USA Photo Gallery (1992, 2009)

So far, I’ve only seen a small part of the United States of America (USA); I’ve particularly missed out on the magnificent natural landscapes.

During a stopover in 1992 on the long journey around the globe to New Zealand, and a business trip in 2009, I was at least able to explore San Francisco and Boston for a few days and get a sense of the difference between the West Coast and the East Coast – in line with the two lines from the famous essay “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young” by columnist Mary Schmich, 1997, also known as “Wear sunscreen”:

“Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.”

In 1992, I was more in the spirit of the hippies, as Scott McKenzie’s song so beautifully puts it – I certainly had the hair for it:

“If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair (…)”

On the trip across the Golden Gate Bridge in 2009, however, I was reminded of Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1951):

“and a high white wall rolled in from the legendary Potato Patch, where Frisco’s fogs are born. In an hour the wisps would drift through the Golden Gate and shroud the romantic city in white; a young man would take his girlfriend’s hand and walk up a long white pavement with a bottle of Tokay in his pocket. That was Frisco.”

In Boston, I spent the little time I had on a journey through more than 250 years of history on Boston’s legendary Freedom Trail, which leads through the city centre for approximately 4 km to 16 historically and nationally significant sites. Boston’s European roots are clear, whereas every mile westwards is increasingly shaped by a distinct American identity of freedom, pioneering spirit, vastness, and openness. The other coast on the west of the continent has always been a place of longing and a dream destination.