When Paul and Karen Bollard packed their bags for a three-week holiday in the United States, they knew they were in for a big adventure.
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What they didn’t expect was just how big everything would be.
From the towering portions at mealtime to the memories made across Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Hawaii, Karen delves into the details of their trip, with journalist Taylah Baker.
Q: Tell us about your itinerary.
For the first week, it was just Paul and me. We spent three days in LA doing all the tours – Hollywood, celebrity spotting, Warner Brothers Studio, where we sat in Sheldon’s spot and even got sorted by the Harry Potter hat, and a day at Universal Studios.
Then we had four days in Anaheim, which included a 14-hour day at Disneyland.
After that, we met up with four family members, flew to Las Vegas for five nights, and finished with 10 nights in Hawaii.
We spent three nights in Honolulu and then went on a seven-night cruise around the islands.
Q: What inspired you to choose the US?
My sister-in-law spotted a My Cruises deal for Vegas and Hawaii and asked if I wanted in.
I didn’t hesitate. I told Paul, “Well, if we’re flying into LA, I’m going to Disneyland.” That’s been a dream of mine since I was very little, so it became a whole week in California.
Q: What surprised you most about the United States?
Everything’s giant size – meals, cups of drinks, anything that we take for granted in small, medium and large, they just have large and then larger. Even their eggs are super-sized; it was hilarious.
Q: Any must-do activities?
In LA, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers are a must — that was the best day.
In Vegas, just be in among it all the time.
Paul and I tried to be high rollers and spent money on tables and pokies.
We probably saw 11 different casinos in the five days we were there.
Be out at nighttime and see the strip in its full glory. One more thing I would say is a must-do in Vegas is go and watch a show at the sphere.
We did Backstreet Boys at the sphere, and, oh my god, it was amazing.
Hawaii is everything. In Honolulu, the hop-on, hop-off buses do both sides of the island, and you get to see so much. It’s beautiful.
Q: Would you go back?
I wouldn’t go back to LA – been there, done that. Same with Disneyland. I was a little bit disappointed with Disneyland, but I think it’s because I didn’t realise it was so geared to kids.
There were probably two rides that were good adult rides, and the rest were little kid rides. I’m still glad I did it – it was my forever bucket list item ticked off.
Vegas? Definitely. It changes every day, and staying somewhere different would make it a completely different experience again.
