Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 47.

Sailings to Provincetown in Cape Cod, and to Stellwagen Bank.

Backpacking and photography. Combine these two, along with time and affordability, flavoured with a dash of risk-taking, and one could launch a non-earning career in travel as a lone backpacker. This includes learning from my mistakes, which I should have avoided. For instance, I should have checked the dates of any national holidays before flying out to Israel in 2000 with my wife, then 18 weeks pregnant with our first daughter.

I have a hero in the world of travel. The BBC travel presenter Simon Reeve has circumvented the Earth at each of the three zones: the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer, and the Tropic of Capricorn. In addition, he has cut trails through virgin jungles, stayed at homes of remote tribes, driven through deserts, and interviewed politicians and gang leaders alike, even risking his own safety. He also dived into deep oceans and explored coral reefs, many in rich subaquatic beauty. Furthermore, unlike most, if not all, journalists, he never attended a fee-paying private school nor attended a university.

My form of travel was a little less dramatic. I used public transport to get around, and I hiked through established trails through forested and unforested national parks. Yes, I also snorkelled over coral reefs and enjoyed their beauty as Simon did. But I never stayed at the home of a remote jungle tribe resident, nor have I interviewed politicians, and certainly not gang leaders! 

But there has always been one big difference between Simon's travels and mine. He always had a crew with him, including a TV crew and a producer, the faceless individual who organised and directed Simon's travels. All of them remain invisible, giving the impression that Simon was travelling alone and organising his own schedules. Yet, I still admire his adventures and his knowledge of each local environment he passed through.

Simon Reeve. Stock.

By contrast, with one or two exceptions, all overseas travel was done on my own. There was no camera crew, no producer, no one to turn to had I hit disaster or fallen ill. Independent Travel carried an element of risk. But it was very educational, very fulfilling, and I admit, plenty of fun. And the fun was not so much sunbathing on a beach or riding on a rollercoaster as it was the adventurous spirit.

Yet, like Simon's travels, I, too, have hiked through the forest, explored the desert on foot (the Grand Canyon hike), and gazed at the corals beneath the sea. And I also checked out different cities.

You may think that all American cities are the same. The monotonous cluster of tall, glass skyscrapers huddled together on the horizon, with each street forming a tidy symmetrical grid, with ordinal numerology identifying each street instead of street names. Yet, as I have seen and experienced, each city has its own character. For example, Boston is very different to Manhattan in New York. Then there is San Diego, my favourite American city, which has a subtropical feel. Yet, Jerusalem in the Middle East is vastly different from any American or Western city, especially the walled Old City with its narrow, traffic-free streets known as souks, or markets.

Boston in Massachusetts holds the key to the whole American history. This city features 16 historic sites, including churches, historic buildings once housing government officials, and two cemeteries. There is also the world's oldest commissioned battleship, the USS Constitution. All of these sites are linked by the Freedom Trail, allowing the visitor to see all 16 sites in sequence. The harbour is home to the historic Boston Tea Party of 1773, sparking the American Revolution against the taxes paid to the British colony, which governed the area back then.

The State of Massachusetts has a geographic feature, the Cape Cod Peninsula, a strip of land jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. From above, the peninsula resembles a human arm raised, shaking a fist as if angry at the UK for its past colonialism. The resort town of Provincetown is built on this clenched hand and partially encloses Cod Bay. Provincetown is accessible by road, a 112-mile (180km) journey along the whole length of the arm. However, there is also a ferry sailing from Boston Harbour to the port of Provincetown, a 50-mile (80 km) crossing across the bay. Indeed, with a choice between a ferry and a bus, I chose the ferry.

In 1998, Provincetown had no towering skyscrapers; instead, it was styled after a typical Old West settlement. Compared even to Boston, this resort was virtually traffic-free (although the main street was still open to traffic). The resort was once the venue for President John F. Kennedy, who spent his childhood vacation there, and then later as an adult.

On another day, I went to visit the Boston Aquarium. On offer was a double ticket; the first was for admission to the aquarium, where I spent a good part of the day. The second was for a sailing trip out to sea to watch humpback whales frolic in the Atlantic Ocean, over an area known as the Stellwagen Bank, a seamount or submarine rise on the seafloor which provides rich feeding for the whales. This boat excursion was organised by the Aquarium itself and was part of the whole day spent at the facility.

In this album, the ten whale watching pics may look rather monotonous, without any leaping out of the water like the dolphins did at SeaWorld in San Diego. These whales surface to breathe, and then dive back underwater. Hence, a very quick camera reaction was needed, as the individual appeared for less than a second. However, the whales got progressively closer to the boat as the hour elapsed, and there was a moment when it seemed that the boat itself would become a target for the whales to strike. But the Aquarium staff manning the boat knew better, and we sailed back to Boston Harbour safely while the sun began to set.

Unknown to me at the time, the sunset over the horizon symbolised the closing of a chapter in my life, solo overseas backpacking. The sun always sets towards the west, hence, the pics taken are of the sunset over the American continent, even as the Boston city skyline hadn't yet appeared over the horizon. 

As I see out the last days in Boston, I prepare to fly back home from Logan International Airport to London Gatwick. During daybreak following an overnight flight, as I sat by the window, the coast of southern England was in full view below a cloudless sky. Within view, the Dorset Coast displayed Weymouth, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Durlston Head, Peveril Point, Swanage resort, Ballard Down with Old Harry Rocks, and the Bournemouth Bay, all on magnificent display way below, the light green landscape contrasting with the dark blue sea showing the sharply defined coastline. The plane then turned inland as it approached the airport.

Goodbye America. Little did I know that to this day in 2025, I hadn't landed there since.

Click here for the Index linking to the main Biography covering Boston, Weeks 113-116.

Photos of Provincetown, Cape Cod.

Approaching the ferry at Boston Harbour.

The crowd sunbathe on the ferry deck.

The city could just be made out in the distance.

We sail past Nantasket Beach.

Boats ply Cod Bay with the 'arm' in the background.

We approach Provincetown Harbour.

Provincetown Harbour has an industrial look.

Commercial Street, Provincetown.

I just strolled along the street.

To think that President J.F. Kennedy knew this town.

The Whalewatching trip to Stellwagen Bank.

The Aquarium-owned boat leaves Boston Harbour.

Snapping whales as they surface to breathe wasn't easy.

Whoops! I just caught the tail of this one, too.

There are two whales here.

By chatting with a crew member, I learned about this site.

Blowhole activity between two whales.

The whales seem to be getting closer to us.

I was also told that we came on a good day.

I was told of days when the whales failed to appear.

Apparently, I was the only one using a camera on board.

Wow! Don't get too near.

As the evening drew near, we sailed back to port.

The evening sunset ends a life chapter.

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Next Week, a new chapter begins. Travel as a honeymoon couple.

Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 46.

Arrival in Boston, Massachusetts.

After nine days spent in New York City, the day I vacated the hostel, instead of heading to the airport, I headed for the Port Authority Bus Station on 42nd Street. I boarded a Greyhound Americruiser to Boston, Massachusetts, where I was to spend the next five days.

Boston, 1998, was to be my final stop, not only in the USA, but as a lone overseas backpacker. However, for hostelling, my final YHA hostel was the one in Keswick, Cumbria, in the summer of 1999, marking the end of my lone backpacking career altogether. This was after hiking across the Lake District National Park to Keswick from Kendall.

But while I was staying in Boston, I never considered that my life was soon to change. This is the reason why my career as a lone backpacker was due to end. As already mentioned several weeks ago, even before I flew out to Singapore, then onward to Australia in 1997, I was watched by a female teenager who lived with her parents about a mile from my apartment, and we were destined to wed. But, at the time, I was totally unaware of that. By the time I arrived in Boston, I was still unaware of her attention. This trip to New York and Boston was meant to escape the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the group of English football fans in my church who idolised their national football team.

I stayed at the HI-AYH Boston City Hostel. It was smaller than the New York equivalent, but had far better equipment for self-catering. Its members' kitchen was larger, with all the necessary utilities. It matched the standards of an ideal backpackers' homestay. However, during a quiet moment, I was drumming my fingers on the table while I was drawing up plans for a second Round-the-World backpacking trip, to fly out around 2000 or 2001. This time, I would substitute Singapore with South Africa. As far as I could see at the time, I was to travel until I reached old age, and build a massive photo library I would eventually leave behind the moment I stepped off this planet.

And so, in my final days as a singleton, I arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. Being the closest city to the UK than the rest of the States, afterwards, I felt that this was a good way of saying goodbye to America.

Boston is quite a different city from New York. It is a smaller city than Manhattan and more sedate. The whole history of the USA, from being a British colony to the battle for independence, is contained in central Boston. There are 16 nationally significant sites, all connected by a line of red bricks or paint, known as the Freedom Trail. It's only 2.5 miles long, and I completed the trail easily within a day, although I spent more time inside Faneuil Hall and toured on board the ship, USS Constitution. Also, since the city was originally planned by British colonialists, the street layout in Central Boston is irregular, but consolidates more to a symmetrical grid further out, especially south and westwards.

The Freedom Trail passes 16 sites, which I refer to as stations. Each of these sites is either a historic building, a church, or a monument to commemorate an event. However, during the walk, I missed out on the site of the Boston Massacre. This is station 10, and is marked by a circular stonework embedded in the sidewalk. For me, it was easily mistaken for a manhole cover; I must have walked over it or passed by at close range. Therefore, for this album, I have included a stock photo, which is at the correct position before Faneuil Hall.

Anyone visiting Boston at present (2025) would see a different city from the one I was familiar with in 1998. This is due to the Interstate 93 Highway, which was, back then, raised on a flyover passing over the city skyline, thus spoiling the view and the city's historical perspective. But since then, a megaproject has redirected the highway underground via the O'Neill Tunnel, and where the flyover stood, the site consists of a chain of gardens and greenery. This makes Boston a far more handsome city now than it was in 1998.

The Charles River winds its way north of the city centre before opening out into the Atlantic Ocean. It is at the harbour front where the famed Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773, sparking the American Revolution against British rule with its high taxes, which led to American Independence and the initiation of its first President, George Washington. The 16 stations of the Freedom Trail have either a direct or an indirect connection with the 1773 Revolution. The USS Constitution, for example, a warship which earned the nickname Old Ironsides, despite its wooden hull, single-handedly defeated the British Navy when their cannon balls failed to penetrate the Constitution's hull.

The USS Constitution, Boston, 1998.

While I was visiting, I compared the USS Constitution with our own HMS Victory, a British warship that defeated the Spanish and French Naval forces at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, leading to the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson while he was still on board. While our vessel is dry-docked in Portsmouth, visitors are free to roam around the ship at leisure, with escorted groups as an optional extra. But in 1998, access to the Constitution was by ranger-led escorted tours only. I admit my feeling of unease as I was led with the rest of the group. Then, after the tour was over, I sneaked off alone to one of the interior decks to take a better, more thorough look. I was then caught by the escort and asked to leave the ship. 

Perhaps I wasn't the only one who felt unease in being led. Maybe there were far more tourists who felt the same way I did. Who knows. But at present, according to a variety of reviews on the website Tripadvisor, tourists are now free to roam around the ship at leisure, but now have to pass through an airport-style security check before boarding. In my day, there were no security checks.

The two city parks in Boston have very sophisticated names - the Public Garden and the adjoining Boston Common. Public Garden has a large, elongated lake, on which two Swan Cruisers ply, carrying passengers around the lake. Crossing the lake at its narrowest section is a public footbridge. There was also what looked like the remains of a Roman ruin. Realising that the Romans knew nothing of the American continent in their day, I quickly learned that the site was the remains of a 16th-century tavern.

In all, Boston remains very much an English-style city with an irregular street layout, yet packed with history, with the irony that the American Revolution was a war against the British Empire and its colonial rule across the Atlantic Ocean. Although Boston has similarities with Brooklyn, yet, it's very distinct from San Diego and other southwestern cities, which originated from the Spanish invasion, and hence, these cities retained their Spanish names, often after Spanish missionaries.

Click here for the Index linking to the main Biography, Weeks 113-116.

Photos of Boston, the Freedom Trail and its 16 Stations.

Boston city skyline.

The start of the Freedom Trail.

Sta 2 - State House, home of Mass State Gvt.

Sta 3 - Park Street Church.

Sta 4 - The Granary Burial Ground.

Sta 5 - King's Chapel.

Sta 6 - Site of the first Public School.

Sta 7 - The Old Corner Bookstall.

Sta 8 - Old South Meeting House.

Sta 9 - Old State House.

 The State House is dwarfed by modern buildings.

Sta 10 - the site of the Boston Massacre. Stock pic.

Sta 11 - Faneuil Hall.

Faneuil Hall is open to the public.

Although not a Station, the Trail passes Quincy Market.

Quincy Market Yard is the site of live bands.

Sta 12 - Paul Revere House.

The Trail runs past St Stephen's R.C. Church.

The Trail passes through Paul Revere Gardens.

Sta 13 - Old North Church.

Sta 14 - Coffs Hill Burial Ground.

Sta 15 - USS Constitution.

Trail Ends at Sta 16 - Bunker Hill. 

The rest of Boston City.

The remains of a 16th-century Tavern.

Winter Street, Boston's main shopping mall.

Public Garden.

Swan Cruisers ply the lake at Public Garden. 

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Next Week, two trips, one to Provincetown, the other to the Stellwagen Bank Seamount.