USA Archives - Astray

The Wild World of Weed Trimming

Amongst the backpacking community, there’s always plenty of buzz surrounding the highly fantasised life that is weed trimming. And the first rule of Trim Club is that you do not talk about Trim Club. Rumours abound that you’ll make bulk cash in a short amount of time, which gives every traveller a semi-chub as they think about…

ByMichael TamFebruary 28, 2022

Story USA

One More Jewel in the Corona: On Doing Exchange in the US in 2020

This year, I cast aside the dirt-encrusted vouchers for disappointment and bought the VIP Backstage Experience for the United States 2020. In late August, I boarded a desolate flight from Heathrow to Boston to pursue my Master’s degree. My first morning in the city had me tuning into the local news channels to scope the…

ByShifra PowerNovember 17, 2020

Story USA

I Cradled a Woman’s Bleeding Head While My Amish Friend Called an Ambulance

I washed my hands 10 times, then 10 times more. It felt like the blood wouldn’t come off. WHAT THE FUCK? screamed my mind on repeat. The scene from the last hour kept playing through my head. Warm blood running over my hands, staining my clothes. Dark red. Not my blood. Her voice mumbling, “Sleep, I…

ByJade NewtonJuly 3, 2020

Story

Debt, Depression and Desolation: Finding Rays of Light in a COVID Hotspot

Last night, we heard screaming. Tucked away in our apartment during quarantine, we wondered what people were doing outside clapping and yelling. Upon looking out the window, we could hear our neighbours across the alley – they were sitting on window ledges, hollering and cheering. Shouts from blocks away could be heard echoing through the…

ByMegan RahrigApril 3, 2020

Feature USA

No, I’m Not Going to Start a Fight With Someone Carrying a Gun

It took 12 months of planning to get me on the plane for my semester abroad at North Carolina State University. It was four months after I returned to Australia that our nearest school, The University of North Carolina, had a shooting on their campus, leaving two dead, four wounded, three of them critical. Gun…

BySammy BurgessJanuary 17, 2020

Story USA

Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle – that’s the old movie with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, right? I have some vague recollection of watching it on TV years ago. One of those weekends where you decide to stay in and watch whatever old film they decide to recycle on commercial television. Little did I know, as I…

ByTom WolffNovember 1, 2019

Current Affairs Feature

An American Abroad: What It’s Like to Travel Under Trump

Sometimes, I’m proud to be an American. When repping my country abroad, I’ll admit to rubbing the domination of the USA Women’s Soccer Team in the faces of cheeky Brits and wine drunk Frenchmen. But for some other things, aka Trump-related things, an entirely different emotion radiates from within. Shame. In a time of worldwide…

ByGunnar LundbergJuly 27, 2019

Story USA

A Tornado in Wisconsin

The universe is constantly giving you signs, and if you pay attention, you just might see them. Sometimes, you might see them even if you’re not paying attention. On the second day of my American motorcycle criss-crossing, I saw the latter kind. I was cruising along thinking about why I’d staked so much – my…

ByAlex TzelnicMay 24, 2019

Story USA

From Trainwreck to LA Babe in Three Hours

After roughly 10 hours on the Amtrak train moving down the east coast from an intense week in San Francisco, we stepped out on the platform in Los Angeles. Sofie and I are mates from school and, after a year of working and holidaying in Canada, decided to do our own version of a west…

ByJenny KvarbyDecember 11, 2018

Yarns

I Bought a $1500 Sailboat in Florida

It was a Friday afternoon in Florida; I had a couple of beers in me and a vague idea of a good deal and an adventure. "This is the kind of challenge I´ve been looking for," was how I reassured myself as I handed over the first cash instalment. I didn't even know how to…

ByOjasvi GuptaJune 24, 2018

Current Affairs

To Those Who Say, “They Should Just Come Here Legally”

With the situation that has been underway in America until today’s executive order – children being taken from their parents at the border as part of the Trump Administration’s new immigration strategy – we’re hearing the phrase, “They should have just come here legally!” getting thrown around a lot. While the people making this statement…

ByAshley OgasawaraJune 22, 2018

Features

I Was Afraid to Have Sex on an American College Campus

“I’m gonna fuck so many Fratties on exchange,” read the caption of my Instagram update. It was the night of my going away. I was set for a semester abroad in the rural precinct of the Southern Bible Belt of western North Carolina, USA. I’d heard about all the sex you have on exchange. Those…

ByPeta PetidisMarch 19, 2018