It has always been a dream of mine to do a road trip in America since I was younger - the USA has always fascinated me and the dream was always to do a big road trip visiting every single state from one side to the other, but I feel like everyone wants to do that, right? So when I was fortunate enough to be invited along to go on a road trip in the Deep South with Trek America, a part of the USA that I had never even thought about ever going to, my first reaction was: WOW. Trek America is a travel company that provide trips in the US, Canada and South America that allows you to see as many places as you can in certain amount of time. I've looked at their trips on their website in the past but had never actually gotten round to booking one, so you could imagine my reaction when I got asked to join their annual #iTrekHere blogger trip with 7 other bloggers from different backgrounds (lifestyle, travel and fashion).
I've never done anything like this before and it was an opportunity that I felt I had to jump at and take it regardless of how nervous and anxious I had felt about it. I can 100% say though that it was one of the best experiences I have ever done. The most nerve-wrecking thing about the trip for me was that it was my first solo trip without any my friends or family and so this was the most daunting part of the experience. Meeting complete strangers at the airport and having to spend the next 10 days with them was something that kept playing in my mind in the days before the trip and I felt like I was worried about giving the best impression of myself to these people but as soon as we were introduced to each other and chatting, everything was at ease. But I can honestly say, the people that I was lucky enough to share this experience with were incredible. Something that I benefited the most from the whole trip wasn't even visiting these places, it was speaking to these people and hearing their stories and experiences and learning so much from them. I love meeting new people regardless of how nervous I get because once you're speaking to them and getting to know them, it feels like you have known them for years and that's exactly how I felt with our little Trek crew.
My experience with Trek America was INCREDIBLE and it taught me life lessons that I'll take with me forever.
So our trip began in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 where we boarded our British Airways flight to New Orleans, a new direct flight service that they have just started. The flight time was just under 10 hours and we landed into New Orleans at around 7PM (side note: I watched La La Land for the first time on the plane and I cried, lol). We were all extremely jet lagged and were only stopping off in New Orleans for the night to start the tour bright and early the next day. This meant that we just went out around The French Quarters, where we were staying, for something to eat and a small glimpse of what was to come when we'd return back to New Orleans in a weeks time (the trip started in New Orleans and then ended back in New Orleans).
The next morning we were up super early to begin the first journey of the trip to Birmingham in Alabama. When we arrived at the 19th St Baptist Church, had some lunch (which was the biggest salad I've ever seen in my life and the most amazing key lime cake), and then embarked on an electric bike ride tour around the city learning about the civil rights movement. This was honestly the coolest way to see the city and I previously did not know anything about Birmingham at all and I learned so much by scooting around on the bike and going to all the various notable places! It was great.
After we had finished the tour, we checked into hotel and had a bit of downtime before we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Botega. We were all sat outside on a big table, the sun was shining and we watched the sunset glow on the buildings in the distance while chatting and getting to know each other. The thing that was exceptional about this place was the service! Our waiter was so passionate about the food & meals that they were doing that we literally asked him to describe every single meal and we wanted everything. I haven't seen such good service like that in so long. The food was great too & I would fully recommend going if you're visiting the city.
We then went for drinks at a 1920s themed bar called Hot Diggity Dogs and the furniture was so retro and cool. Some of us then made our way back to the hotel to go to sleep because jetlag was beginning to get the best of us..
The next morning we began our journey to Gatlinburg in the Great Smoky Mountains. On the way, we stopped off a few times but the first time was at True Adventure Sports in Fort Payne to do a bit of repelling (abseiling) 85ft down the side of a cliff. It was pretty scary and daunting when you looked down but I was actually SO EXCITED to do this, I used to do it when I was in primary school and we used to go on adventure day trips out and I loved it but I haven't done it in so long so I was really looking forward to it. Some of the others had never done something like this before and I feel like the activity bonded us all - we were all cheering for each other and everyone gave the whole activity 110%. Once we were all at the bottom of the cliff, we then had to hike back through it and I genuinely think that was the hardest part of the whole experience! It was great though and I loved all of it. Before we left, we stopped off and found the cutest hidden waterfall.. it's amazing how sometimes you find the coolest sights without even planning to!
We then stopped off for lunch at The Wildflower Cafe and it was decorated so beautifully. Fairy lights everywhere (instant 10/10 from me, I love my fairy lights) and it just felt so homely and lovely. The food was great too, I had a ham and cheese sandwich (because I suddenly got a craving for it - America, where are the meal deals at?) and it was honestly one of the best sandwiches I've ever had, served with some crisps on the side. It was delicious and the service was so good. The place was literally in the middle of nowhere but it was like a hidden treasure and I would fully 100% go back if I went to Alabama again.
After lunch, we made our way to the Smoky Mountains and you can read all about that in the next blog post about the trip. That's it for Part I, stay tuned for more posts on my trip to the Deep South with Trek America - trust me, there's A LOT more to come. Go subscribe to my YouTube & follow me on Instagram.
I ALSO daily vlogged the whole trip on my second channel, so go and watch vlogs from the trip in this playlist below:
- s.c.
This was a sponsored trip with Trek America but all opinions are my own.
If you have any questions about the trip, don't be afraid to ask!
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