyed at her nagging. Speaking of Triple H, Dave thinks he needs to lose at least 15 pounds because he's totally slow and lumbering since he came back.
Notes from Smackdown: AJ Styles worked a dark match, losing to Rico Constantino, but apparently he looked awesome in the match (yeah he hits an awesome shooting star to the floor late in the match). And the show ended with McMahon doing the big NWO reveal on the back of his chair during his promo.

WATCH: AJ Styles vs. Rico Constantino dark match - 2002

Regarding Triple H's match on Smackdown last week, where they gave away his return match on free TV 3 days before the Rumble. Remember how Dave was flabbergasted that they would be so short-sighted? Turns out Triple H felt the same way and fought hard against it, but Vince wouldn't budge.
Chris Benoit is telling people he expects to be back in the ring around June (yup).
Jim Ross answered some questions at a press thing last week and had lots of interesting stuff to say. He said the criticism WWF was receiving for bringing in Hall, Nash, and Hogan hurts, but they have to do what's best for the company and Vince feels this is it. Doesn't sound like JR loves the idea too much either. They've had no talks with Scott Steiner. When told of Goldberg's recent comments (mentioned above), he said he wanted to believe Goldberg hadn't really said that and thought it was a shame. Said there's heat on Jeff Jarrett for how he left the WWF last time so he probably won't be welcomed back anytime soon. JR also hinted that the brand split will come after Wrestlemania and implied that they will be reviving the cruiserweight division. Dave says he's convinced that Vince will never get behind pushing cruiserweights as major stars so he's not holding out hope for that. Said they may bring in Rey Mysterio if they decided to launch a cruiserweight division. Said they'd love to have Eddie Guerrero back but he has to get his personal issues straightened out first. Same with Shawn Michaels, plus they don't know if he could physically do it.
ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote an article reviewing Royal Rumble 2002 and Dave thinks it was great. In one piece, Simmons managed to pretty much sum up all of WWF's recent problems while still acknowledging that the show was entertaining. And the link Dave posted for it in 2002 still works!

WATCH: Bill Simmons reviews the 2002 Royal Rumble

Unless things change, Chris Jericho is gonna be in an awkward situation next week. Jericho is scheduled to play in a celebrity hockey game as part of NHL All Star Weekend. Who will his celebrity coach be, you ask? Goldberg. As of press time, most people in WWF don't seem to be aware of it and Dave wouldn't be surprised if Jericho gets pulled from it.
Booker T was on the Howard Stern show (after his comments last week saying he wasn't a fan of Stern, go figure) and talked about his time in prison and his plans to write a book. He also said he hopes to retire in 2 years which Dave ain't buying (yeah, still about 10 years away from that). He also said someone is suing him over the term "Spinaroonie" because apparently someone else thinks they own the rights to that name. Booker also mentioned that he's dating former Nitro Girl Sharmell Sullivan. Dave notes that they've been dating since WCW and Booker is the one who helped her get hired by WWF, where she's currently in developmental.
DDP has also said he plans to retire in 2 years, to become a motivational speaker. This one actually almost happened. He left WWF just 3 months after this and didn't wrestle at all for several years. Then he had a brief run in TNA but he's been mostly retired other than some one-offs ever since.
Randy Orton is moving up to the main roster. In his final OVW match, Orton lost clean to Prototype and Dave says it's clear they're grooming Prototype to be the next OVW champion.

WATCH: Randy Orton vs. Prototype - OVW 2002
WEDNESDAY: More on the impending arrival of the NWO, more on the upcoming brand split, cruiserweight division, and more...

My Mother's Eyes

My Mother has always considered me to be lucky.
I don’t really know why she thinks that. Maybe it’s because of the time I won fifty bucks at the church raffle. Father Greg was so happy that I’d won. He said it was ‘well deserved’. Or the twenty dollars I scored from a scratch lottery ticket. Mother put it in my stocking last Christmas. She said it was from Santa. I went back to the store and spent it on my favorite beef jerky.
But the one thing we both agree, is that I’m not lucky with girls. And it makes me sad. Mother wants grandkids real, real bad. And she always says that it’s up to me. Sometimes though it made her so mad, she'd just yell and yell at me about how I’m not giving her any grandkids. I’m just not lucky with girls. Not at all.
But I am lucky with winning stuff.
I’d like to think this is why Mother decided to send me to Las Vegas for my fortieth birthday, you know, to win big. It wasn’t though. I didn’t even want to go. But Mother had spent all that money. We didn’t even have it in the first place. I argued about it, but as usual she won.
The Las Vegas hotel was nice. It had a king sized bed, a huge bathtub and a balcony. I didn’t know how Mother could afford this. She even gave me two hundred dollars to gamble with. It was pretty quiet besides Mother calling the room every hour bugging me to go out and gamble. All I wanted to do is stay in my room and watch HBO. It had HBO!
But I got bored of watching TV. I told myself I’ll find a quarter slot and that’s it. Maybe I’ll even have a beer. I like beer. I knew this would make Mother happy. I could just see her being so happy. She has big blue eyes. They get bigger when she’s happy.
I was surprised to see I’d already won almost a hundred bucks. The machine I picked was giving wins left and right. Mother always said I’m lucky, but I’ve never been this lucky. Then I remembered what Brad Pitt said in that George Clooney movie, “in this town, your luck could run out just like that”. I cashed out and decided to have one more beer somewhere. I’d get something fancy, for winning and turning forty. But the seat at the bar had a poker machine. I bet another twenty. I hit a royal flush.
And that’s when she came over.
She smelled like vanilla ice cream and cherry coke. A real knockout. She ordered a drink and sat next to me. She wasn’t as lucky as I was and lost her money fast but she stayed and watched me play video poker. She was real friendly. Kept asking me if I wanted to go to a party or something. I don’t like parties though.
The pretty lady got more drinks, this time one for me too, a beer. She said it was for my birthday. Funny thing though, I didn’t remember telling her that is was my fortieth birthday. But honestly, I don’t remember much of anything after the beer she bought me.
It was like one of them strange dreams. You know, where you don’t really know if it’s real or not. Or sometimes you just forget and don’t remember anything. You just fall asleep and wake up somewhere weird.
Like the time I woke up in Ms Anderson’s bed with half my clothes gone. Mother said I’d sleepwalked again. Ms Anderson was real nice about it. She even made me some breakfast and gave a ride home. Come to think of it, I woke up a few times in weird places. But waking up at Ms Anderson’s, that was one of the weirdest. I think too because it happened a couple times. And she was always nice about it, making me breakfast and taking me home. Mother didn’t think none of it neither. Her and Ms Anderson were always friendly. I think it’s cause Ms Anderson was by herself all the time. She had nobody. Mother felt sorry for her I think. But yeah, that was one of the weirdest places, at least until I woke up there in Las Vegas.
There was a loud banging on the door. It woke me up. I was on the hotel bed, had all my clothes on, but the funny thing was, it wasn’t my hotel room. The room was old and kind of dirty. It had one of those old fashioned TVs. I got scared. Thought maybe I was still dreaming. But I wasn’t.
They kept banging on the door. I answered and it was a cab driver. Said he was my ride back to the airport. He was kind of mad and said he’d been knocking for a few minutes. I looked for my luggage but it was gone. Only thing I had was my wallet and the plane ticket boarding thing. The hotel looked like it was shut down. Some of the windows were even boarded up. I thought, well there I go again, sleepwalking.
The cab drove me to the airport. I was pretty far out of town in the desert. It took us a long time to get back. I didn’t know how I got so far away.
I remember drinking the beer that pretty lady bought me. Then it was like that dream I was talking about. You know, I didn’t know if it was real or not. It’s not like I don’t remember nothing. I remember a different woman getting real close to me. She was older and not pretty like the other lady. It was like I was getting a massage or something. She had really cold hands. There was a man there too, in a business suit. He was on the phone all the time. Thought he owned a farm or something, kept talking about eggs, and keeping them fresh. He looked sort of familiar. Like the guy mother and I went to see for her small operation. She had something done to her private area. The man kind of looked like him, but not really.
I don’t remember the hotel though. Or how I got there. I just wanted to get home and hope Mother didn’t find out that I sleepwalked again or ask me where my suitcase was. She’d be furious at me for drinking beer and ending up somewhere weird.
Mother was happy to see me at the airport though. She didn’t ask me a thing and even took me to McDonalds on the way home. She’d been doing some decorating and totally cleared out the spare room. She said we’re gonna need it to be ready and have it look nice. Boy, was she was right. Like always.
Almost a year went by when Mother said we’d be going back to Las Vegas. This time though we’re driving she said. I was kind of excited. I like long drives. There’s lots of cool stuff to see on the way. But Mother said we weren’t stopping and maybe only once to get gas and pee. She was really excited to get there I guess. I asked why we were going. She just said it was a surprise.
We drove to Las Vegas and like Mother said, only stopped once. When we finally got there we drove right past the city and took some road out into the desert. We kept driving and driving. By now I couldn’t even see Las Vegas anymore. We ended up at some weird place. It was like a neighborhood but real, real old. Houses were locked up and some were falling apart. People were living in trailers right there in the middle of the desert. The place we stopped at was a house. It was one of the nicer ones.
Mother and I went inside. I could hear the babies crying from one of the bedrooms. Boy, there were a lot of them. Sounded like that time we went to the dog pound when we got Toby. He’s a good boy.
Mother went into the bedroom with a lady. She lived there I guess. She looked a little familiar, but I don’t know from where though. I could hear them arguing. I’ve never heard Mother so mad. They were yelling and screaming at each other about the babies. Like there was too many or something, and Mother wasn’t happy about it, but the lady kept saying it wasn’t on purpose and there’s nothing she could do about it. The babies were crying so loud. I was scared. Real scared. Then Mother come out holding two of them. The lady was behind her with two more. Mother told me to get into the car, we were leaving.
I got into the backseat and Mother gave me the two she was holding. Then the lady put the two she was holding next to me on the seat. They both went back into the house and came out with three more. Mother had them in a basket on the floor up front. I asked Mother whose kids these were.
She said they were her grandchildren.
It’s been three years since we picked up the kids. I can’t keep up with them. Everyday it’s nothing but crying, barfing and dirty diapers. Mother told me, before she died last year that I was lucky to have them in my life. I remember her smiling at me with her big blue eyes. But I don’t feel so lucky and I miss her being here. I miss her real bad.
But even though the kids are really hard to look after all by myself, sometimes when they’ve finally quieted down, it’s not so bad. It’s even kind of fun. Some of them sort of look like me when I was a small kid. It’s kind of weird. But I think the best thing about them is that they remind me of Mother. They all have her eyes.

Let's see if this works now. I've worked a couple of hours on it today.

I’ve enjoyed reading these posts from you nice ex-mo’s and am very intrigued by all of your stories. I’m different in the sense that I qualify as a senior citizen (70 last January) and have spent 20+ years out of the church. Sadly, I guess I’m still on the roles of the church and I kept telling myself that I didn’t resign since I just didn’t care enough. But I keep thinking that maybe it’s the time, especially now that I’m well into my senior citizen dotage.
I served my mission to São Paulo, Brasil, August 1968 to November 1970. I had a good time for the most part and liked lots of aspects of it. I don’t have many of memories of being there except that most of the people we baptized weren’t really strong converts. (there were lots of high school age women and many of them took the lessons one for reason: they wanted to marry a handsome American hoping to find a missionary to marry and come back to the US with a new husband. Several did.
I enjoyed being in Brasil but I have forgotten much about it and the names of most of my companions. A couple of years ago, I saw a Facebook account for a guy who had been a companion in Ribeirão Preto for a couple of months. So I contacted him on his account. Didn’t hear from him until this year. He’d just come home from being a mission president somewhere. We exchanged a couple of emails, I have some pictures of my time in RP and he had some pictures from about the same time. Turns out they were all taken using his nice camera. Before I came home, I had them converted to slides (not sure why now). I shared them and he had some taken the same day; to date, I’ve not heard from him again.
I got home on Thanksgiving Day 1970 after several flight delays, including sort of being held and inspected for expensive watches that some missionaries loved and tried to sneak through customs by hiding them in their luggage etc. My younger brother came to the airport to pick me up and take me home to have dinner with my parents, a brother (he was older and died in 2001) and his wife, still one of my favorite people, were there from Reno with their 2 boys. No one asked much about my mission and I was so ready to talk about it.
My next oldest sister was there with her mean and noisy kids (only 3)--she had 3 more after that. And the 2 oldest siblings weren’t there since they lived in California then.
I was too late to get into BYU the first semester which was where all Utah RM’s went--there was almost no qualification except paying for it. I had been a good student in high school and thought I would like going to college. Turns out I hated every minute of it and was a really bad student. I also lived with 5 other guys, including my best friend from from about 2nd grade. Haven't had any contact with him in years.
*****I debated whether I should include the following since it’s already too long and not everyone knows me. But here goes) There was a guy I’d known in Brasil who came home about a year after I did. He lived in Brigham City and would come to Ogden to visit me and my friend and go on picnics or movies with this group. And the closest thing I could use to describe it was that I had a huge crush on him. I didn’t dare say anything because I couldn’t imagine being gay--I don’t know if the word gay was in common use back then. I wanted to be with him as much as possible. Nothing ever happened and it wouldn’t have --I was afraid he’d be mad at me, let alone what my parents would have said. (or the church). We were friends for a while.That’s about all I’m gonna say). He left the church before me and I saw him a couple of times in Las Vegas when he was going from SB to visit his family in Brigham City.
Anyway, I dated the girl who had been my friend’s friend, and she was friendly, loved to kiss and was a good cook. We went to lots of movies and some concerts and I went to Logan to meet her parents and within about 6 months we were engaged. My mom was thrilled that I was getting married and my parents both loved her and were very excited. We got married August 1973 and she had moved to SLC since she’d finished her nursing degree that same year. And by September 1974 we had our first baby. He just turned 45 this year and has a great job with a big energy company in Rock Springs WY. He was late getting married--I think 2002 and had one boy and then his odd wife told him she wanted a divorce. Not sure of the why. He has a new girlfriend who makes good money in Mortgage things and they live in Rock Springs WY. He had just 1 kid, one of 3 boys who are all 10years old.
I have two more kids, a boy who’s 41 and has a cute family--both he and his wife have very good jobs, 2 smart kids who love school. He’s my go-to computer repair guy.
And the last one is my lovely daughter. She’s 37 and had two kids and then turns out her RM husband was using drugs and sleeping around. She lived with her mom and then within a year, she met a guy who was divorced and has 5 kids. They have 4 of 5 of his kids every 2 weeks, although one goes to school in Price UT. She still has her hands full with them and they all seem to love her. She’s in her 14th year of teaching junior high english and is kind of worn out. In the last couple of years she’s quit going to church and wearing garments.
I have 5 grandkids. The oldest is a girl, age 16, good student and plays Volleyball for her school. Then there’s 3 boys that are each 10 years old, and the youngest is a 7 yr old girl, who is going on 12. Her husband is a police detective in SL Valley and don’t have much to do with him ever since The Donald was running for office and we got in a nice argument one day.
Anyway, by 1994 we were divorced and I lived in DT SLC. I was working for Citibank taking phone calls. This was just before banking was online.
By 1998, Citibank announced they were closing our call center but offered all of us a buyout offer and I decided to move to Las Vegas, with them. They gave us all a nice buyout and I went to Las Vegas since I was so f**cking tired of Utah snow and cold. I took a moving van and my middle son drove my other car, on Labor Day 1998.. We got to Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend and my son said “did you know it was gonna be 112 degrees today?)
After I got settled in, I got used to living there, including the heat. Going back momentarily to the gay thing, I had a couple of boyfriends while I was there..we didn’t live together and one was an ophthalmologist and loved to treat me with dinner and movies. I’m not sure what would have happened had he not left Las Vegas for a new job but I didn’t hear much from him except when he’d come back to town. He was a nice guy. The other one was kind of a loser and not much fun at all. I was already in my 50’s and by then, most of the gay things there revolved around bars and casinos, and I never did go have much interest in either. Although I did win $800 on quarter slot once. I loved to go to a casino for a movie, since most of them had theaters. And a gay man over 50, then 60 doesn’t have much shelf life. Don’t ask about 70.
I was working at Zappos.com, from 2007 and by 2014, it was time for retirement and Zappos had a nice bonus program in place so I decided to come back to SLC in 2015. In retrospect, it was a dumb move since I still hate the cold and snow. My kids are always busy so I don’t see much of them, unless we plan ahead. I live sort of in DT SLC not far from Red Iguana, if anyone is familiar. I go see my kids here sometimes but I have to kind of have an appointment. As often as possible I take TRAX out to Sandy to visit. My ex- is retired after 40+ years of working at a local hospital and she invites me for dinner quite often. The last time was in August--she had a birthday party for mom who is 90 years old.
And, going back to THE CHURCH, I never had much contact with anyone in Las Vegas, and that was good. This year, I had a knock at my door and it was Bishop so and so and his counselor. They just wanted to say Hello, and I said HELLO and asked them not to come back. Which they’ve done so far.
Sorry for the length of this piece. I don’t have many pictures of me but here’s one taken at Grandma’s 90th birthday. There I am with the grandkids in August.

My first LAN as a caster *LONG, TLDR @ BOTTOM* (R6USN) - Stoax

This past weekend was the United States Nationals and I was lucky enough to have my shot at casting at LAN. In this post I will cover everything across this weekend and how it felt casting for the first time in front of so many people.

I flew in on Thursday (Dec. 13th) where I landed in Vegas for the first time since I was 14. After exiting my plane and walking into the Las Vegas airport it finally hit me that I was going to be in front of thousands listening to me cast my favorite game. My stomach started to twist as my face started feeling hot. Part of me wished they had picked someone else and the other half kept repeating the same thing over and over again “They believe in you, they picked you didn’t they?” They feeling quickly subsided as I went to go get my bags. I arrived at the Rio and had no idea where to check in. After a little while I finally found out it was the registration line and quickly got into line. While messaging the Talent group chat for the event, I hear a man say with energy in his voice “is that the Samuel Stewart?” I was scared for a second as I looked up my phone to realize it was Velly, the community contest winner for the analyst position. I let out a sigh of relief and shook his hand. We talked for a while in line to check into the hotel. We immediately hit it off as Velly started cracking jokes like we were friends that hadn’t seen each other in years. After some friendly banter we both got checked in and started heading towards my hotel room. The scene on the main floor of the Rio is a mixture of cigarette smoke and arcade noises as hundreds of people put their money into slot machines hoping for something in return. I finally found my elevator for my hotel room. Quickly I went to my floor, changed and headed to the lobby to meet Flynn for the first time in person. I ran to the elevator and headed for the main doors of the hotel. As I approached the main lobby I see a young guy with an evil geniuses jacket on with his hands in his pockets. It’s Flynn talking to Avian and a few others. Flynn looks over to me as I walked up and smiled slightly, shaking my hand. “How was the flight?” He asked. I said it was good then began talking to the rest of the group and introducing myself. After a quick conversation, Flynn and I met Bil (Jump) at a bar in the lobby for some drinks. Jump is ridiculously tall, like he should be playing point guard not hosting video game tournaments. I shake his hand then get a drink while we wait for Velly to meet us here. After Velly met us at the bar we bumped into Stuart and another Ubisoft employee then went to a near restaurant. All of them were extremely welcoming and we had a good conversation talking about favorite games and the competitive scene. We finished our meals and decided to go look at the stage for the tournament.

After this, the rest of the day went by extremely fast. I met a lot of people in the players lounge. The next big thing for me personally that happened that day was I finally got to meet everyone from Cloud 9. MarktheShark messaged me after we tweeted at each other and told me they were all hanging out in their hotel room. He invited me up so I took him up on the offer and headed that way. I knocked on their hotel room door and after a few seconds the door opened to Goddess. She smiled at me and I smiled back as I gave her a big hug. Goddess and I had been friends for a long time as we are both from Iowa and my grandparents live very close to her hometown. After walking inside with Blu and Flynn, I was greeted by Lax, FoxA, Crux, Tifa, and Viirus. All of them were extremely welcoming and we had a good conversation about the up coming weekend. Then the night ended with a few drinks over Mexican food.
Friday we began rehearsal decently early and I met z1ronic and Interro for the first time. Z1ronic is legitimately a Viking, the man loves to hangout and have a few beers. He immediately made me felt comfortable making jokes with me and laughing. Then there was Interro. As I walked into the the group of people talking in the green room backstage, Parker looked me up and down. He met my eyes and said “Samuel” in a friendly tone and shook my hand. I was nervous as all hell. These are the people that I watched everyone time I turned on an r6 lan stream for the last year. My throat tightened up as I spoke to both of them and I saw that Parker took notice of my nervousness. After mic checks the talent crew went to go get breakfast at a nearby restaurant. The portions were massive and the food was decent but I was more invested in trying to get as much information as possible out of everyone at the table regarding how to improve my skill in casting and what it’s like to talk in front of thousands of people at once. Later on that day my girlfriend arrived. Ester isn’t into video games in the slightest but she didn’t even hesitate when I asked her to come with me to Vegas. After I dropped off a room key for her I spent the rest of the day in and out of rehearsal and meetings, learning about exactly what was expected of me. Later on that night we went to a buffet down the strip and had a good meal with new found friends and some old in the likes of Maverick and RaMz. That capped off Friday as I wanted to get in bed for the the next day which I was ridiculously nervous for. The start of the USNR6 Tournament.
A couple of people I missed in this so far: Lycan and all of the SSG boys are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I also ended up getting to meet most of the players at the tourney thanks to Interro introducing me to them in the player lounge. Also I finally got to meet PeterChau (Evil Geniuses Manager) we had been friends for around 6 months and it immediately showed. I can promise you that every single person in the R6 scene as a player or close to a team is extremely welcoming.
(I’m going to just cover my casts after this point. I’m not an author and I don’t want to to have to take 40 years to read this lmao)
Finally, saturday. I woke up at 7, got dressed as fast as possible then headed for the Penn & Teller Theater where the event was being held. The intro for then event was nice and the bassist was pretty cool. Finally Orgless v EG goes live after some analysis from the desk. It’s Blu and Flynn on call for this one. I have never watched so intently on a match in my entire life. After what seemed like a blink of an eye I was in front of a camera with lights shining into my eyes with Parker standing next to me. My throat felt like I was swallowing stones and I thought I was going to get sick, but as soon as I was about to go to the bathroom the timer hit zero and C9 v Elephant Gang started. Parker takes the initial through from the analyst desk. My nervousness went up by 10 fold as Parker looked over at me talked about this being my LAN debut. I started to sway back and forth to try and bring myself back to earth which only partially worked. The rest of the cast was a legitimate blur all except for one single part. Laxing’s 3k on Consulate garage. That’s the moment I knew I wanted this esports dream of mine more than ever before. The crowd exploded as Parker patted me on the back and fist bumped me on my first big play by play call on LAN. The rest of the match went by fast with C9 winning 2-0.

Next match of the for Parker and myself was SSG v Rise Nation. I was starting to get a little more comfortable in front of the camera. I traditionally try to balance education and entertainment when I cast and I had the perfect person to do that with having Parker as my duo for the weekend. The match ended up with a pretty quick 2-0 due to rise falling flat on the second map. After spending the night talking to Parker and the others I had my eyes set on Sunday with my goal to show everyone that I didn’t get here by chance. I had what it takes to do this.

Our matches for Sunday were the branch battle show match and Rogue v SSG. The branch battle was one map that was dominated by DaddyMike of the Air Force practically running through the Army. I used it as a practice to apply the notes that everyone had given me the previous day. I still had some slip ups but overall I was happy with the end result.
After Cloud 9 lost to Evil Geniuses 2-1, it was my last cast of the entire tournament. SSG v Rogue was up next. I read over every player ten times and was set on making this my best cast of the event. I walked up to the casting desk with Parker and right before we began our cast he looks over at me and says “are you ready?” As he put his fist out. I bumped it and said “let’s kill it.” I will forever remember this series especially with Club House going the full distance. I felt like myself the entire cast. Making jokes with Parker and focusing on breaking down strats to where everyone could understand the strategies being used. I still had a few mistakes and stumbled over my words but I did not get nervous the entire time. I would either poke fun at myself or fix it quickly and move on. The single moment of all of these casts that I will remember for the rest of my life is ThinkinNade from SpaceStation gaming completely flipping Rogue on their head as he had a massive ace on Coastline Attack. After the match finally ended 2-1 in favor of Rogue who would later go on to win the tournament and become the inaugural Team USA, edging out Evil Geniuses 2-1, the camera finally comes back to myself and Parker where he then thanks me for casting with him and has the entire crowd cheer for me as I finished out my debut LAN as a caster. I damn near cried.
After that the rest is history. I spent the rest of the event watching Blu and Flynn killing the final with some amazing moments. I can now truly say I have made some amazing friends and had one of the most impactful experiences on my life all thanks to a video game. This has been a dream of mine since I was 10 and now I get to chase it all because of everyone that loves this game as much as I do. So if you made it this far, thank you for bearing with me over this weekend. I will never forget this for the rest of my life.
Shoutouts: TyTangles, Tim (Producer), Chau, Stuart (Ubisoft), aFactor, Judge, Yeti, Krazy, MoDigga, Cashflo, Sternab, My parents back at home throwing a house party to watch the event, Bryan, Aust1n for waking up and thinking I was Krazy, SinatraGG, Stefan (Ubisoft), all the people I met from the ESL, Ghxst, Oasis, Doodle, Ranger, Skittlz, Mikey and his girl, Fooya, KellyGz, and Retro.
All of you made this weekend one for the books.
If I missed your name I’m sorry!
TLDR: This weekend was insane and I loved every moment. I was nervous at first and it showed but I progressively got better throughout the weekend and learned a lot of new things from the very talented crew for USN. I will have these memories for a very long time. Also yes I did get a hug from mark cause that dude is amazing as well as the rest of the players. Special shoutout to C9 cause they are some of the most welcoming people I’ve ever had the honor of meeting as well as Parker (Interro) McKay for teaching me a million things about casting and taking an interest in me as a whole. I truthfully hope to do this in the future god willing. Thank all of you. Oh and yes, I am the blitz main with these eyes ;)

Offseason Review Series: Day 8, The Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals
Division: AFC North
2017 Record: 7-9 (3rd in AFC North)

2017 Statistical Team Rankings

Total Offense – 280.5 YPG (32nd in NFL)
Passing – 195.1 YPG (27th in NFL)
Rushing – 85.4 YPG (31st in NFL)
Points Per Game – 18.1 PPG (26th in NFL)
Total Yards Allowed – 339.1 YPG (18th in NFL)
Passing Yards Allowed – 211.2 YPG (8th in NFL)
Rushing Yards Allowed – 127.9 YPG (30th in NFL)
Points Allowed Per Game – 21.8 (16th in NFL)
Sacks – 41 (T-11th in NFL)
Turnover Differential – -9 (27th in NFL)

Coaching Changes

Offensive Coordinator: Bill Lazor
Bill Lazor entered 2017 as the Bengals QB coach and was promoted to OC last season from week 3 on following the firing of former OC Ken Zampese. The offense looked much better immediately in week 3 taking the Aaron Rodgers led Packers all the way to overtime. The offense overall had peaks and valleys throughout the season, and much of that was attributed to Lazor being forced to use Zampese’s playbook that was implemented in training camp. There has been a ton of cautious optimism for this upcoming season that Lazor, with his own offense being fully implemented this summer, will be able to maximize the most out of the Bengals offense.

Quarterback Coach: Alex Van Pelt
With Lazor ascending to full time OC, the Bengals had a hole at QB coach that needed to be filled. The team elected to go out and sign former NFL quarterback Alex Van Pelt. Van Pelt had most recently been the QB coach of the Green Bay Packers since 2014. Aaron Rodgers publicly stated after the move was made that he was unhappy that the team allowed Van Pelt to walk without consulting him, which could be a testament to the strength of the relationship between Rodgers and Van Pelt. In any case, the Bengals are happy to have a coach with an NFL pedigree who has been responsible for coaching a QB in the past that many feel is the best in the game today.

Wide Receivers Coach: Bob Bicknell
Bob Bicknell is going to be the Bengals WR coach for 2018 following the departure of former WR coach James Urban. Urban had been on the Bengals staff since 2011, including winning the Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals Coach of the Year in 2016 for his work developing young wideouts Tyler Boyd, Alex Erickson, and Cody Core. As for Bicknell, despite only being 48 years old he has 27 years of coaching experience with 3 collegiate teams and 4 NFL teams. He will be working in tandem with new offensive coaches Lazor and Van Pelt to make the Bengals offense hum.

Offensive Line Coach: Frank Pollack
To put it quite plainly, the Bengals offensive line was god awful last year. They were undoubtedly one of the worst units in football. Former OL coach Paul Alexander had been with the team since 1994 in multiple capacities, but following his inability to develop multiple valuable draft picks along the offensive line it was time for a change. Enter Frank Pollack, former NFL player and OL coach most recently of the Dallas Cowboys. This may be the most dynamic philosophy shift on the Bengals offense this season. Alexander’s strategy with linemen was consistent: retreat post-snap and react to the defense. Pollack’s intense personality is mirrored by how he has his lineman play, attack the defense off the snap and initiate contact. This change could spell big things from a unit that is hoping to become more run oriented with the two headed monster of Joe Mixon and Gio Bernard.

Defensive Coordinator: Teryl Austin
This is the hire that I personally, and many Bengals fans, are most happy about. There is no mistaking that Paul Guenther wasn’t very liked among fans. His “bend but don’t break” style of defense had its moments but largely left people with a sour taste in their mouths. Austin comes in and immediately in his introductory press conference he makes it known that he wants to play a more aggressive brand of defense that emphasizes defense taking over games, being physical, and forcing turnovers. In 2017 the Bengals only forced 14 turnovers which was tied for 30th in the NFL, while Austin’s Lions defense forced 32 which was 3rd best in the NFL. Similar to the changes on the offensive line and offensive coordinator, the theme of the Bengals offseason seems to be trying to be more aggressive and be an initiator. The fanbase is hopeful that these changes will result both in more wins and more points on the scoreboard.

Cornerbacks Coach: Daronte Jones
I don’t have too much to say about this move. Our secondary has been an up and down group in recent years, and after the season the team elected to part ways with former coach Kevin Coyle. Jones was the defensive backs coach for Wisconsin in 2015 and they led the nation with only 7 passing TDs allowed while ranking 7th in overall passing defense. From 2016-2017 Jones was the assistant defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins. Hopefully the secondary can channel some of the success that Jones had at Wisconsin with ascending star CB William Jackson III.

Free Agency

Players Lost

Player	Position	New Team	Contract
AJ McCarron	QB	Buffalo	2-year $10m
Jeremy Hill	RB	New England	1-year $1.5m
Russell Bodine	C	Buffalo	2-year $5m
Andre Smith	T/G	Arizona	2-year up to $10m
Chris Smith	DE	Cleveland	3-year $14m
Kevin Minter	LB	NY Jets	1-year $880k
Pat Sims	DT	Free Agent	N/A
Cedric Peerman	RB	Free Agent	N/A
Eric Winston	OT	Free Agent	N/A
Adam Jones	CB	Free Agent	N/A

AJ McCarron: This was a tough loss for the Bengals. In the NFL you can’t have enough security at the backup quarterback position. McCarron had long been thought of as a potential NFL starter by other teams. If you recall, the Bengals famously attempted to trade him at the trade deadline to the division rival Cleveland Browns. I can tell you it stings as a fan to know that we were in a position to get 2nd and 3rd round draft picks in this years draft for him, and instead we are just crossing our fingers hoping for a decent compensatory selection. Even that, though, seems unlikely.

Jeremy Hill: This departure was a foregone conclusion from the moment the Bengals selected Joe Mixon in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft. Hill burst onto the scene in 2014 running for 1,124 yards and 9 TD while averaging 5.1 YPC. Since then it has been all downhill, as from 2015-2017 Hill averaged only a measly 3.6 YPC without a single 1,000 yard season. He will forever be remembered (and not in a good way) among Cincinnatians for his costly fumble in the playoff game against Pittsburgh. Closing out the 2017 season he also opted to undergo surgery mid-season (team doctors told him it was not an urgent surgery) to be healthy for the 2018 season, and was called out by Coach Lewis for giving up on the team.

Russell Bodine: Bengals fandom, rejoice! The Bengals selected Bodine in the 4th round of the 2014 NFL draft and he was a day 1 starter at center. He started every single game in his 4 year career here, and that is about where the positive things I can say stop. Per PFF he was the 25th ranked center in the NFL for 2017 with a 46.8 grade (his 3rd season out of 4 with a grade below 53). The center position is extremely important to an offensive line and Bodine didn’t cut it. I wish him the best of luck in Buffalo but I sure am glad that I will no longer have to watch him stumble back as if he has never faced a bull rush before.

Andre Smith: Andre Smith was actually a high draft choice by the Bengals going all the way back to 2009 when the Bengals took him 6th overall. He was the starting RT for Cincinnati from 2009-2015, left to play in Minnesota in 2016 on a one year deal before returning to Cincinnati for the 2017 season. He appeared in 13 games and started 8 at several OL positions (mostly all at Tackle). Per PFF he graded out as the 62nd best tackle in the league, consistent with his deteriorating play throughout the last 3 seasons. He was always viewed as a 1-year rental behind our patchwork line.

Chris Smith: This guy hurt to lose. He was a very effective rotational piece for the Bengals defense off the edge. He recorded 3 sacks and a forced fumble, and was generally disruptive whenever he was brought into the game. His playing time was limited but I think moving forward if he gets more opportunity the guy could one day become a great player. For the duration and money that Cleveland gave him though there was no way the Bengals were going to be able to hang on to him, not with our other defensive lineman already on the roster. If you watch many Cleveland games I think this is a name you’ll be hearing a lot of.

Kevin Minter: Minter was a guy that came into the league in 2013 to Arizona as a 2nd round pick. The Cardinals had high hopes for him, as did the Bengals when they gave him a 1-year $4.2m deal in free agency. The idea was he would come in and be a faster, stronger, and younger Rey Maualuga. Instead we got what the Cardinals got, pretty unspectacular play. It never seemed like he gelled in the Cincinnati defense and was limited to just 9 games due to injury. Following a disappointing season the Bengals elected to let him walk in free agency.

Pat Sims: The Bengals took Sims in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft, and since then he has had stints with both the Bengals and Oakland Raiders. Sims was only on a 1-year deal for 2017, and throughout his career he as mostly just been a big body DT to plug in on rushing downs. Sims is now 32, it is possible the Bengals or another team could bring him in on a minimum contract if they need interior help. I would guess this is a guy that is going to get some calls following training camp injuries.

Cedric Peerman: Cedric has pretty much been a career special teams player since entering the league in 2009, but he has been spectacular in that role. In 2014 he was named the Bengals special teams captain and made the pro bowl as a special teamer in 2015. Unfortunately his past 2 seasons have been marred by injury, only playing 6 games in 2016 and missing the entire 2017 season. As of this writing it is unclear what the future holds for him.

Eric Winston: This one is short and sweet. The current NFLPA president is more than likely done as an NFL player. He sat on the couch half of last season before being an emergency signing in November following injuries along our offensive line.

Adam Jones: Love him or hate him, the guy has been a really solid player throughout his NFL career. He was a First-Team All-Pro in 2014 as a return specialist, and then he made the pro bowl the following season in 2015 as a CB. I’d be inclined to say that his time as an NFL player is over however after the Bengals declined to pick up the 2018 option for the 34 year old player. This is especially compounded by his recent airport fight. I think his age, declining skill set, and constant fear of off-field issues will keep teams away.

Players signed/traded for

Player	Position	Old Team	Length	Salary
Kevin Huber	P	Cincinnati	3-years	$7.9m
Tyler Eifert	TE	Cincinnati	1-year	$5.5m
Preston Brown	LB	Buffalo	1-year	$4m
Matt Barkley	QB	Arizona	2-years	$3.1m
Chris Baker	DT	Tampa Bay	1-year	$3m
Cordy Glenn	LT	Buffalo	3-years	$30m
Bobby Hart	T	NY Giants	1-year	$1m

Kevin Huber: The Bengals re-signed our long time punter in a pretty easy to predict move. Huber was born in Cincinnati, grew up and played high school ball in Cincinnati, attended college at the University of Cincinnati, and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009. The former First-Team All-Pro is a quality player and a local guy, no need to make a change.

Tyler Eifert: Tyler is probably the biggest enigma in the entire Bengals organization. When he is healthy, he is one of the best in football. The problem with that is that he is absolutely never healthy. The guy has only played in 39 out of 80 career games, literally he has missed more than he has played. He has history of injury to his back, knee, shoulder, and elbow. This is basically a 1-year prove it deal, this season is going to basically determine his market value moving forward.

Preston Brown: After the Kevin Minter experiment didn’t work last season the Bengals turned to a former Buffalo Bills 3rd round pick to help shore up the LB corps. Preston had a pretty good season last year, ranking 43rd out of all linebackers per PFF. Perhaps most importantly he has played every game of his 4 year career. It was reported Brown chose the Bengals over an offer from Buffalo as he grew up in the Cincinnati area. This move confirms that LB Vontaze Burfict will primarily play WILL with Brown playing MLB.

Matt Barkley: Nothing fancy here. Barkley is a veteran QB that is going to come into camp and compete with Jeff Driskel for the backup job. I know most Bengals fans (myself included) love us some crazy legs Driskel but I think Barkley wins the job in the end due to his experience and track record. Regardless though, this is undoubtedly Andy Dalton’s team.

Chris Baker: Last offseason Baker signed a nice 3-year $15.7m contract with Tampa Bay before being cut after the season. Baker was a force for the Washington Redskins from 2014-2016, but reports out of Tampa were that his laziness and negative attitude made him an unwelcome presence with the team moving forward. I see this as a low risk high reward signing. If the coaching staff can get him into his 2014-2016 form with his current price tag, it is a huge win. If his negativity continues the team can cut him loose easily.

Cordy Glenn: This was by FAR the biggest offseason acquisition by the Bengals this season, and perhaps in decades. The trade had the Bengals send a 1st round pick (12th overall) and a 6th rounder to Buffalo in exchange for Glenn, a 1st round pick (21st overall), and a 5th rounder. This is an absolute steal for a team that didn’t have a single tackle on the roster with half of the ability of Glenn a season ago. Glenn has been a full-time starter in his NFL career, but dealt with some injuries of late. Still, he is a massive upgrade over what we had before and is one of the reasons for optimism for our offense moving forward. Note his salary in the table above is what is left on his contract that Cincinnati is on the hook for.

Bobby Hart: I’m going to make no qualms about this. I absolutely despise this signing. Yes, it is low risk money wise, but Hart brings nothing of value to the Bengals locker room. There were very few tackles in the league that were worse than what the Bengals already had, and Hart was one of them (PFF ranked him as the 74th Tackle). He is unathletic, has poor technique, and a history of locker room issues. I’m hoping he doesn’t make the roster.

Draft

Round	Number	Player	Position	School
1	21	Billy Price	C	Ohio State
2	54	Jessie Bates	S	Wake Forest
3	77	Sam Hubbard	DE	Ohio State
3	78	Malik Jefferson	LB	Texas
4	112	Mark Walton	RB	Miami (FL)
5	151	Devontae Harris	CB	Illinois State
5	158	Andrew Brown	DE	Virginia
5	170	Darius Phillips	CB	Western Michigan
7	249	Logan Woodside	QB	Toledo
7	252	Rod Taylor	OL	Mississippi
7	253	Auden Tate	WR	Florida State

Billy Price (6’4 312lbs):
Offensive line was by far the most important priority going into this draft, and the Bengals front office wasted absolutely no time in addressing it. Rumor was that the Bengals wanted Frank Ragnow out of Arkansas here, but he was chosen the pick prior by the Detroit Lions. The Bengals ended up with, in my opinion, the more polished player with Price. He started all 55 of OSU’s games the last 4 seasons, and with the departure of the disappointing Bodine the team needed an upgrade and some consistency in the middle. With Price I think they got both.
Grade: A

Jessie Bates (6’1 200lbs):
The Bengals secondary was solid if unspectacular last season, with one position group that needed help being safety. The Bengals brought in Kurt Coleman and Eric Reid for offseason visits, but in the end they chose to upgrade via the draft. George Iloka and Shawn Williams are both quality players but neither of them are ballhawking playmakers a la an Earl Thomas type, something that is far and away the best part of Bates’ game. I think you will see Bates over the top and Williams/Iloka dropping down into the box more due to their more physical style. Honestly I kind of wanted another OL here but for a safety I think we got a great fit.
Grade: B

Sam Hubbard (6’5 270lbs):
I don’t think the team expected Hubbard to be here with this pick, but I can tell you they were thrilled to get him. On a personal note I know that Sam was watching the draft with friends and family from a local Jeff Ruby restaurant in Cincinnati (Carlo & Johnny, if you are familiar). He is a Cincinnati kid born and raised a Bengals fan, and when he got the call he absolutely lost his mind with excitement. He may not have a JJ Watt type ceiling, but he is an extremely high motor guy that is going to become a part of our pass rush rotation day 1.
Grade: A-

Malik Jefferson (6’3 240lbs):
Jefferson was one of the most highly regarded LB prospects coming out of highschool, but was largely disappointing in college. His impressive testing at the combine probably makes him warrant this draft position, but with how weak our LB corps are overall I would have rather seen us take a safer pick. I think he is certainly a developmental guy that has a ton of upside, but the Bengals have a history of these not working out (looking at you Margus Hunt).
Grade: C+

Mark Walton (5’10 202lbs):
Walton is a very athletic and quick back that profiles as a scat back at the NFL level. He has the ability to get to the 2nd level and make defenders look silly with more than enough speed to take it to the house. However, there are some questions about his pass protection and he is firmly behind Mixon and Bernard on the depth chart. This is a depth pick that I’m not sure made sense given what we have on the roster.
Grade: C-

Davontae Harris (5’11 205lbs):
Harris is a guy blessed with great athleticism and pretty good size for a CB, and his play style is fast and aggressive. He doesn’t mind dishing out some hits, which allows him the versatility to play some safety as well. Overall as a corner his technique and hips need some work, but his fearless nature and athleticism will have him right in the conversation for a roster spot if he can contribute on special teams. It may be a few years before he sees time on defense. Overall a solid depth pick.
Grade: B

Andrew Brown (6’3 296lbs):
Brown was a DE (5 technique) in college but he profiles as a DT (3 technique) in today’s NFL. That versatility is a huge plus for him, and his size and pass rushing ability gives us another potential presence pushing the interior next to Geno Atkins. Again, if you notice the theme, he is an aggressive and attacking player, further proving how the team is committed to being more physical overall. Plus, he is known as a high character guy which is always solid for a locker room.
Grade: B+

Darius Phillips (5’10 179lbs):
Phillips is an interesting selection. Another CB selection, though Phillips profiles as more of a slot corner than a true outside guy. Also going along with another theme, Phillips is a ball hawk with 12 INTs in the past 3 seasons in college. I think he is purely a depth pick for 2018 for defense, but his ability as a returner (5 collegiate return TDs) could get him on the 53 man roster for week 1.
Grade: B-

Logan Woodside (6’2 213lbs):
Woodside was taken as just another young QB camp body in the draft. With Driskel already on the roster, the signing of Barkley, and Woodside getting a DUI in early June, I’d wager there is 0% chance he makes the team. Probably going to end up being cut or a practice squad guy.
Grade: C-

Rod Taylor (6’3 320lbs):
Taylor came out of high school as a 5 star recruit but didn’t see much playing time until his senior season. He played RT in college but projects as a G for the Bengals. This was a great selection for the 7th round, a guy with top prospect pedigree with very little draft capital is a good decision for a team that desperately needs OL help.
Grade: B+

Auden Tate (6’5 228lbs):
What does Tate bring to Cincinnati? One word. Size. He is another big bodied WR who was a quality college player, but many teams had doubts about his ability to transition his game to the NFL level with his lack of speed and explosiveness. He is a red zone target guy that will be on the fringe of the roster, with my expectation being they cut him in favor of someone with a more diverse skill set.
Grade: C

Another Year of Marvin @#$%& Lewis

I, like pretty much every single Bengals fan that I know, was absolutely certain that last season would be the final season for Lewis in Cincinnati. But then the final few weeks of the year (when it didn’t matter) all of the sudden the team that was walking out on the field looked competent. Perhaps even more than competent, maybe even a little bit dangerous. When we closed out the year shattering the hopes and dreams of the Lions and Ravens it resulted in an unexpected turn of events: the hopes and dreams of us ushering in a new coaching regime were shattered as well. Don’t get me wrong, Lewis is a good guy and has had a lot of positive moments for the franchise but what we really need is a culture shift on a wide scale. Instead, we get another season of Lewis giving out ho-hum press conferences. We’ll see a lot of mindless clapping on the sideline when our team performs poorly, and a lot of blank stares when things don’t go our way. We’ll see atrocious clock management with the worst 2 minute drill in the history of football.

The prayer for myself and all of Bengals fandom is that we will see a shift with a new offense installed by OC Bill Lazor and a new version of our 4-3 defense installed by Teryl Austin. Our greatest successes were when we had great coordinators to offset Marvin’s deficiencies (Jay Gruden, Mike Zimmer, Hue Jackson) and one can only hope that this year will see similar results. It was pretty clear from our offseason moves what the team is trying to do: establish an identity. I believe that this year we will see the offense being built a lot around Joe Mixon and the run game, though our shoring up of the OL was just as much about pass protection too. Still, I think a fast paced offense built around quick throws and the run game will be what we see. On defense they were trying to get physical and disruptive playmakers to force more turnovers. That has been the calling card of Austin’s defenses to date which gives Bengals fandom reason for optimism moving into 2018.

Projected Starting Lineup:

Quarterback:

Andy Dalton. Pretty easy one here. He is a polarizing guy among fans as he is definitely no Rodgers or Brady but he is a quality starter. He can go as far as the pieces around him and as far as his coordinator can make him go. I think our skill positions are good enough to make Dalton look great, the real questions surround our offensive line. If they hold up we could see another fringe pro-bowl year from him. Projection: 4,100 yards, 26 TD, 12 INT

Running Back:

Joe Mixon. He will be our definite RB1 banger. He is an excellent between the tackles runner that put up some below average numbers last season mostly due to our absolutely atrocious OL play. I think he will put up a great season this year with the offense being built around what he can do. Projection: 250 carries for 1,150 yards, 9 TD, 40 receptions for 350 yards, 1 TD
Giovani Bernard. Gio is always underrated but the guy is a great weapon out of the backfield. He has between the tackles ability to spell Mixon but he will primarily be our 3rd down back. Projection: 120 carries for 500 yards, 3 TD, 55 receptions for 550 yards, 2 TD

H-Back:

Ryan Hewitt. We don’t use this position a ton but when we need to bring him in we do. He played around 11% of our snaps last season. He has shown the ability to also play TE in a pinch.

Tight End:

Tyler Eifert. He is projecting to be our starter but the real question surrounds if he will be healthy enough to contribute to the team. I have to be honest and say that I just don’t see it happening, but for the sake of the offense I hope I am wrong. Projection: 30 receptions for 350 yards and 5 TD in 10 games
Tyler Kroft. He really shined last year as a quality option in the passing game. A pleasant surprise to fans that were concerned following Eifert’s string of injuries. Kroft has only missed 2 games in his career, which is really what we need. Projection: 40 receptions for 380 yards and 3 TD

Wide Receiver:

AJ Green. No surprise here at all. The guy is an absolute monster, and coming off a down year I expect big things. Projection: 90 receptions for 1,350 yards, 8 TD
Brandon LaFell. This may be a surprise to some but I see LaFell opening the season as the WR opposite AJ. Marvin loves his veterans. This could very well end up being wrong if John Ross balls out in training camp LaFell could be a cut candidate. Thus is the life of a veteran. Projection: 40 receptions for 500 yards, 2 TD
Tyler Boyd. Boyd had a very solid rookie year but was mostly quiet last year with the exception of his game winning TD against Baltimore in week 17. I think he is a great slot guy and he takes a big step this year. Projection: 60 receptions for 650 yards, 5 TD
John Ross. No idea what to think about this guy. He could have 1,000 yards or 0. His pedigree and athleticism is there, and there has been nothing but praise for him from OTAs, but Marvin’s doghouse is tough to get out of. I’m mentioning him as I think he will contribute but before training camp I’m holding off on projections.

Left Tackle:

Cordy Glenn. We went out and got this guy and there is zero doubt that if he is healthy he will be our unquestioned starter on the left side on Sunday’s. Former LT Cedric Ogbuehi will be his primary backup and could move along the line, but I don’t see anyone challenging Glenn here.

Left Guard:

Clint Boling. Clint has been a mainstay for the Bengals since he was drafted in 2011. He is consistently above average, and offers a veteran presence to the position group.

Center:

Billy Price. The rookie was taken in the first round because he is ready to start from day 1. I think he should be a pretty safe bet to be an immediate upgrade over Bodine.

Right Guard:

Trey Hopkins. I think Hopkins is probably who ends up getting the starting gig here, but to be honest the right side of our line is kind of up in the air. Hopkins was our projected RG last year and I think this year is more of the same.

Right Tackle:

Jake Fisher. Fisher was a Bengals high draft selection that has largely struggled, and he is coming off an injury shortened season due to a heart issue. I think though that he has shown enough flashes of upside to be given one more chance to start.

Defensive Interior:

Geno Atkins. Zero argument here from anyone. He is without a doubt our best defensive player, and one of the best DL in the entire NFL. He will periodically come out for a breather but if he has his wind he is in there.
Chris Baker. I think Baker gets the majority of the PT next to Atkins but there is going to be a very heavy rotation here with Michael Johnson, Jordan Willis, Ryan Glasnow all getting a chance.

Edge:

Carlos Dunlap. This guy is the straw that stirs the drink for the defense. He plays loose and fun. He never developed into a Strahan type sack guy but he is an above average pass rusher, run stopper, and is consistently at the top of the league in deflections by a DE. Dunlap plays the majority of snaps.
Carl Lawson. One of the brightest spots for our team last year was the emergence of our 2017 4th round pick. He recorded 8.5 sacks as a rookie despite only playing 41% of our defensive snaps. If he improves his run stopping he will be a pro bowl player someday. Expect Lawson to be spelled by Jordan Willis/Michael Johnson on running downs.

Linebacker:

Vontaze Burfict. Yes he has done some shitty things on the field, but when he is out there he is one of the most intimidating and effective linebackers in the game. He will primarily play our WILL backer spot. Note he is suspended for 4 games, during that time you will likely see Vincent Rey and Jordan Evans playing here.
Preston Brown. The Bengals went out and got him in free agency to plug him in at MLB from day 1.
Nick Vigil. Our other outside LB spot is up for debate. It would seem that Jordan Evans, Malik Jefferson, and Vinny Rey could be in contention here. In the end they will all see playing time, I just think the coaches like Vigil the most overall.

Cornerback:

William Jackson III. If you don’t know who he is you better be ready to hear his name quite a bit. I think he is legitimately going to be the next big thing at cornerback. He will be covering outside. I think he is an All-Pro in waiting
Dre Kirkpatrick. Dre is merely an average corner, but we are paying him like a dynamo because we couldn’t afford to lose him on our defense. I’m hoping Austin can get more out of him. Kirkpatrick will be outside opposite Jackson.
Darqueze Dennard. We selected Dennard in the first round of the 2014 draft and for a while it looked like he was going to be a bust. He has really blossomed though into his role as a slot corner. He is quick, physical, and a great tackler.

Safety:

George Iloka. Neither of the Bengals starting safeties are your prototypical free safety, so the defense that we play doesn’t lend itself really to needing that. Jessie Bates will compete for playing time with both guys due to him being more of a ballhawking pure FS.
Shawn Williams. This guy is a hammer, goes for the big hit and is great at helping out the run defense. I expect to see him dropping down and playing some nickel LB with some cover 1 and cover 3 looks.

Kicker:

Randy Bullock. I don’t like him and he is garbage but we don’t have anyone that can really compete.

Punter:

Kevin Huber. Consistent, quality punter. Nothing fancy, I wrote about how he is a solid Cincy guy earlier.

Kick Returns/Punt Returns:

Alex Erickson. He has done well enough with the job, and has proven he can be a pretty reliable slot WR when called upon, too. I’d wager he keeps the job for one more year.

Position Group Strengths and Weaknesses:

QB
Overall grade: B

We don’t have one of the premier guys in the league, but we have a consistent starter and a backup in Barkley that has won football games in the NFL. I think that puts us in a better than average position in regard to the rest of the league.

Backfield
Overall grade: B+

I think the 1-2 punch of Mixon/Gio could wind up being considered one of the best in the entire NFL, but they haven’t shown it yet. Homerism aside I still think they are an above average group, especially when you factor in the depth that Walton provides.

OL
Overall Grade: C-

The addition of Price and Glenn were absolutely huge for us, but we still have questions on the entire right side of the line. Not to mention that Price is still a rookie and Glenn has had injury concerns. Still, a grade of C- is much better than the grade of F that we had at this time last year.

Pass catchers
Overall Grade: A-

This is pretty easy when you have AJ Green and Eifert being the stars of your group with solid depth guys like Kroft and LaFell and Boyd, and huge upside with Ross. If Eifert goes down I’d drop the grade a bit, but still I think this is a very interesting group for us.

DL
Overall Grade: A

This is by far our best position group. Atkins and Dunlap are 2 of the best at their respective positions, and rookies Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis showed a ton of promise. Couple that with the addition of Sam Hubbard and I think that our DL will be the highlight of our team.

LB
Overall Grade: C-

Outside of Vontaze we don’t have any guys on the roster that have played really well in a Bengals uniform. The addition of Brown helps, but we have questions with our SAM backer and very little depth. I’m disappointed that the organization didn’t do more to shore them up.

Secondary
Overall Grade: B

WJIII and Dennard are both very good players, but Kirkpatrick is prone to penalties and giving up big plays. The addition of Bates and Teryl Austin’s tutelage may help bring this unit up above their projections but overall I think they are just pretty average.

Special Teams
Overall Grade: C-

Bullock is an F. I think that our return group is pretty good and our punt team is above average as well. I’m nervous how our ST will look now that the leader of that group Cedric Peerman is no longer in Cincy.

Schedule Predictions

Week 1 – AT Indianapolis Colts
Prediction: Bengals 24 Colts 17 (1-0)
Summary: I think with it being Luck’s first taste of real game action in a while that the Bengals will be able to hit them in the mouth and rack up a bunch of sacks and come away from this week with a W.

Week 2 – VS Baltimore Ravens
Prediction: Ravens 27 Bengals 17 (1-1)
Summary: Our games against the Ravens are always hard fought games. I think that they have really improved their team this offseason and they get the better of us in this early season matchup with Alex Collins having a big day.

Week 3 – AT Carolina Panthers
Prediction: Panthers 21 Bengals 20 (1-2)
Summary: Carolina is a tough place to go and win games, and the Bengals have struggled to contain Cam in the past. I think it is more of the same and the Bengals come out losing.

Week 4 – AT Atlanta Falcons
Prediction: Falcons 31 Bengals 17 (1-3)
Summary: The Bengals are kind of reeling at this point following two really tough games on the road. The Falcons DL eats our OL alive and it is a blowout.

Week 5 – VS Miami Dolphins
Prediction: Bengals 27 Dolphins 7 (2-3)
Summary: AJ Green torches the Dolphins secondary and Tannehill struggles in what is a sorely needed get right game for Cincinnati.

Week 6 – VS Pittsburgh Steelers
Prediction: Bengals 17 Steelers 14 (3-3)
Summary: I think that this game at home is going to be a hard nosed kind of football game. Vontaze is back in the swing of things off the suspension, WJIII battling with Antonio Brown. I think that Ben throws a costly late pick that leads to a game winning field goal.

Week 7 – AT Kansas City Chiefs
Prediction: Bengals 24 Chiefs 14 (4-3)
Summary: I am really high on Mahomes as a starter but I think he is going to have his ebbs and flows this year. I think our DL is going to get to him early and get him rattled, and the KC defense isn’t quite what it once was.

Week 8 – VS Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Prediction: Bengals 27 Buccaneers 20 (5-3)
Summary: Unfortunately for Bucs fans, I think they may be in some trouble this year. I think this ends up being a game where the final score is close but it never looked that way.

Week 9 – BYE

Week 10 – VS New Orleans Saints
Prediction: Saints 24 Bengals 10 (5-4)
Summary: I think the Saints come into Cincy and control the game from start to finish with an effective running game and a sneaky good defensive effort.

Week 11 – AT Baltimore Ravens
Prediction: Bengals 31 Ravens 28 (6-4)
Summary: What goes together better than crazy games by AJ Green against Baltimore? AJ explodes for 170 and 2 TDs and the Bengals hold off a late onslaught by Joe Cool to get the W.

Week 12 – VS Cleveland Browns
Prediction: Bengals 21 Browns 10 (7-4)
Summary: The Browns are making waves in the league and playing really well, but for this game our DL wreaks havoc and we hold them to their lowest yardage output all season.

Week 13 – VS Denver Broncos
Prediction: Broncos 21 Bengals 17 (7-5)
Summary: I think the Broncos defense channels their Super Bowl run and Case Keenum throws it just well enough for the Broncos to squeak out a win in Cincy.

Week 14 – AT Los Angeles Chargers
Prediction: Chargers 28 Bengals 7 (7-6)
Summary: Our OL just flat out cant handle the pass rush of the Chargers, Melvin Gordon has a great game and the Bengals look like they are flat.

Week 15 – VS Las Vegas Raiders
Prediction: Bengals 31 Raiders 14 (8-6)
Summary: I think the Bengals come out angry about their sorry performance against the Chargers and blow the Raiders off the field. Mixon runs roughshod over them. The playoff hope is alive

Week 16 – AT Cleveland Browns
Prediction: Browns 24 Bengals 21 (8-7)
Summary: The Browns get us in Cleveland behind a great performance by Baker Mayfield, who had recently taken over for Tyrod Taylor.

Week 17 – AT Pittsburgh Steelers
Prediction: Steelers 31 Bengals 7 (8-8)
Summary: The Bengals go to Pittsburgh needing a win and some help to win the wild card but it is clear from the jump that the pressure is too much for them and they completely flop. They finish the season .500 and out of the playoffs.

2018 Projection Summary

The Bengals are an improved team from the team that went 7-9 in 2017. We didn’t lose any key contributors save Andre Smith and Russell Bodine along the line (both were bad and needed to go) and we made some upgrades at our weaker positions. Still, our head coach doesn’t have the ability to maximize what he has in front of him and remains overall a career underachiever. We play better than we did last year but our deficiencies along the offensive line and in our linebacking corps prove too much to overcome to be a playoff team. We are yet again thrust into mediocrity but with just enough solid play and hope to keep the fans and the organization wondering if the current regime has what it takes to put us in the Super Bowl before our current roster window closes.

Note From The Writer

I want to thank everyone that took the time to read this. If anyone has any questions/comments/concerns please ask in the comments and I will try to shed more light if possible. Go Bengals!

How to win at slots: Tips to improve your chances of winning

Trip Report: Three months across the USA, three weeks across China/Hong Kong (Very Long/Detailed!)

Hello! Howdy! Ni hao!
I recently returned home from a 4-month journey around the USA and China/Hong Kong, and I wanted to share it with you guys! This place was a source of information, advice, and inspiration when I was planning this trip, so I'm hoping this post can provide the same to others. This was a long trip, and this will be a long post... but I'll try to organize it the best I can.

About Me

23 y/o Male from Scotland.
Began 'travelling' on my 22nd birthday, going on a solo trip to Oban for the weekend. Fell in love with it. A couple of months later I went to Barcelona for 4 days, and then decided I wanted to do something bigger... which is where the planning for this began.
Was fortunate to have a very nice, comfortable office job, however I left that in February in preparation for this trip.
Never been to Asia, however my Dads side of the family live in New Jersey, so I visit the USA most years. Have been all around the East Coast as a child, but as an adult I've only been to NJ/PA/NY/NH.

The Trip

23rd March - 14th July

London
Chicago
Orlando/Bahamas Cruise
Oahu
Kauai
Tour of the Western USA
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Washington DC
New York
China/Guangzhou
Hong Kong

Map of the route, and a map with just the USA.
Calendar of the dates.

Why?

I had a newfound love of travelling.
I've been inspired by places like this subreddit, and various YouTube videos... I wanted to make my own.
I'm half American and I love the USA. I wanted to see more of it.
I've relatively inexperienced and would feel more comfortable doing my first big trip in an English-speaking country.
I've got friends/family to visit in the USA.
I had a good amount of money sitting in the bank and had no real use for it.

In Numbers

115 Days / 16.4 weeks / 3.8 months
6 Countries
9 US States
8 Hostels
7 Hotels
11 Campgrounds
13 Flights
6 Long Distance Trains
350GB of Pictures/Videos

What I Brought

My bag was an Osprey Farpoint 55L. It would be my first time living out a bag.
Here’s a list of everything I took with me.
Picture of most of it on leaving day! I bought the rest at my Dads house a couple of weeks in.

What I Wish I Brought

Warmer clothes. Chicago was very cold and camping in California during May is cold as hell!
A GoPro. Compared to my Gimbal & Waterproof case for my camera, a GoPro & Pole would have done a similar job, taking up way less space.
A Duffel Bag. The Farpoint 55L was great don't get me wrong but wearing It on my back was so uncomfortable. I used it as a duffel bag 90% of the time... and it was heavy. In the future I'll travel with a normal duffel bag, preferably one with wheels.

What I Regretted Bringing

Neck Rest. I mean... I lost it in London, before my first flight...
Hiking Boots. Were fantastic during my hikes, but they were large, heavy, and I wore them maybe 5 times. Next time I'll get my trainers dirty.
Underwater Camera Case. I was never going to not bring it… but still. Only used it 3 times, and it took up so much space.
Water Bottle. It got sand inside and was impossible to clean, then it broke. Buying water bottles as you go along is so much easier.
Jacket. Used it twice... such a waste of space!
Refillable Toiletry Bottles. They're great on a short trip, but on a long one, once they run out they are just taking up space.
First Aid Kit. Didn't use a single thing in there, and there was really no need for it with the places I was going.
Airport Lounge Pass. I bought a Priority Pass card, 10 Lounge visits for £131. £13 per lounge visit. £13 for free food/drinks, a nice resting area, free Wi-Fi, power outlets, and showers. Worth it, especially as I was going on 13 flights! In reality I only got to use 4. Not every airport had a lounge, and even if they did, it wasn't always in my terminal, or it wasn't open when I needed it. Even got turned away for two because they were 'full'. Big waste of money.

What I'm glad I brought

My Camera. Got a lot of great photos and videos, a lot better than what my phone could do. Here is a comparison. It was also so small! A GoPro does good video, but not good enough for photos.
Camera Gimbal. It was big and heavy but the difference it makes in videos is incredible. Example.
Headphones. Seemed like a waste of space, especially when I had earphones, but they were so great to have when flying and laying in bed.
Laptop. Used it almost daily for uploading/editing photos and booking/planning stuff.
Imodium. Holy crap I used this a lot! Ran out on my second day and had to buy more. Think I topped up about 5 times throughout the 4 months.
Packing Cubes. Very, very, very handy. Highly Recommend. Hype is real.
Power Bank. Only regret is not bringing two of them, a must have.
World Wide Adapter. From one power socket I could charge my laptop, phone, watch, camera, stabilizer, and power bank at the same time.
Smart Phone with a Data Connection. Would have been screwed without it. Google maps will get you anywhere!

Accommodation

I'd never stayed in a hostel before, and I was hesitant about them. I like my privacy, and I'm not the most social person... but the price difference was hard to resist, so I fit them in as much as possible. I really didn't like the experience at all. The hostels which had a privacy curtain on my bed were bearable, but the rest were just a real pain. Having to always look out for my stuff and share a bathroom wasn't fun.
Oh, and people are very loud, especially at night. Trying to sleep when people are talking/whispering is the worst. Even with earplugs. Actually, that is a lie, the worst is when your bunk make brings back a girl at 3am and has sex with her on your shared, metal barred, squeaky bed. Eventually she left, and he went to sleep, snoring so loud the bed was literally shaking. (happened at the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel in Oahu)
The good thing about the hostels is that they forced me to go out more. When I was in a hotel, I sometimes got too comfortable and stayed inside rather than going out... not an issue in hostels! Hostel staff are also normally very friendly and helpful. The staff at the previously mentioned Seaside Hawaiian Hostel were some of the loveliest people I met on the whole trip, would recommend staying there just for that!
In the future I'm going to aim for cheap hotels, and maybe try Airbnb. Will also consider small hostel dorms, but only if there's a privacy curtain.
I’m being harsh on hostels. If you're a social person and are looking to meet people, you'll love them. But that isn't me. I was there for the price tag, and I guess I got what I paid for.
Camping was really enjoyable! One of my favourite parts looking back on it. Only downside was the lack of power outlets and the re-occurring 'did I just hear a bear?' worries.

The Trip Itself

London

Days Spent: 3
Money Spent: £198
Per Day: £66

My trip started off in a panic, finding out all trains from my hometown up to Glasgow Central were cancelled. But by pure luck I made it there. Pretty sure I jamp into an out of commission train going in for a repair... but I made it. The train ride to London was beautiful.
My hostel was a bit out of the way. It was a 21-bed dorm, and once I got into my bed I was too scared to leave. This resulted in me not using the toilet and uhm, getting stomach problems. That lasted a few days. Made the experience interesting...
I wasn't too fussed about London, I only really went there because the flights were drastically cheaper compared to anywhere else. Going to London for a few days and then flying to Chicago was cheaper than just going from Glasgow to Chicago. But I've never been and thought I would give the city a chance.
I went to the National Gallery, walked along the Thames, went to the top of the Shard, saw the guards change at Buckingham Palace, and walked to the Tower Bridge at night. It was nice to just walk around the city, always looking for a toilet.
Will likely re-visit again one day, and I'd like to see Windsor Castle when I do. I enjoyed London more than I thought I would!
Photos from London! (there's an album at the bottom of this post with pictures from all locations if you would rather see them all at once)

Chicago

Days Spent: 4
Money Spent: £380 ($497)
Per Day: £95 ($124)

The flight to Chicago was with Norwegian and it was wonderful, highly recommend them.
Half the reason I went to Chicago, at this time, was to go to my first ever concert (new experiences!). It was at the All State Arena, which is next to the Airport, so I figured I would just get a hotel near the airport for 2 nights and same some hassle.
I was seeing Lorde, and it was incredible. I was a few rows from the front and had a great view, but wow it was loud. Who knew concerts would be loud? The girl next to me was also there by herself and was nice to talk to!
My time in the city was great. I did the river walk and went on a river cruise. It was so interesting hearing about all the buildings. I also went to the Field Museum which was fantastic, and went to the observatory for some skyline views. Got to try some Deep-dish Pizza and see the big old weird shiny bean thing.
Chicago is so... clean. I was comparing it to New York the whole time, and in comparison, it is so clean and smells so nice.
Photos from Chicago!

Cruise to Florida/Bahamas

Days Spent: 7
Money Spent: £12 ($16)

After Chicago I went to my Dads house, as he had invited me to go on a cruise with him and his family. Hard to say no to! Always wanted to try one.
In Florida I went to the Kennedy Space Centre which was amazing. Missed a rocket launch by one day, a shame... but the place was awe-inspiring. I also loved seeing the local wildlife. Florida is somewhere I'm dying to really see.
In the Bahamas we just laid around on beaches and went snorkelling, which was fun. Felt like I was drowning at first, but I got the hang of it. (not a great swimmer)
The cruise itself was neat, but I'm not really one for the 'relaxation' holidays, and the onboard activities didn't interest me too much. Buffet was wonderful though.
I'd like to try another cruise, but probably only with a girlfriend/group of friends.
Photos from the Cruise!

Oahu

Days Spent: 10
Money Spent: £683 ($895)
Per Day: £68 ($89)

Flew here via Virgin America and they were wonderful. Could order PB&J sandwiches from my seat! I paid a little bit extra to get a Layover in SFO rather than a direct flight, I feel like it was a good idea. Long flights are awful.
I never thought I'd see Hawaii... but there I was. The weather was perfect, although it did rain a bit while I was there. The rain ruined my plans to hike the stairway to heaven, but I really wasn't fit enough for that anyways.
The bus system was a breeze to use.
I hiked Diamond Head, which was a great experience, and I also hiked Koko Head, which was a killer, but still beautiful. I also went snorkelling out at Hanauma Bay, which was so fun.
The main reason I wanted to visit Hawaii is because I’m a huge Jurassic Park fan. So, I just had to visit Kualoa Ranch and go on the movie tour... seeing that place was amazing. I also went on an ATV tour through the ranch. It was raining, and I wasn't allowed to take photos, but it was so surreal. There I was, racing through Jurassic Park in a rainstorm on an ATV!!
Even more surreal, I went diving with Sharks up at the North Shore. It was with One Ocean Diving, who specialise in doing dives without any cage. Just free diving with the sharks.
We went a few miles off shore in a small boat, and then jamp in. We got to stay in the water with 8 sharks circling us for about 45 minutes. It was very windy and hard to stay afloat. When it was time to leave, I got tangled in the safety line as the sharks started getting closer and closer and I couldn't get free... that's a fun story! Highly recommend doing a dive with them if you're ever in Oahu and feeling suicidal.
Can't wait to visit again.
Photos from Oahu!

Kauai

Days Spent: 4
Money Spent: £122 ($159)
Per Day: £31 ($41)

Again, Jurassic Park made me come here.
I went a few days after a state of emergency was declared due to flooding, so the north part of the Island was off bounds, as was the Kalalau Trail Hike. Bummer!
Kauai is the closest place to paradise I have ever seen. Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast should both be separate wonders of the world.
I got to go along the rim of the Canyon, fly over the island in a small plane, hike the Kalalau Lookout trail, and go on a cruise along the Napali Coast (where we were joined by a ton of Dolphins and Whales).
Photos from Kauai!

Tour of the Western USA

Days Spent: 21
Money Spent: £2,987 ($4,182)
Per Day: £142 ($199)

The Tour I did was the Westerner 3 with TrekAmerica. It was me, a male tour guide, and 6 girls. Was a little worried about those dynamics, but they were all incredibly nice, and we were all likeminded people looking for an adventure. Being the only guy meant that I got my own tent and hotel rooms, which was very nice.
Here's the route we took.

Week 1

Big Sur was beautiful. San Francisco was beautiful. The Golden Gate Bridge was as phenomenal as I had pictured. Alcatraz was super interesting, especially with the audio tour, which was the best audio tour I've ever listened to!
Yosemite was completely breath-taking. Everything was gigantic. We hiked up to the lower falls (I think?) and it was great. Tunnel View was also amazing to see in person.
Driving to Zion took forever, but it was nice. Long drives through wasteland, listening to country music, stopping at gas stations for snacks, seeing random stupid attractions on the roadside (I've seen the world largest thermometer now!!). That is the American dream.

Week 2

Zion, specifically Angels Landing, was the most fun I've ever had hiking. The adrenaline made it so enjoyable, although I was acting stupid and probably deserved to fall and die. Narrows was less fun, but doing it right after Angels Landing probably wasn't the best idea anyways.
Bryce was neat, as was Capitol Reef.
MOAB is somewhere I'd love to stay for a week and just do stupid stuff. The best thing we did there was go to Arches NP and see the sunrise, then do some hiking. I'm in love with the sandy, rocky desert terrain. We even went up a mountain nearby and had a snowball fight (pretty odd after a day of hiking in the desert sun). There were some Cougar tracks in the snow, which was even cooler than all the dinosaur tracks we saw in the area. The only thing I like more than Dinosaurs are Cats.
Monument Valley was one of the best parts of the whole trip. We got a guide in the valley from a member of the Navajo Tribe, and we got to camp down in the valley. It was my birthday, so they gave be a 'good health' bracelet as a gift and a birthday dance/song in front of the campfire, which was awkward but appreciated. Camping under the stars was incredible, they were so bright, you just wanted to stare at them all night. This was convenient as our Navajo guide told us some very creepy stories about Skin walkers... so sleeping was out of the equation anyways.

Week 3

The Grand Canyon was as Grand as you'd imagine. We did a helicopter flight over it, and then a hike into it, which was exhausting. It didn't have the same magic as Yosemite, but I guess we had been spoilt with so many natural wonders by that point.
Vegas was fun. I've never been 'drunk’, but I got pretty close there! We mainly stuck to Freemont street as our hotel was there, and it was really lively. Went up $80 on the slots, and then 10 minutes later I was down -$30… but Vegas.
All I saw in San Diego was the Zoo, I'd say it has earned its reputation.
The whole trip was incredible. It was to be my 'meet new people' part of the trip, and it worked well, I made 6 new friends! The experiences we shared made me question if solo travel is even right for me, it was so nice to be a part of a group like that.
But it was exhausting. Up at 6am every morning, packing up tents, cooking breakfast, packing van, long drive, then setting up camp, cooking dinner, doing dishes. Plus, the daily activities, where we frequently went over 30,000 steps and 100 floors climbed.
In terms of price... yeah it was a lot. But could I have done the same trip for less on my own? I don't drive, so no. Even if I did drive, car rental prices would be a ton, and we drove over 3000 miles.
Will be looking to do another tour with them one day, maybe around Yellowstone or in Alaska.
Photos from the Trek!

Las Vegas

Days spent: 5
Money spent: £1,608 ($2,252)
Per day: £322 ($450)

I've always wanted to visit Vegas, but I made sure to line up the dates for my visit so that I could attend the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). It is a massive rave and looked extremely cool! If you've heard of Tomorrowland, think that, but entirely at night and in a desert.
EDC was more incredible than I was anticipating. I've never been to a music festival, or a rave, or a club, or even a proper party, so it blew me away. The lights were everywhere, the fireworks were insane, the music was so loud. People had crazy costumes, and everyone was so lively! But oh, so nice. I laid down for a few minutes one night as I was tired, and 3 different people asked me if I was doing okay.
I got to see my favourite artist play (Illenium) and in general just had a great time dancing the nights away. Strangest moment was when some drunk guy came up to me and was fascinated by my led flashing glasses. He asked if he could buy them for $10, and I said sure! It was the last night and I was leaving anyways. So, he pulls out his wallet and has like five $100 bills, and he just says, "Aw man this is all I have". I just gave them to him anyways, he seemed nice. Also, maybe a drug dealer looking back at it...
The downside of EDC was that I was asleep most of the day and away most of the night, so I didn't get to see much of the strip. I know there's not a whole lot to 'see' in Vegas, but I went there twice and never really got to experience it, which I'm sad about. Vegas is such a unique, interesting city. So different from everywhere else I went. Will definitely go back one day. This was also the only city that I think would have been more enjoyable going with someone else.
After EDC was finished, I spent my last night there going out into the desert and doing a sunset Horsehide with a couple of cowgirls, and then having a BBQ dinner with them. My first time on a Horse.
I did lose my phone at EDC, which was a real pain. But thankfully I had my laptop, so I was able to buy a new one and get a new sim card for a low price of £581/$761. EDC cost me £393/$515, the horse ride was £145/$190, my hotel was £67/$87 a night... see how Vegas cost me so much?! On the bright side I did win $30 gambling!
Photos from Las Vegas!

Los Angeles

Days spent: 5
Money spent: £410 ($574)
Per day: £82 ($115)

By this point, I was exhausted.
LA was great, but I was too tired to enjoy it in all honesty. I spent more time in my hostel bed here than I did anywhere else. The public transportation was fine despite what everyone says. One of the better subway systems I used, it gets you to all the tourist points easily. No airport link was a pain though.
Hollywood Boulevard was neat; however, it is something you can see in an hour. I did go down to Santa Monica but came back after an hour, was too tired to do anything there sadly. I went up to the observatory, and the views from there were outstanding! I'm a big GTA player so seeing all these places in person was really cool.
I went to Universal Studios, which was a fun day. The 'solo' lines were great and so fast. On the studio tour I got to see Steve Harvey and he waved to me! Wouldn't be Hollywood without bumping into a celebrity I guess.
The best thing I did was hike up to the Hollywood sign. The hike was a nice way to get away from the city, it was pretty easy, and the views were amazing. Being so close to the famous sign was great, and watching the sunset from up there was an experience I'll never forget. Even if walking back down in the dark was terrifying, always looking out for P-22. (I swear it was stalking me)
Photos from Los Angeles!

Washington DC

Days spent: 2.5
Money spent: £195 ($273)
Per day: £78 ($109)

My journey to DC was an exhausting one, which included another night on the airport floor. By the time I got here I was pooped. Went to my hostel and just slept. Woke up at 2am, and decided to head out, cause what else am I going to do?
I spent the next 2 nights on a bike riding around DC & the National Mall all night. It was incredibly cool; the streets were so quiet, and the monuments/memorials were all empty. Walking up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, and entering that empty room with just me and Abe there was unforgettable.
On my last day I had some time to kill, so I went to the White House. There was some kind of event going on, and I'm sure if I waited with the news reporters for long enough I could have seen the president, but I had to leave. I also went to the Museum of American History, but could only stay for 30 minutes. Will need to go back one day to see all the Museums!
On the way back to my hostel I saw a car crash which was neat. (not a bad one)
Photos from Washington DC!

New York City

Days spent: 6
Money spent: £410 ($573)
Per day: £68 ($96)

NYC is my favourite city in the world and I've already been here around 5 times, but I was determined to make this the best visit yet! I went to the 9/11 Memorial and took the Staten Island Ferry. I visited the Westfield Mall, which I've somehow never seen before, and while there I went to the Shake Shack for the first time. Don't judge me, but that Shake Shack meal was the best meal I had over the entire 4 months. Easily the best.
I went to the MoMA and concluded that I don't like art museums at all. Great place but not for me.
I went up to the Top of the Rock and saw that postcard view, which is incredible. You really see the scale of the city from up there.
Other activities included walking the High Line, going to Gantry Plaza Park for sunset, and of course Times Square. Oh, I also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, where I was a bad tourist and got myself hit by a cyclist. Got shouted at, but we were both okay (physically, I am still scarred emotionally).
The highlight was going on a Fly-Nyon doors off helicopter flight across the city. Now that was an experience. Flying right over the top of the Empire State Building and tilting to the side so you can get that perfect picture... was sure I was about to fall out!
The city was smelly, the people weren't the nicest I met, and the subway was awful. Seriously how is it that bad? I got lost every time I tried to use it. And the heat was the worst, even worse than Vegas. But for every bad part about New York, there's 10 great parts.
With all the cities I visited on this trip, nowhere beats New York. Nowhere ever will.
Photos from New York City!

Guangzhou / China

Days spent: 13.5
Money spent: £29 (¥258)

This was another trip with my Dad & his family. My step mum is Chinese, so we would be visiting her family.
The 14-hour flight was brutal, and after arriving at 7am, we went straight into a full day tour of Guangzhou. Tired doesn't even describe it.
Baiyun Mountain is very pretty! The tour guide only spoke Chinese, so I had no idea what was going on half the time, but we got to see some neat places. A highlight was going on a river cruise and seeing Canton Tower light up at night.
After that we went on the bullet train up to Chenzhou and did a 3-day tour of the Dongjiang Lake and nearby mountain ranges. Another Chinese speaking guide so again I had no idea what was going on, but the locations were spectacular.
The rest of the time was spent in my Step-Mums hometown. (It is described as a 'small town', but this is what it looks like?!)
I wish I could remember the name of the town, but it keeps slipping my mind. What I do know is that they get almost no Western Tourists. This resulted in people constantly staring at me, asking to take photos with me, and sneaking photos of me. I even make a group of school girls scream with joy just by telling them my name hahaha
The heat & humidity in China was brutal, I never stopped sweating.
Most people I met were so incredibly kind and welcoming. It's a very different culture, so you need to be accepting to new behaviours. Spitting, shoving, and staring may be considered rude in the USA however it is normal in China.
Through the tours and staying with families I got to try lots of new food... but I'm not much of a food person. It was not my favourite part of the trip. Something I ate made me sick and I had to sit out some of the hikes, which I was sad about. Very nice ramen though!
Overall it was a completely new experience, but it still felt familiar. Most countries work in the same general way, and most people in the world are good hearted. That is something I took away from this trip. Always believe in the kindness of strangers!
Can't wait to see more of the country one day. The country is developing so fast, you can see entire new cities being built. I must have saw hundreds of skyscrapers under construction.
Pictures from China!

Hong Kong

Days spent: 5.5
Money spent: £242 (HK$2,486)
Per Day: £32 (HK$328)

Rather than going back with my family to New York, or going straight to London, I opted to go to Hong Kong for a few days first, as I've always wanted to visit and it was so close!
I took the bullet train down, and wow they're fast. Having one fly past me in the station was genuinely terrifying. I went to Shenzhen and then walked across the border to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is an English-speaking city, so getting around is easy. Being able to access social media again (China blocks most websites) was wonderful!
I wanted to go on some hikes, but the heat was too much. Instead I went out to see the giant Buddha, which was a real sight. Later that night I went up to the Peak to watch the sunset, and wow. Some of the best views from the whole trip came from up there.
Other activities included the Ladies Market, various shopping malls for that sweet AC, seeing the new Jurassic World movie, watching the light show, riding the world's longest escalator, and going to the Happy Valley Racecourse.
The city smelled strangely nice, and there was great food everywhere, which was a relief for my stomach!
Would love to go back one day, if not just for some hiking.
Pictures from Hong Kong!

Pictures

Here's a combined album of all the above pictures!
I'm too lazy to add a description for all of these, as I already did it in the individual albums for each location. If you want to know a specific place you could check them, or just ask!
I've also got a ton of videos. Here's a fun one to see what EDC was like...
I'm planning on making a sort of montage video at some point and I'll be sure to post that video here when it is done.
Semi-related, I printed out most of the above album and got a physical photo album for all the photos. Here's what is looks like.
I like it as it is a fun way to look back at everything, and it's easier to show people than flipping through photos on my phone. Would recommend it! Best of all, I've got back ups, so if I lose it a new one will only cost around £20. Considering doing a photo album like this for all my future trips… only issue is that most trips aren't long enough to produce 200 good photos.

Money

Category	Spent	USD Spent	Percentage of Total Spend
Accommodation	£1,948	$2,552	17%
Food	£1,126	$1,475	10%
Transport	£2,643	$3,463	24%
Activities	£2,170	$2,843	20%
Pre-Trip Purchases	£1,978	$2,591	18%
Everything Else (Toiletries, Souvenirs, ect)	£1,186	$1,554	11%
Total	£11,051	$14,477
Per Day	£97	$126

Detailed Summary

I've got a whole spreadsheet with more information in it. Here is an album of the screenshots! I recorded all prices in GBP for some reason. Constantly Googling the exchange rate before entering it into my expense tracker was effort.
My 'Per Day' average is a bit off as I spent around a third of the trip with my family having very little expenses. If you remove those days, the new average is £154 ($202) per day. If you cut out my long-distance transportation costs and my Pre-Trip purchases, and just look at what I actually spent in each location on accommodation, food, activities, local transport, toiletries and everything else, then the average is £106 ($139) per day.
I definitely could have done it cheaper. Cut out the new camera, lounge pass, comfort hotels, and the expensive activities, and I'd save thousands. But the best part about travelling for me is the activities/experiences. The occasional comfort was nice, and I enjoy photography... so i've got no ragrets!
I know you're thinking 'how did you afford this??'
I'd say about 30% of the money came from the last year of work and making money from my PC. I live a very boring life, so outside of giving my Step Dad rent money, I don't have any large expenses. I don't drive, drink, smoke, or socialize much... so I save a lot!
The other 70% was from inheritance money I received a few years ago after my Mum passed away. Had no real use for it (no interest in driving, free university, not enough for a house without a mortgage), and the pound is crashing, so why not spend it on an incredible journey?
I know that if I ever die and leave my children some money, I'd want them to use it to celebrate life and do something like this. I know my Mum would have wanted me to do something like this with it.
I spent less on food than I anticipated, but I did drink more than I thought I would. I budgeted £0 for alcohol (I don't drink remember!) and spent around $150 on the stuff.
My original budget for the trip was £11,000 ($14,400), so I was pretty much spot on.
To come up with my budget, I followed this plan:

Decide everywhere I wanted to go and how long I would like to spend there.
Decide what route I would take and specific travel dates.
Price out all the flights/trains and make a note of the likely prices.
Look into the accommodation, see how much an average hostel or hotel will cost per night. Make a note of this for each location.
Look into all the paid activities which I wanted to do, including any tours. Get prices for them all.
Add £20 a day for food
Add £10 a day for 'other' costs (toiletries, souvenirs, whatever)
Look at how much a transport pass for the local subway costs, or in general see how much people spend on local transport while in each location.
Make a list of everything I need to buy beforehand and the prices. Included clothes, camera, insurance, ect.
Add £500 just in case of an emergency.

Then you add it up: Flights/Trains + Pre-Trip Purchases + £500 Emergency Cash + the cost of each location.
For the cost of each location it would be: Activity Costs + Local Transport Pass + (days in location * (20 Food + 10 Other + Nightly Accommodation Cost)
That gave me a total cost, and then I just worked on cutting stuff out and changing dates until It was at the right level. (Had to remove Miami, Boston, New Orleans, and Alaska :( )
I also kept increasing my budget… which I guess is nice if you can do so. I originally wanted to do this trip on £3000 ($4000). Ha...
If you want to be spontaneous, obviously the above wouldn't work for you. Expect to pay more for last minute bookings. But, that is an exciting way to travel and I wouldn't discourage it. I just like to plan in advance.

Favourite Memories (with pictures!)

What Went Wrong

Lost my phone at EDC Vegas and had to buy a new one. (+ sim card)
Lost my wallet in Washington DC. Thankfully it was returned at a later date.
Lost my neck rest & my cooling towel.
Got very sick in China and never got to enjoy much of the hiking.
Getting homesick bad around the 3-month mark. Stuck with me the rest of the trip.
Being too exhausted to really enjoy LA or DC. Should have stayed in Vegas a bit longer to relax.
Ending the 3-week tour and saying goodbye to the people on it. You spend 3 weeks with these people, all day every day, doing the most incredible things, and then you leave, and you'll probably never see them again. That was hard.
Wearing one pair of shoes so much that they started to smell horrendous. Had to hose them down with 'Stink Stopper' constantly.
Accidently deleting nearly every photo/video I took during the first week of my TrekAmerica trip. Included Santa Barbra, Big Sur, San Francisco, and Yosemite. :(
Watching Liverpool FC lose the Champions League Final. I'm a big fan. Amazing to get there don't get me wrong... but that game was tough. -The journey home from Hong Kong took 55 hours, with multiple flights and trains. Poor planning.

What I Would Have Done Differently Looking Back

Got a credit card with no foreign transaction fees and use it to book the whole trip. Could have gathered a lot of points...
Had an extra 3-4 days in Vegas to rest.
Tried more local food.
Tried to be more social.
Saw more of DC during the day.
Left the hiking boots behind.

Tips

Running out of space here, so I'll include all my tips in comment to this post!

Summary

This whole trip was incredible and at times surreal. The USA is such a diverse and beautiful country! There's nowhere else like it and I'm so grateful that I got to see all these places in person. China and Hong Kong were also incredible in their own right. China has so much more to see and I can't wait to go back.
Despite how much I spent, it was definitely worth it. All the experiences were... wow. Did I really do all that?? EDC Vegas? Shark Diving? Helicopter flights? I barely even leave my bedroom; how did I do all that?!?
Not sure if I would say it changed my life, but it has made me more confident in myself. Made some new friends and have some great memories/stories to hold on to. Overall it was just… fun. Such a good time!
There were some bad parts, however they were few and far between.
It was everything I expected and more.
Thanks again to this subreddit for the help/inspiration! I originally asked for some advice here. The trip ended up quite different looking back at it!

What's next?

University for 4 years, so no long trips. Not that I could afford one anyways.
I'll try to go to some places around Europe, taking advantage of the cheap flights. Current ideas are Rome/Venice, Paris, Vienna, Liverpool, and Belfast. Also want to see more of my own country, spend some time in Edinburgh and check out Orkney/Shetland!
I have plans to get a motorbike next year, and the Scottish Highlands are on my doorstep, so I'll have some nice trips to go on with that.
Next time I'm at my Dads house, I may take a train to DC or Boston. Potentially fly to Florida if it is affordable. I've seen most of where I want to see in the USA, but Alaska, Yellowstone, New Orleans, Boston, and Miami/Tampa are still on my list!
I loved EDC so much that I want to go back, however it won't be possible with how the dates line up with University. Instead I've started a savings pot to go to Tomorrowland. Hopefully in Summer 2020!
But the dream is to save up as much as possible for when I graduate. My target is £25,000 ($32,000). Then go on a trip around the planet, for 12 months, which will put this one to shame. After that, the next dream is to get a motorbike and go across North America. But I’m worried I may have a 'family' and 'commitments' by that point...
Thanks to anyone who read this novel, have a good day!! Feel free to ask any questions!

Vegas Trip 2/4-2/6 Follow up

2/4:
Took an early flight into LAS with friends. Was way too early to check into my room. Headed North on the strip from Bally's. Stopped at Margaritaville, tables were extremely crowded, even at about 8:30am. Decided to keep walking. Checked out the Linq and Harrah's. The tables were also pretty crowded, the staff reminded me it was the morning after the Super Bowl, which explains the crowd.

Finally made my way down to Casino Royale. My previous post it was suggested. They had a low limit table at 10$ and the table was just as people had explained to me. An enormous table, clearly seen a lot of mileage. A true testament to the classic game of craps. I bought in 120$, my friend who's never played craps had bought in 100$. I mostly do The John Boender Inside/Out Press/Regress initially using the field as coverage. It's a slow build strategy that I thoroughly enjoy. It feels pretty safe in regards to a low buy in, and I have the option to add odds as I please.
The table was extremely cold when we bought in. Immediately two shooters roll a point, seven out. Finally it's my turn to shoot. I always play with a hardway set, 5's on top with 3 and 4 face. I didn't really think about how much longer the Casino Royale Table was at first. Initially threw a Hard 4. Threw quite a few short rolls realizing that the table was much longer than my local casino. The dealers were nice, and had been dealing there for quite a few years.

At the end of my hot roll, which had to have been at least 20 or so. I had tripled my money. I always take down everything but the pass and add odds when I feel my luck has been pushed. I finally seven'd out and it was my friends turn to roll. He went about 11 rolls, I placed 6/8 and told him I'd cash out after his roll. He also did. I wanted to end on a high note for his introduction to craps.

Showed my friend the White Castle, and the foot long hot dogs at Casino Royale. By the time we got back to Bally's it was well past the Check in time. We had a nap and proceeded to walk the Vegas Strip at night.

We headed down the Strip South this time. Stopped at the Taco Bell Cantina to show my friends they served Alcohol here. It was their first time in Vegas. We proceeded to the NYNY Casino. I didn't like the 15$ tables. I was ahead on the first day, didn't want to immediately lose it. We drank and played slots for awhile, and headed to the Excalibur. Users had told me there was a 5$ table there and it would be a good place for my friends to learn more without risking too much. Table was cold as it could be. Only one winning was the don't player which my friends were curious about.
Bought in 120$, lost 80$ over an hour, decided to colorup and mess around on the Roulette table. I was pretty drunk by this point.

Took my friends to see the inside of the Luxor, then caught a cab back to Bally's.

2/5
Got back pretty late in the morning, so we all slept until about 2pm. Headed to Bellagio, wanted to show my friends the amazing Casino floor there. We only played slots there, I had won 80$ in my first couple spins and was ready to go. We then headed to the Bacchanal Buffet. After eating we headed down to Fremont St. I had never been there same as my friends. An absolutely amazing experience. Initially headed to Fremont Casino. Their table was crowded and the placed seemed a bit old. Headed to The D instead. The D was by far my favorite craps table during the whole trip. Dealers were friendly and a huge part of celebrating our wins. They were informative to a family of new players were next to me. They were very friendly with my dice setting. I had a hardways streak in which I was rolling 4's and 10's like no tomorrow. I had yet another hot roll and was enjoying the night, winning big as were my friends. On the third Hard 4 the dealers called the pit boss over. I was initially worried, then he simply told me to "Throw another one" When I did, he cheered with the whole table. It was clear to me that this casino cares more about their patrons fun than scolding a dice setter. The dancers by the tables games were a big hit with my friends. By far my favorite craps table.

Headed back to the Fremont around 1am. Lost 120$ there, the table was cold as all hell. The dealers there were no where near as friendly with my dice setting as The D. While they were friendly with their reminders to really hit the back wall(I was just not hitting the pyramids). I sensed they were getting irritated with me. Which I don't have a problem with, I was also pretty buzzed. Finished my game, tipped the dealers and headed back to the Hotel.

2/6
We had a late flight back home, so I figured we'd end where we started, Casino Royale. I bought in 240$, the table was a 5$ min on Wednesday. The dealers and pit boss were rather rude this time around. I had seen 4 people get kicked out off the blackjack table during my game. They were outright ignoring new players next to me asking questions. They were extremely rude to me while setting the dice this time around. A completely different vibe from day 1. Berating me "not to play with the dice" when I was setting them just as I was the previous 4 rolls. I had one roll where I landed an Easy 4. only one of the dice had bounced off the back wall. They reminded me to hit the back wall with both. I tossed out a dollar on each of the hardways, one of my chips had rolled across the table. I was met with a rather uncalled for "Really dude?" followed by a sigh from the dealer to my right. The stickman was the one to retrieve that bet anyways, this dealer clearly just hated his job. So I throw another roll, hard 10. This time I don't give a shit what the Casino has to say. They've showed their clear dislike of me and had no intention to change it. I was constantly apologizing for prop bets I threw rolling elsewhere, and they simply kept berating me and trying to make me feel bad for it. I was called "Unbelievable" when setting down my place bets and accidentally knocking the stack over with my sleeve. Mind you the stack was 10 chips tall and they had not rolled anywhere in this instant. Getting back to my roll, I had had enough of this Casino's staff. I got damn good at throwing hard 4's short during my stay, was certain this casino was gonna kick me off the table if not off the property. I tossed 5$ on hard 4 and a 25$ place bet and went to work. First Hard 4 was short, I told them to press both my 4's. second roll was a 9 which I also had placed, third was a Hard 4 again. In which the pit boss had reminded me to hit the back wall with both of the dice. My forth roll was yet another hard 4 at which the pit boss came to me and stated that both the dice need to hit that back wall, or I am off the table. I politely agreed and followed by taking all my bets down except for the pass with full odds on the 8. I slammed the dice against the back wall and hit the point. When hard 8 rolled, I immediately saw disappointment in the staff. All their heads tilted down and let out a sigh at the fact that a player was winning.
I was thoroughly disgusted with how the staff was that day. Instead of continuing, I asked to color up and pass to the next shooter. I was quite through with the dull attitude of their staff. I came out 338$ and still tipped them 8$. I could not believe how obnoxious they were. Every winning shooter was met with attitude while I was there. I took my money and left. I had told my friends about my experience. They both met me with similar stories about the bartender being rude to them. We headed to the Bellagio Fountains for a show and proceeded to the airport, ending our trip.
This was my first time playing craps in Vegas, I hadn't been here in a few years. Overall a successful trip and an unforgettable experience, especially at Casino Royale. I can't help but be happy I left 300$ up, and that most of the winning were from the Casino that was treating their players like absolute shit.

If you made it through the post, thanks for reading! I just figured I'd post a followup from my initial post asking for casino suggestions. The D by far was the funnest most friendly place to play. Even the players were an absolute joy to be around.
Thanks again! I hope to see some of you at the Craps tables in the future!
-Kyle

winning slots at las vegas airport video

A woman from Roseville, California managed to win nearly $12,000 on the penny slot machine at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Known as Ulla T., the woman was playing the ... She won $873,511playing the Wheel of Fortune penny slots in the C Concourse in Terminal 1. The airport reports this huge win comes nowhere close to its largest ever. The biggest jackpot ever won ... Slots player at Las Vegas airport wins more than $300K The winning spin hit just after 5 p.m. Monday for $317,795.94 on a 25-cent Wheel of Fortune Triple Red Hot 7 machine. By Tony Garcia / Las ... From all of the slots that I have played and researched for this post, these are the top slots in Vegas. If you’re in Sin City, make sure you check these out. The Top Five Slot Machines in Las Vegas. Before I give you the lowdown on each of the top five slots in Vegas, there are a few things you should understand. LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — One lucky tourist in Las Vegas hit it big -- at the airport. McCarran International Airport shared out a photograph on Sunday of a woman smiling under her mask while holding ... Play your favorite Vegas Slots For Free and make sure to check out our Las Vegas hotels and casinos reviews and ratings, showcasing all of the amazing features that each resort has to offer. Restaurants, theatre and musical shows, shopping, spa and relaxation, clubs and nightlife, casinos, slots and poker. Las Vegas Tourism Las Vegas Hotels Las Vegas Bed and Breakfast Las Vegas Vacation Rentals Las Vegas Vacation Packages Flights to Las Vegas Las Vegas Restaurants Things to Do in Las Vegas Las Vegas Shopping Las Vegas Travel Forum Las Vegas Photos Las Vegas Map Las Vegas Travel Guide All Las Vegas Hotels; Las Vegas Hotel Deals So, while there are always people who win, your chances of winning are lower than they would be at any casino in Vegas. So unless you have time to kill, have nothing to read and are prepared to not win a dime, I would suggest you avoid the airport slots. Has anyone ever actually won playing slots at the airport? Shockingly, yes. According to Chris Jones, Acting Manager of Public Affairs and Marketing at McCarran, two players at McCarran won $392,000 and $259,000 respectively within four days of each other in May 2008. Las Vegas Review-Journal August 16, 2017 - 12:04 pm Sandra A. of Dublin, California, won more than $1.6 million playing a Wheel of Fortune slot machine yesterday in McCarran International Airport ...

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Slot play OLD vs NEW Las Vegas - YouTube

Welcome to day 6 Vegas vlog. Today was my last chance to win all my money back at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, but first we went to Chick-fIl-a that was off t... You guys requested it, more slot machine play in Las Vegas! I can't wait to go back and play more in 2020. Follow me as i seek the big wins, jackpots, and ha... One California woman is more than a million dollars richer after winning at McCarran International Airport Tuesday. According to McCarran officials, Sandra t... Mix of slot play in Las Vegas at MGM Grand, Park MGM, Majestic lion, Monte Carlo, Jurassic Park, Rakin BaconBest slots to play in Las Vegas?Winning on free p... Las Vegas vlog March Madness Day 2Starting the day with Bellagio fountain show. The room at MGM grand had a view of The Mansion (high rollers villas). Specia... Slot machine player wins cash with just $5 dollars, pretty nice way to arrive at Las Vegas! Must be Nice.. This is my Biggest slot machine jackpot handpay at Las Vegas Airport!! Often times during our Las Vegas trips, we play the Dragon Link Slot Machines while wa...

Lucky Traveler Wins Almost $12,000 on Las Vegas Airport ...

winning slots at las vegas airport

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