I loved San Diego. It exceeded all expectations and overall, it was better than LA. The atmosphere was a lot nicer, the city was ridiculously clean and you actually felt safe walking the streets at night. Plus our hostel was a million times better than that RV and had every amenity you could ever want from budget accommodation (free wifi, herbs and spices in the kitchen, a communal iPad, $1 towel rental and laundry and a plethora of plugs which is a rarity in backpacker places).

We spent our first evening meal eating chocolate fudge and confetti candy pop tarts and met some fellow English travellers Sam, Tres and Andy. They’d just got back from Vegas and Phoenix and arrived into San Diego the same day as us. After informing us of free beer in the common room at 9pm, Heidi, Nathan and I made ourselves pretty (not hard) and headed downstairs. Josie was feeling a bit ill and tired so rested in bed. We missed out on the first round of free beer but some crazy Aussies were to the rescue with disgustingly strong vodka red bulls. More beer arrived shortly after much to our delight and soon enough we were all getting quite merry. Sam and Tres had bought a 1.75l of vodka (for $10!!) for Vegas but didn’t drink it and so kept offering it around the table. After a couple of drinks and a slightly fuzzy head, we were convinced to go out and see what San Diego’s nightlife was like. Why not?!

We paid the extortionate $10 door charge for a bar a few blocks away from our hostel. It was packed, had a really good atmosphere but closed at 2am. With no where else to go in San Diego, Heidi and I met a couple of guys outside the nearby pizza place. After some intellectual conversations (of which I don’t remember now but I recall them being good), I got a free slice of pizza and we continued back to the hostel where we found a group of German guys outside. We spoke to them about how they, as a county, don’t like to queue for things and demonstrated how a queue works. A guy representing his mate’s new clothing business then appeared from nowhere and gave me and Heidi a couple of free California Republic t-shirts. Successful night overall!

The following day was game day! We were about to experience our first American baseball game with the San Diego Padres taking on the Detroit Tigers and for $20, it was definitely worth it. We got there just as the national anthem was playing and trekked around the entire stadium to find our seats. For the price we paid, we got really good central seats although they were in the shade so we were absolutely freezing. After pretending to know what was going on for a while, we got some greasy food and stayed until the end to watch the Padres win 5-1. Our favourite parts were definitely the home runs and the music played in between, oh and the old man sitting in front of us eating the same bag of popcorn non-stop for over an hour. We then headed to the Westfield shopping centre, which is themed like a little Mexican village, to find the Vans store. Josie’s wanted to buy some for the past few weeks now and they’re a lot cheaper in America than back home. In fact so much cheaper I accidentally bought a patterned pair of shoes and matching hat for the bargain price of $45 (£30). We finally got back to the hostel in time for free hotdog night (another reason why this place is awesome) and saw Sam and Tres who were also recovering from last night. They informed us that they and Andy were going to Tijuana in Mexico the next day and when we asked how long for they replied with “just for the day”. Eh, come again?! They told us how there’s a trolley train that you can catch from central San Diego all the way down to the border. Here’s the best part because this hour long journey only costs $2.50 (£1.50). Yep, we could get to Mexico and back for £3!! Insane.

We awoke bright and early for our day trip to Mexico. How could we pass down the opportunity to visit Mexico for the day?! After the one hour train ride, we arrived at the border and were joined by Sam, Tres and Andy. Getting into Mexico was incredibly easy, a bit too easy; we didn’t even have to show our passports to anyone! We began the day avoiding the taxi drivers asking us where we were going and looked for the beach. In order to get there though, we required said taxi. Sam found a taxi driver and he told us he could take all 7 of us there. Brilliant, we’d be getting a big people carrier for next to nothing… well, it was indeed cheap but it was also only a four person car. He informed us that it’s legal to take more than four passengers and because we were so desperate to go to the beach, we all squeezed in. On arrival at our destination, Playas de Tijuana, we were immediately greeted with colder weather. Still sunny and a lot chillier and definitely not warm enough to lie on the beach. We walked along the promenade and admired the run down, ghost town-like atmosphere of the place. It wasn’t what we were expecting in the slightest and after seeing three people get arrested in the back of a police pick-up truck, we hailed down a cab and decided to check out downtown Tijuana, a much more touristy area.

We got to Revolucion Street in downtown Tijuana and found a bar serving $1 coronas (they accept American dollars here due to how close they are to the border). We couldn’t refuse this cheap offering and headed upstairs to the rooftop balcony. After a few coronas and a Spanish band playing for tips, we moved on to another bar. This time the drinks were a little bit more expensive but we got free nachos and dip and we were even treated to our own private balcony in the sun. After getting a free shot of tequila, we grabbed some chicken quesadillias and a couple more coronas for lunch and sat overlooking a zonkey. A zonkey is a donkey which has been painted with zebra stripes and is used as a tourist attraction where you pay to have a picture with it. With evening fast approaching, we figured it’d be best to head back to the border to get back into the USA. This is where it differs to how you get into Mexico. Gone is the simple walk across a bridge with no checks and instead we were faced with a massive queue to get through customs. And not just any normal customs queue you get at the aiport but instead a two hour queue littered with lots of food and drink stalls. Yep, after our cheap day of eating and drinking, a slight downer was put upon it by having to queue for over two hours to get back into America.

The following morning saw us checking out of the amazing Lucky D’s hostel and picking up our hired car ready for our road trip to Vegas. All that stood between us and the city that never sleeps was 330 miles in the car. We left within good time, were stocked up on drinks and snacks and had many radio stations to choose between. An hour into our journey and the car in front of us on the freeway ran over a lorry mudguard loose on the road causing it to launch up into the sky and hurl itself towards our windscreen. Within seconds the mudguard had cracked the glass and caused us to pull up in a nearby service station. After Nathan made numerous phone calls to insurance and the car rental company, a replacement vehicle was sent from LA and within three hours, we’d be on the road to Vegas again. This delay called for a Wendy’s burger to drown our sorrows.

Nathan and I shared the driving duties and I clocked over 150miles on the I-215 across California and Nevada. The drive was completely different to anywhere I’ve driven before and the scenery was spectacular. Mountains made up the backdrop and sparse areas of desert surrounded us as we drew nearer to the state where Las Vegas lies. We made a quick pit stop at a nearby shopping centre/hotel which housed its own rollercoaster and themed castle and continued onwards to the strip. Half an hour later, we were parallel to the strip of bright lights, glittering hotel names and themed buildings. We pulled up to our hotel, the Royal Resort, where the lobby consisted of a multicolored piano beneath a couple of chandeliers and chez lounges surrounded by lavish mirrors. You’re probably thinking what the hell are we doing checking into a hotel? Are we suddenly flashpackers splashing the cash whilst in Vegas? Don’t be silly! Heidi found this online for £10 a night each. Cheaper than that RV we stayed in and a hell of a lot nicer.

We took the car back the following morning but not everything went plain sailing; Josie left her purse on the back seat and only realised when we got off the shuttle bus ten minutes away, cue frantic rush back with a bus load of concerned Americans wishing us the best in finding the purse before the car got cleaned and given to the next customers. She got it back though and we began our time in Vegas by starting at the south end of the strip where the Egyptian themed, pyramid shaped Luxor hotel stood. Vegas is reknowned for its casinos and impressive hotels and so as the first accommodation to visit, it certainly didn’t disappoint. The pyramid shape worked effectively with the bedrooms making up the inside walls of the building. We then wandered to Excalibur, the medieval castle themed hotel. A bold block of turrets stood tall before the main hotel building with the interior matching the theme perfectly. This is where Nathan played his first game of blackjack for a $10 buy in. Unfortunately, he didn’t fare too well but it’s the taking part that counts… right?! We then found ourselves eating lunch in New York before paying ($14!!!) to ride the rollercoaster that engulfs the entire hotel, complete with upsidedown loop and a lot of headbanging. We left the big apple and headed across the road to the MGM Grand hotel. This one didn’t have a specific theme but instead comprised of lavish furnishings and a rainforest café. Unfortunately the lions that were once inside the hotel are no longer there.

Vegas is like one massive theme park. You walk from hotel to hotel via walkways which are themed correspondingly and are often made so that you walk through the copious amounts of high-end shopping malls (no 99p stores here) each hotel has. We even visited the Coca Cola store which featured every possible item you’d ever want with the Coke design on it. On the way back to our hotel we got ourselves onto a guestlist for the Paris hotel and I walked over some knickers in the street, pointed back at them when telling Nathan and then walked straight into a bollard groin first. A painful double whammy.

We pre drank in our hotel room with our $11 bottle of vodka and played blackjack in preparation for the tables at the casinos. Our first proper night out in Vegas was to Paris, the French hotel complete with its own eiffel tower, which is also the location of where we’d be partying. The club is situated on the first floor of the tower and overlooks the strip including the grand fountains of the Bellagio hotel opposite. We all got free entry and girls got free drinks before midnight. We got there at twenty to and because we’re cheap backpackers, we had to make the most of these free beverages. Heidi and Josie found themselves in frantic rushes to each of the three bars to get their complimentary drinks whilst Nathan and I held the growing collection of vodka mixers. Due to this free drinks marathon, we didn’t need to buy any more and managed to get another couple of free drinks off of a group in the VIP area. It got even better when Josie and I met a couple from LA who’d been together since high school 13 years ago. They bought us a drink and we insisted we paid them (we must’ve been drunk) but they didn’t accept our money and so when they finished their drinks, we sneakily bought them their next drinks and spent $27. Yep, a glass of champagne was $18 on its own. We didn’t quite realise how much we’d actually spent until the following morning but they were very nice people so it was all worth it!

The words difficult, painful, sick, never drinking again and ouch help describe the following day. I felt absolutely awful. Hungover is an understatement, I woke up feeling like the desert surrounding Vegas had crawled into my mouth whilst a ten tonne brick had been dropped on my head. A swim, that’ll help? Well it did a little but the 35º sun that came with it didn’t. We then thought that food would help. Dennys, the American diner that never closes, was just opposite our hotel. We’ve been meaning to go there for a while because of how cheap it is. Well, as soon as we were seated, I crashed. My hangover turned to feeling sick and after a quick vomit scare in the toilet (I wasn’t sick Dad) and Nathan capturing the moment over the top of the cubicle door, I was faced with a massive chicken burger and chips and a strawberry milkshake. This was gonna be a long day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon feeling sorry for ourselves and traipsing around various other hotels along the strip. These included Caesar’s Palace, which is as luxurious as you’d expect it to be, Treasure Island, which is like a pirate themed part of a theme park and The Mirage, where the volcano outside explodes once an hour after 7pm complete with red coloured jets of water and fire, it was a magnificent spectacle. We played a few slot machines, avoided alcohol beverages at any cost and munched on some fast food at 11pm. Bed was definitely calling.

We awoke the following morning with fresh faces and got ready for our upcoming pool party at Caesar’s Palace. We were on the guestlist and wandered up to the Venus pool entrance where our bags were searched. Not just any quick look in, a proper bag search worse than any we’ve had at airports throughout our travels. They didn’t allow for any outside food or beverages and almost didn’t let Josie take in her antihistamines!! We made it in, grabbed a towel and looked for somewhere to lay down. We found four sun loungers and were immediately greeted by a friendly waitress wearing only an orange bikini. She informed us that the minimum spend on drinks for where we wanted to lay was $50 each. I thought I’d misheard her say $15 and so for clarification I had to double check, 5-0?! Yeah 5-0. She also told us that the double beds around the pool were $250 minimum spend. We were definitely out of our depth here. Err, anywhere free? The edge of the pool. If it meant we didn’t have to guarantee spending the rest of our travelling money then I was prepared to look a little out of place at this posh pool party. We laid our towels down at one end of the pool and got given menus. $300 bottles of vodka? Maybe. $1000 bathtub with 6 bottles of champagne? I’ll think about it. A bucket of 8 coronas? That sounds about right. Earlier in the week we were paying $1 for a corona in Mexico and now we were forking out over $10 for one (the taxes on top were ridiculous!). But we didn’t care about the money (kind of) and made the most of being at a Caesar’s Palace pool party! We were surrounded by the rich and famous; Tinie Tempah, Pitbull, Bruce Willis, Jason Derulo and even Gemma from TOWIE… lookalikes. Yeah okay they were all just dopplegangers but that’s good enough for us! After saying for the one hundredth time how cool it was to be at a pool party in this setting and then witnessing a guy who was on a $250 bed throw up everywhere, we decided to head back to our hotel and prepare ourselves for a night out at Pure (which is also in Caesar’s). But not before heading to Denny’s diner again and this time we were served by a woman who seemed like she had just popped a few pills prior to her shift.

After some pre drinks in our room, we headed to Caesar’s Palace and joined the long guestlist queue. We got free entry and once again girls got free drinks until midnight. We didn’t have long this time though and it was a lot busier than the Parisian club so we weren’t as successful in the number of free drinks. The nightclub was one of the poshest I’ve ever stepped foot in. There were pillars and draped curtains, a VIP section overlooking the dancefloor and extremely expensive drinks. After a couple of hours on the dancefloor and an inflatable tiger, we headed back to the hotel and stopped off at the dingy Casino Royale where Nathan tried his hand at some $5 blackjack.

The following morning saw us relaxing by the hotel pool, having Denny’s for the third time (it’s just so cheap and delicious!) and then sorting out our travel to San Francisco and our accommodation for there. This took up a good proportion of our afternoon meaning our evening was then spent looking around other hotels such as the nearby Wynn (which is as extravagant as it looks from the outside, they even have their own brand of watches) and the Venetian, which is the Italian themed hotel complete with gondolas paddling along the river running through the building.

Sunday saw us relaxing by the pool, getting Denny’s once again (not only is it good food but we’ve had 20% off vouchers as well) and looking at a discount ticket stall along the strip which sells show tickets for that night at a lot cheaper rates. Josie and I wanted to see Penn and Teller which was 40% off the original price whilst Heidi and Nathan opted for a Cirque du Soleil Zumanity circus/burlesque show. Penn and Teller was being shown at the Rio and Josie and I needed to exchange our vouchers for our tickets (the earlier we did it, the better seats we got). After initially walking in the opposite direction, we wandered down the strip, stopped off at Caesar’s Palace to ask for directions and were told of a free shuttle bus from the hotel across the road. It was boiling hot by this point and time was getting on but we made it to the Rio in good time and ended up staying until the show started in a couple of hours. There was a jazz band playing prior to the show and they invited you up onto the stage to look at a wooden box which would be used by Penn and Teller and to sign our names on an envelope. The show started at 9 and the first trick included an audience member’s cell phone being magically transferred into a fish inside a briefcase underneath another audience member’s seat. All of this was recorded on her mobile and so she’ll be able to watch it back to see how they managed to do the trick. Other acts included the classic sawing of the assistant in half (but this was with a twist which saw them physically saw it in half), mind reading people in the audience after they were told to pick a joke at random out of books provided by stage hands and Penn and Teller fooling us by doing a trick within a trick within a trick. Their final piece saw them using people from the audience to initial and draw an icon on the bullet casing and then Penn and Teller fired their guns at one another and caught the bullets in their teeth. How? I’m not sure but the guns were definitely fired. The show was definitely worth it and I liked that they explained how they did the tricks (although they often then added something extra to boggle your mind). After the show they ran out to the lobby so that everyone could get pictures with them and yes, Teller actually spoke whilst using people’s phones to take selfies! Heidi and Nathan enjoyed their show and to quote Nathan, “I met 14 pairs of boobs tonight”. A good night all round.

We’ve ended up staying a lot longer in Vegas than initially planned. We were going to drive to the Grand Canyon and then drive from there to San Francisco but car hire costs a lot more for us because we’re under 25. Plus, we didn’t quite fancy a journey that long after what happened on our previous road trip. So instead we stayed a couple more nights in our hotel (making the most of the pool and spa!) and enjoyed more of the sights of the strip. Vegas is like no where else I’ve visited. I mean what other city has its own monorail system? Or escalators to cross the road? Or themed hotels followed by posh hotels followed by themed hotels? Or where else is it acceptable to drink anywhere you want during the day or buy a yard stick full of slushy cocktails? This place is in its own little bubble and it’s as if no where else matters. Our final day in Vegas saw us looking around the remaining hotels we wanted to see, including the Bellagio which is in a different league. It’s decor is rich and it also houses a section near the entrance with a butterfly farm and a plethora of real flowers. We’ve now departed the busy scene of Vegas and are on our 14hour greyhound bus to San Francisco where we’ll spend the next five nights.

P.s. If you do have answers to those questions and know of anywhere else that’s like what I’ve described above then sssh.. I want Vegas to have this moment.