America
The past 2 weeks have definitely been a whirlwind to say the least. I’m currently writing this as I sit on a plane, returning home from the US and after having a chance to reflect on my time I thought it would be worth sharing a bit about my trip here.
I’ll summarise in the tried and tested ‘sweet, sour banana’ format shortly but this trip has certainly been one of incredible variety, experiences and moments. I think having this variety has made the 2 weeks feel a lot longer and we definitely tried to fit as much in as we could in that time but there are a few experiences that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Being able to attend a college basketball game in support of the Kansas Jayhawks at the iconic Allen Field House should be on any sport fan’s bucket list. It’s difficult to try to explain through words what the atmosphere is like during a game there. I’ve tried to verbalise it to a few people but I think it has to be experienced in order to be understood which is what makes this pilgrimage such a fabled one. Having the blessing and support of Kansas University to give us access to shoot what we wanted was a once in a lifetime opportunity that helped give us perspective on what goes on behind the scenes to make this basketball program as great as it is.
In contrast with everything that we experienced in Kansas, the time we spent in Los Angeles with our man Jesus was a big eye opener. I already wrote about what I learned from Jesus but some of the things we did and saw in parts of LA that many people wouldn’t necessarily want to go gave me a look into a completely different world than I’ve ever known or understood. The hospitality and togetherness of everyone we met was amazing and I hope we can return the favour for Jesus if he ever makes a trip to Australia.
The last moment I’ll talk about is one that’s been nearly 15 years in the making that needs a bit of backstory for context. Back in year 8 at school, I had a friend who was importing fake hats of basketball teams and selling them to other kids in my year. By the time I found out about this the only hat he had left was a Sacramento Kings hat. I kinda liked the logo so I bought the hat and have been a Kings fan ever since. When we found out that it was cheaper to route our flight home from LA through Sacramento I knew we had to see a game. Luckily for me, the game didn’t disappoint. I got to see what’s commonly referred to as one of the best fanbases in the NBA in full effect, an overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks and the beam was lit.
Our favourite tradition when we’re on the road is when we round up each day with our respective sweets, sours and bananas of our day (The best, worst and funniest). We stayed committed to this on our trip, even taking a knee in the middle of the court in Allen Field House after the Kansas game to really take in the experience, while I’ve mentioned some experiences already, no trip would be complete without a Sweet, Sour, Banana round up.
Sweet: I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of incredible people on this trip. From Jesus and his LA tours, to the Morningstar family who treated us like their own son’s, to Sparsh, a friendly vintage shop worker who I gave my spare Kings ticket to. We’ve made a lot of good friends during our travels and these people have all given me a new perspective on what it means to be a human and I want to write about this more specifically in another article.
Sour: The lack of sleep and routine. This was an easy one for me and was a result of trying to fit in as much as we did but I’ve definitely come to realise how much I rely on consistency and quality of sleep in order to feel my best and this is something I’m looking forward to regaining at home.
Banana: Max “Bunsy” McCrae. So a bit of context, Max is 17 years old and recently decided to leave school to pursue his dream of working in film. He’s driven, talented and mature beyond his years and I think it’s admirable that he’s not only found out what he wants to do in life, but he’s getting a head start on making it a reality. Sam goes to the gym with Max and mentioned that we were going to the States to shoot a few things but didn’t have any money to pay for his flights or his time. For some reason Max decided to book his own ticket on two weeks notice and was a big part of our trip and his presence was a funny addition to any situation we found ourselves in.
Roger and Linda Morningstar, who were kind enough to let us stay at their beautiful home in Lawrence, Kansas have a big quote written on their living room wall that states something along the lines of “It wasn’t the house I loved, it was the time spent with people I cared about”. I know for a fact that my memory isn’t the best and that’s not the exact quote but the sentiment was one that speaks to what made this trip one of my favourite so far. I’m incredibly grateful and lucky that my work can take me on trips to strange and unique places like this but the thing that has made it all so memorable for me is the people I’ve been able to meet and spend time with over the past 2 weeks.
I’ll have a lot more to reflect on that I want to write about over the next few weeks but for now, here are some of the photos that I took that I hope will create a nice visual representation of my experience in the United States of America.
