Surviving Four Weeks On US Soil

by Connor Hill

Posted 15 May 2018

Last year Ian Ferguson, Brett Band, Chase Collins, Jesse Abolins and Sam Crabtree jetted off to the U.S with the intention to clock up as much miles within a month long period. Here's a recap of their travels included a few words from behind the lens.

Of course something like this doesn’t come easy. Friends were made, Walmart’s were conquered, and 4th July was served up on a golden platter. The Lave Lounge Tour, here for the viewing.

Words by Ian Ferguson, photography by Brett Band.

You used to live in the US?, what was it like going back there 8 years later?

The experience was actually a lot different. I noticed the small differences in each state this time, passing through them and realizing the US is like a bunch of countries in one. Each state has it’s own flavour – which made the trip really interesting. It was so rad travelling with some of my good friends from NZ. Our personalities are a lot different to Americans and I always enjoy exchanging things like slang and other cultural differences.

What was the highlight of the trip?

A good one was renting out a Ford Expedition for the West Coast. We were supposed to get a shitty people mover but the guy at the desk was hyped that we skate, asked if we have a YouTube and offered us an upgrade. Crabman almost killed us twice in that thing! The tour almost ended before it started.

What exactly is the Lava Lounge?

It’s the name of a nightclub that we thought existed in Seattle. On one of our first days of the trip we had a blowout night in the city and as we walked back to our place we came across this gangster nightclub. It was open mic night, and we thought we’d try get in, we did and ended up having a blast in there and they were stoked on us. Then gunshots outside the club sent us back home where things got even more out of hand.

The next day we drove past to check the name of the place. It read ‘Lavara Lounge’ and it wasn’t even the club we were in. Then I google searched it later and it was actually ‘Lavana Lounge’. We thought that whole night was a special one and Lava Lounge stuck as the name for the trip.

What was it like being in the USA as visitor’s during the July 4th celebrations?

It was great. We got the full Walmart experience beforehand – I literally got lost there. The guys in Seattle put on a sweet BBQ, made us feel very welcome, and we all got cultured. USA style.