The United States of America has always been a bit of an enigma for me. As an Australian, I was raised in what is effectively a British environment; however there is almost no aspect of life that is not flooded with popular culture from the U.S.A. and consequently, I have always had pretty mixed feelings about going. I have little to no interest in modern american culture, but their landscape is captivating and diverse. As it happened, my work would see my attend a conference in Hartford, Connecticut. I had just spent 2 weeks in Iceland and had no time nor money for adventuring in the U.S.A., so it was to be pure business. That was until I found out the most efficient way to Hartford was via New York city.