The lessons are as clear as they are contradictory.

Take these five examples.

1.  Take a walk down Hollywood Boulevard, and you'll find only two presidents have their names on the gold stars built into the pavement. The first is Ronald Reagan, and a visit to the museum that bears his name shows why. A stage star before becoming a political star, he had a life-long commitment to a set of beliefs. Irrespective of whether you supported them, Reagan masterfully communicated them concisely and consistently. Donald Trump, who also owns a star, and Malcolm Turnbull, whose star rose briefly this week, should remember that.

2. After two days at Universal Studios in Hollywood, the unrivalled Best Ride EVER  goes to Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey. It involves sitting on a bench. Never at any physical risk, theme park goers are treated to a three dimensional fairy tale of big birds, dragons, dementors, whomping willows, flying broomsticks and quidditch balls. This is the future of entertainment; a point Dreamworld's directors should consider before their rush to open the park this month.

3. But technology doesn't solve everything. An e-passport should speed up your journey through airport queues. But at LA airport, every electronic step is then checked by a human. In my case, to the point where one of my children and I were detained, and questioned at length. Perhaps the technology didn't like my fingerprints.

4. A casual encounter with the medical system saw us triaged by a nurse practitioner in a pharmacy, without an appointment. The wait lasted only a few minutes, and it was the most thorough examination you could imagine. My child, who was suffering a painful earache, had her heart rate tested and her blood pressure taken, along with her temperature, and full physical examination. We didn't have to leave the building to fill a prescription. Yes, it did cost $US130, but three lots of medicine - including antibiotics - cost only $US15. If access is the issue, perhaps America can teach us a medical lesson.

5. Finally, the inconsistency of how America sees drugs and guns defies logic. Inside the world of Harry Potter, my husband - who turned 21 three decades ago, ordered a beer. With no photo identification, he was refused. But up the road at a sweet shop, children could find a toy shot gun. Alcohol can be loaded into it, before drinkers shoot it into their mouth. The contradiction in the message begs understanding.

As you walk through LA airport, you're welcomed to the US by a small photograph of Barack Obama. Soon that will come down, to be replaced by his successor. Where the United States of Trumperica heads from January, no-one is quite sure.

And that includes Donald Trump if you judge it on the process he's now employing to select his chief advisors.