Adios Miami. Hola Guatemala.

My time in the sunshine state is over, time to venture onwards to Central America. First stop, Guatemala. For a bargain price of $250 I got a flight from Miami to Guatemala City via San Salvador in El Salvador, which was booked for 5.30pm. I got to the airport after being kindly dropped off by Ilysa at 2.45pm to be told their were seats on an early flight, direct to Guatemala. So, by 3.30pm I was in the air and en route. Shortly after departing Miami International the views were amazing as we passed over what I assume were the Florida Keys in the Mexican Gulf, it was like a giant piece of work by Richard Wright. The picture above does the sight no justice, i've never seen a landscape like it from the air, it was beautiful.

Naples, Florida.

I had the pleasure of a week with my friends Jay & Jackie in Naples, Florida last week. A sleepy town on the Mexican Gulf populated with stacks of Golf courses, gated communities and beautiful beaches. Thanks to some good timing, Jay was available to hang out and show me around for the week, which involved a lot of moving slowly, gym sessions, tennis, bocce ball, golf, a spin class courtesy of Jackie, lunch, dinner, beers, Marqueritas, Naples Beach Club, driving golf buggies around Hideaway Beach Club and avoiding rich kids on Spring Break.

Those of you that know Jay will also know that the week involved many debates about global political, economic, business and cultural affairs - and Jay wearing small, tight shorts. It was also a crash course for me in American politics and media, which was both interesting and pretty shocking.

All in all a great week that was the perfect solution to shrugging off the doom & gloom of winter in London.

Soundtrack: Efterklang - Magic Chairs

Rollin' around Florida in a 1979 MG B

Miami. Coral Gables.

Hanging with my buddies Dave & Ilysa (and their dog/son, Winslow), a Londoner and New Yorker who met and fell in love in Miami, moved to London for a while, then wondered why the heck they weren't living in Miami, so now they're back and living in the beautiful Coral Gables part of town. I had the pleasure of their spare room for a few nights. Days were filled with tours by Ilysa of local sites including the amazing Versailles Cuban Restaurant in Little Havana which served Croquetas & Coffee that's so good and potent it should be illegal. Nights mainly involved food and alcohol, especially Saturday on South Beach...

Soundtrack: Autotune filled Hip Pop for the Spring Break crowd.

Miami. South Beach.

Dropped into the warm Florida air (even though the locals say it's cold) and experienced a culture shock far beyond what I was expecting. Thinking back, i've only been to LA 12 yrs ago and New York 6 Years ago, so I guess i'm not very Americanized. Checked into a cool little Hostel on South Beach with a view of getting straight into the backpacker scene. Great decision, met tons of people and eased myself into life on the road nicely.

Soundtrack: Greg Wilson, Essential Mix.