With my last night in UK down in Kent I said goodbye to my family and begun sorting my final preparations for the trip ahead. Passport and ticket. Passport and ticket - just don't forget those two things I said in a mantra to myself as I fell asleep. Before I know it, the annoyance of my phone alarm was ringing in my ears at the un-Godly hour of 6.30am and my dad shouted through the door to make sure I hadn't immediately passed back out. Crawling out of my cave like a scarred troll I got ready, had some breakfast and my dad and I started our journey to Gatwick. We chatted about music - he used to be in a band in the 60s - and after just over an hour we were there! Damn, I thought as we guessed there may be traffic but the roads were clear and my flight wasn't due to leave until 11.15am.

I got out the car at the drop-off point (don't park in the red/white zone Airplane! fans) and got through customs and check-in in no time. Before I knew it, my time wandering around duty free was up (trying to get some free aftershave samples was fun) and then headed to the departure gate. As I got towards the plane I realised that  I may have been at the wrong gate as there were two planes heading towards Orlando both run by Virgin Atlantic. I thought I would check my boarding pass to see exactly only to discover that the name on the card was wrong. Not mis-spelt - REALLY wrong. Mr. Miguel Costas in fact! Oh shit. Panic stepped in and I quickly think back to baggage check-in and comprehend I never did check the boarding card. It said DEPARTURE: Gatwick. ARRIVAL: Las Vegas. What the fuck??? So I head to the nearest trolley dolly to ask for help. Thankfully, my fears subsided as they say everything is still okay and I breathe a sigh of relief and hope Mr. Costas didn't have the same problem!!!

The flight is 9 and a half hours and after a taking my seat I can only hope of a good person to sit next to me but instead I get an Irish family and think this flight may turn into that Father Ted episode. Luckily, their 4 (!) kids are well behaved and pass out pretty quickly. After watching my new favourite TV programme Peep Show and the frankly awful Semi-Pro movie with Will Ferrell, I listen to some mp3s on my phone and then read Dan Brown's Digital Fortress to pass a few more hours.

Finally after a delay in take off and my pillow smelling of farts, the pilot informs us that we're coming into land and the plane touches down 3pm USA time. After a few questions from the overzealous customs officials at Orlando International, I sail through  their checks with relative ease before waiting at the carousel  for what seems like a lifetime to pick up my back pack. It got classed as over-sized luggage so must have put it on first as it was nearly last to come out!

There did seem to be a distinct lack of checks compared to previous times I have visited the States but wasn't complaining as I jumped on the monorail feeling the humid Florida air for the first time and went to the terminal to meet Jaime. Sitting on a bench I saw her as I came though into the building and we had a big hug and then said hello to her friend Crystal who I had met the previous time I visited last year.

Starting to feel a bit weary we go to find their car but end up in the wrong car park and after 45 minutes of what can only be described as "trekking" did we get to Jaime's big saloon car and begin to drive up state to Jacksonville. Like previous visits, it looked like I brought the weather with me as the blue skies made way for some thunder clouds and lightning struck the ground at the horizon. After taking a detour toward Cape Canaveral, a few hours have now passed and I see a road sign for Jacksonville. My tired body and mind gets a kick when I see the distance:


124 miles.

Gonna be a long one.

As the sleep deprivation kicked in, we stopped at Subway - typical - and I barely order a foot long meatball sandwich in my broken bumbling English which Jaime compares to actor Hugh Grant - thanks hun!

Finally we get back to the house where Jaime's dogs and her cat go mad at the stranger in their home but soon calm down and by 10pm (their time) and being awake for 20+ hours my head eventually hit's the pillow and it's milliseconds before I'm fast asleep.

Awaking the next day, I head to Jaime's work and say hello to the strangely familiar faces of her co-workers and family. After grabbing another calorie filled meal of breakfast, I head to the mall where Jaime's salon is situated to do some shopping and I grab a new pair of shoes as my other ones have all but fallen apart.

Heading to a nearby bookstore I spy the ridiculously long Christian Improvement section before wandering to the DVD and music section for a free listen to some albums before leaving the store. However, on my way out I did catch one of those "…for dummies" books. The title of this particular masterpiece? "Islam for dummies".

Chuckling to myself I head to the Montana Grill - another place I had been to before to complete my eerie sense of déjà vu - for a drink and some food then meet Jaime.

The rest of the evening was more food and pretty chilled whilst the next day I went to her second job which is a salon near the beach! After leaving the store and walking up the road I thought to myself I will only go as far as the next set of stop lights. 30 minutes later I still couldn't see any and the road was slowly becoming a proper freeway! Jaywalking across to the other side before any Sheriffs showed I then went to the beach to grab some sun and have a paddle in the Atlantic. Although somewhat cloudy the humidity was like being cooked in a steam pot and had to grab a drink of Strawberry and Lemonade PowerAde to replace my lost fluids.

Showing off my proud English sunburn as I returned we had lunch at a place called Angie's - very local but very good - had a Peruvian sandwich and after that went to Lynch's Irish bar for a drink with Jessica and her mate Adam who was visiting from Tampa. After some drinks we then went to the swimming pool in her apartment complex and then back to meet Jaime. Jaime still had work so off I went again with Matty to Chili's restaurant for dinner before back to his place and his Jake Gyllenhall-lookalike flat mate who was playing Rock Band on Playstation.

After a beer here and a good chat about music and psycho-exes (!) me and Matty headed to Jaime's parents house where I went swimming again around 10pm. Although great fun, the sound of the wilderness was almost deafening as crickets, birds and lord knows what else was chirping, tweeting and making sounds in the dark forest behind the house. Just as I got to used to this Jaime warned of bats. I laughed at her for a moment only to be confronted with a kamikaze bat, dive-bombing me along the surface of the water straight towards my face!

Okay, I said. Bat attacks it is then.

After saying goodbye it was the end of only my second day in the USA and am looking forward to seeing Modest Mouse play at St. Augustine Amphitheatre tonight which should be a great show.

I'm off to burn my chest as much as my back now so it evens out and second part will be written soon.

Mike