After the 14 hour New York airport camp out, a 4 hour flight and only 2 hours sleep within that whole time, I arrived at Miami International to find Sam and Tres who kindly offered to pick me up. Upon being dropped off at the hostel we had booked for the next few days, I was greeted by a crowd of people filling out the lobby munching on the free lunch. I won’t lie, it was very intimidating. There I was with my 20kg backpack on, walking into a busy hostel with at least thirty people staring. I soon found out that I was in a minority too, gone were the hostels full of backpackers and instead, I was in a room with five other people with suitcases. This hostel was more holiday-style accommodation rather than the hostels packed with travelers that I had become accustomed to. This little detail didn’t actually change the experience for me because I soon realised that I was actually booked in to a party hostel; a newspaper clipping behind the reception desk read “Miami International is in the Top 10 Party hostels in the world where you rarely get sleep”. Uh oh. Sam and Tres returned from parking their car and found me in the corner of the lobby surrounded by my bags and still wearing my jumper and chinos (my room wasn’t going to be ready until 3pm). I got changed and we headed to South Beach beach (yeah). It was windy. Very windy. It was also Saturday and so the beach was packed full of tourists and locals finding any sufficient space on this man-made beach (we were told the sand was from the Gold Coast of Australia, although after a quick Google search I can’t find anywhere about how man-made this beach actually is…). We found a spot and fought with the gusts of wind to put our towels down. Ten minutes later and we had almost succeeded. Sand. Now, everyone has their opinion on sand. I for one like sand, most of the time. It’s soft, fun to play with and can be quite comfortable to lay on. Today, however, was not a day where I liked sand. I felt like I’d done something wrong when said sand particles kept slapping me in the face. It’s common for sand to get everywhere even when you do as little as step foot on the beach but to be hit hard by it every ten seconds is a whole new experience. It was safe to say it wasn’t the most pleasant beach experience. Others nearby just drank through the pain, some were fully clothed taking full brunt of the sandstorm whilst others seemingly didn’t notice and spent the afternoon burning to a crisp. We decided to seek shelter behind a lifeguard hut and spent the rest of the afternoon collecting sand in every orifice possible. As aforementioned, we’re in a party hostel. This means that they offer different club night ‘excursions’ every night. Saturday night meant Story nightclub and for a $20 charge we got a keg of beer in the lobby, a party bus, entry to the club, a VIP table and endless house music. Now, the ‘party bus’ may sound fun but after a week of having to get them to the clubs, it was one of the worst parts of the night. It was more like being unwillingly stuck in a mosh pit instead of the promised ‘fun’ mode of transport to the clubs. Story was massive and the VIP area meant we got access to as much Belvedere vodka as we could handle. I felt like we were on an episode of Geordie Shore or similar where they get given too many free drinks. I’ve spent the last 8 months drinking the cheapest alcohol possible or wine from a silver bag and now here I am downing as much expensive as possible because, well, it’s free. Now, what wasn’t free was tap water. TAP WATER wasn’t free. No, they tried to charge you $9 for it!! Instead, we had to get cups of ice and fill them up with water from the bathroom taps. Classy.

The following morning saw me catching up on much needed sleep. Then some more rest was had at the beach. I say ‘rest’ but in fact it was spent constantly wiping sand off of everywhere and everything, yeah it was still pretty windy. That night the hostel was heading to Nikki Beach club, this time we got unlimited vodka ‘cocktail’ mixers (of which everyone in the lobby would add more vodka to) and the beloved party bus made its return. Sam and Tres befriended a Saudia Arabian guy in the club and he got us into his VIP area (living the high life now) where a massive bottle of Grey Goose and plenty of mixers greeted us. We decided to venture out a bit more the following day. After a less-than-average trip to the nearby diner, we headed to the beach to find dramatically less wind than the previous days. We spoke too soon though and were soon battered by hurricane style weather which in turn allowed me, Sam and Tres to go in their car to a local art district in downtown Miami. The Wynwood Walls is an industrial area which has been established as an area where artists have thrived. If all industrial areas looked like this then they’d definitely attract a lot more attention. Every wall within view was plastered in graffiti. But really good graffiti. Artwork which has had a lot of thought, time and attention. It was definitely a quirky area which provided us with a lot to see for a couple of hours; the artwork ranged from colourful splashes of paint, tigers created by chipping plaster off of the wall and a baby transformed into the Incredible Hulk. We then took a wander around Port Miami, the American Airlines stadium where Miami Heat were playing all week, past the ‘Miami Walk of Fame’ which consisted of Adam Garcia, Jamie Foxx and the movie Rio 2 (at least we knew all of these unlike in LA where the majority are people no one’s ever heard of). We then headed to Hooters overlooking Miami Bay. This was my first Hooters experience and Sam and Tres were looking forward to the unlimited chicken wings that you can get on a Monday. Until we realised that Florida is the only state in America that doesn’t do this offer! Instead we got a bucket of boneless wings between us.

The next day I headed to Florida Keys with three guys from the hostel; Tom and Priv, two medical students from England and Matteo, an Italian guy from Florence. They had hired a Dodge Challenger for three days. We headed off at 8am for our long drive to Key West, the southernmost point of the USA and the last island in the archipelago of Florida Keys. The drive was beautiful; summer music, bright blue skies and the clearest water surrounding us as we headed through many of the Keys. When driving through Key Largo, we decided to stop for some breakfast. A small little classic American diner on the roadside with unlimited coffee refills and the fluffiest, most filling pancakes I’ve ever had in my life. I could barely manage two of them. We then passed through Islamorado Key, Marathon Key and a handful of other smaller keys which were all as breathtaking as the previous one. You could stop anywhere on the way and you wouldn’t be disappointed with the view that greeted you. Clear, still blue water and calm breezes surrounded you. We even passed the History of Diving Museum, a Dolphin Educational Centre and a Turtle hospital. After 3 and a half hours of driving (Key West is roughly 150 miles from Miami but with the slow speed limits and regular stop offs to admire the scenery, it takes a lot longer than anticipated to get there). We arrived in Key West, a quaint, small seaside town famous for its Key Lime pie (we went to the original restaurant where it all began!) and for being where Ernest Hemingway lived (we saw his house but didn’t fancy the $13 entry fee to look around). Instead, we spent most of our time in the Key West Fort National park where for a small fee you gained access to one of the most beautiful areas of the archipelago complete with forest and a golden stretch of sand. After a Budweiser, a swim and a lie down on the beach, we headed to Fort Taylor where we were treated to views of the coast and learned how it was built to defend the southeast coast of Florida, especially during the US Civil War in 1861 and the Spanish-American War in 1898. We also went to the Southernmost point of America which was actually closer to Cuba (90 miles) than to Miami (150 miles) and then ended our day looking around the main part of Key West town which was full of small tourist shops, bars where crazy drunkards would scream in your face in an attempt to persuade you in there and tattoo parlours where you’d get a free piercing with every henna tattoo, right. Tom dropped me off at my new hostel for the next two nights, Bikini Hostel. It was a 15 minute walk away from Miami International and was definitely one of the worst decisions I made that week. In an attempt to save a few quid I decided to book two nights in Bikini Hostel. It just wasn’t as good knowing that everyone else I’d made friends with was still at the other hostel. Another, not so minor, downfall of this hostel was the sleeping situation. I was in a 9-bed dorm where the bunk beds were in tiers of three, when finally figuring out the lock system on the door (you put in a code and after a lot of loud whirring it would finally decided to let you in or not) I walked in to find the bottom bunk was free. Brilliant, I didn’t have to climb up two tiers and potentially kick someone in the face. That night though, I realised why this bottom bunk had been left available. It was directly in front of the air conditioning unit and ensured that I was freezing cold the entire night. I was looking forward to booking back in to Miami International from Thursday!

Wednesday saw me and the two girls from London, Sophie and Bee head off on our Everglades tour. I had to walk back to Miami International to catch the excursion bus (they didn’t pick up from Bikini hostel, see it’s far away!). The bus ride there was very informative. We were told of the ‘Art Decor’ style of building in South Beach meaning that any new builds must follow the same art decor theme and how there are no high-rise buildings allowed on South Beach (also known as SoBe) unless for residential purposes (which has been happening more frequently now due to lack of land on the island). Whilst on the bridge from SoBe to Downtown Miami, he informed us of Millionaire’s Island being man-made and invite-only with security guarding the entry to and from 24 hours a day. Everglades river is the slowest moving in the world and Miami was built on the Everglades National Park which is mainly water, hence why the area is so green. It also means that the road systems have to be updated and reinforced every few years due to them sinking in to the land. One of the most interesting facts we were told was how you cannot walk through the Everglades fields because the long sawgrass can cut you and make you bleed to death, or of course you could be attacked by an alligator. These harsh conditions encouraged the opening of a prison within the Everglades to ensure that no one could escape (unless they wanted to die). In our Everglades tour we got to experience an Air Boat along the river. It began fairly tame, looking at a blue chicken (something along those lines) and a lot of birds. We had to wear earplugs as the sound of the motor was incredibly loud, this caused a bit of trouble when trying to hear the guide point out things but in general we got to see a lot of birds and terrapin turtles to begin with. We then were taken to an area which was inhabited by baby alligators. Yeah the little alligators are cute but we wanted to see huge ones. We’d been told of a 12 foot alligator that often frequents the area. Where was that?! After some spins, tricks and a lot of speed we arrived at ‘alligator alley’. Well, we saw loads here. They’d often begin to swim up to the boat intrigued by what it was then disappear suddenly. It was brilliant to get to see them in their natural habitat and even though I was rubbish at trying to spot them, I had fun attempting! We were then treated to what we thought was going to be ‘alligator wrestling’ but it in fact turned out to be the zookeeper in the enclosure with him doing things like rubbing their sides, putting his hands in their mouth and generally showing us how tame they really are, laying around for hours on end and only really moving when its feeding time! We then got to hold a baby alligator (for a small tip!) called Snappy (you couldn’t make this up). He was incredibly soft and even though you had to make sure you held his head away from your face, he was still quite cute.

The afternoon saw us going to the beach again then for a meal at a nearby Colombian restaurant. I got the chicken, rice, salad and fried banana dish; it was incredible and after not eating a proper meal for a few days (free, usually terrible, food at the hostel is a lot more appealing) it was just what I needed! The hostel night out was to LIV nightclub which is inside the Fontainebleau Hotel (it’s been featured in movies such as 007’s Goldfinger) and in the drunken state I was in, I didn’t feel like I belonged in those lavish surroundings even if it was for just a couple of minutes. The following day saw me leaving Bikini Hostel and heading back to Miami International. It felt like I was returning home and even though there was a slight booking problem (my reservation didn’t actually go through), I got sorted with a spare bed and could rest easy in my surroundings. I was severely hungover today though and so the only thing I could manage was the beach with Tom and a few other guys from the hostel. They had beer and they didn’t take “no, I’m too hungover for that” as an answer. Brilliant. This ended in us all going out to Story nightclub later that night which was a very fun night except for the fact it was really busy, no where to move and constantly being told by security to move out the way (er, to where?!) and the rapper ‘Fabulous’ (yeah I hadn’t heard of him before) was ‘playing’ there that night. ‘Playing’ just consisted of him stood in the corner of the dancefloor with a ridiculous hat and sunglasses on surrounded by loads of people trying to get a picture of him. Stood there. A picture of him, just stood there.

Friday saw my last full day in Miami. I had a few errands to run (I’d been putting them off for a while) and this included finding an Internet cafe. On the way to Washington and 17th (see even just saying the location you need to go to makes you instantly sound more American) I spotted Española way which was incredibly picturesque and had a lot of character and history to it. After sorting stuff out, Sophie, Bee and I made our way to 5th avenue beach where the Miami Beach hut was. Obligatory pictures and then some relaxation on one of the hottest days in Miami so far. For the final night out in Miami (I mean, I couldn’t have just stayed in really.. could I?!) we headed out with the hostel once again to a bar/club called Automatic. It was your basic small bar you’d usually find yourself in at the end of a night out but because everyone from the hostel was there, it was a good night.

I had to check out by 11am (this was difficult when waking up still drunk) and started to say my byes to everyone (not goodbyes because I’m sure I’ll see most of you guys again at some point, you know who you are!). I had the best week in Miami and left feeling happy to have decided to make the trip down there especially because initially I have visions of me going to the beach alone, going back to the hostel and watching TV on my phone and then repeating this on a daily basis. This certainly wasn’t the case and I highly recommend Miami International hostel to anyone travelling alone as the people you meet there definitely make it an amazing experience! I then had to leave to get my $1 Megabus to Orlando (yep, $1!!!) and left early in case I got lost or stuck in traffic (it was Memorial weekend and so South Beach was horrendously busy now) but because I miraculously (accidentally) got off the bus at the right stop, it meant I arrived an hour early for my bus. Now, you wouldn’t think this would be a bad thing. I mean it was hot, I was thirsty and wanted to sit down. Oh, I’ll sit down in the bus terminal that’ll be there. Right? No, not right. The megabus pick-up location was a car park. A slightly abandoned car park in a rough looking area of downtown Miami. Near loads of homeless people’s belongings, an abandoned railway track infested with all kinds of litter, objects and probably needles. Needless to say I was a tad on edge being there. Thoughts crossed my mind that if anyone were to attack me now, nobody would ever know. This megabus couldn’t come sooner!!

4 hours and 30 minutes later and I arrived in an extremely humid Orlando. I was greeted by Heidi and her family and taken to their family villa where I was given my own room!! This was the only the second time in 8 months that I had my own space! We then went to Applebee’s where I tried a Quesadilla burger. The following day was Busch Gardens day! An hour and a bit away from the villa and we were there, bright and early. I had been to this park when I was only 8 years old. I was just a little too small to ride the big rollercoasters at that age and therefore had to watch as all of my family had the times of their lives (no, I’m not bitter..) but now, now I was big enough to ride all of the rollercoasters. I had waited 14 years for a couple of them such as Montu and Kumba but they were worth it. My favourite was definitely Sheikra which was like Oblivion at Alton Towers but instead of just one vertical drop, there were two! We managed to get on quite a few of the major rides and the rapids before the weather started to ruin things. If there is lightning within a 10 mile radius, they have to close the major rides, usually temporarily, until it passes. Today, however, the nearby lightning storms kept recurring and therefore from around 2pm, the rides kept closing back and forth. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the zoo parts of the park including the enclosure where you can feed the birds and they will often come sit on your hand or shoulder. When a big storm approached towards the evening (we were the next people to get on Sheikra but couldn’t due to the storm!!) we found ourselves sat in the kid’s area of the theme park, being punished with repetitive children’s music. Heidi and her dad took the opportunity to dance on the nearby stage though!

The following day was UNIVERSAL STUDIOS day! This park had changed quite a lot since I had last been and the only rides that were still there were E.T., Twister and Disaster. The first ride we went on (and strategically in case rain closed it) was the outside rollercoaster Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock It, whereby you chose what music you wanted to listen to the whole way around the ride. I chose Limp Bizkit ‘Rollin’ for the first time we went on it, then Evanescence ‘Bring Me Back to Life’ for the second time. The other new rides I hadn’t been on such as The Mummy, The Simpson’s Ride, Transformers and Men in Black were also awesome. We also had lunch in the Simpson’s area, eating a hot dog from Krusty burger whilst in Moe’s bar was a very surreal experience.. The next day was Islands of Adventure day. Again, I remember coming here when I was younger and I couldn’t ride the big rollercoasters such as the Incredible Hulk (which launches you out of the station skywards into a series of massive loops) and the Duelling Dragons (now Dragon Challenge as part of Harry Potter world). This time, however, we managed to get on both of them twice. Definitely worth the wait! We then went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the back of the park. It was breathtaking. Walking through Hogsmeade towards Hogwarts felt all too real. The area was packed and queues for Butterbeer or the sorting hat to choose your wand for you were huge. They had done an incredible job in this area and if it weren’t for the humidity, you could genuinely think you were in these areas! The Harry Potter ride is also amazing. It takes place in Hogwarts castle and you really feel like you’re flying around with Harry, Hermione and Ron. I really enjoyed Islands of Adventure and am glad that I decided to come to Orlando. Heidi’s family were incredibly accommodating and I loved going around the theme parks with them. When leaving the Universal parks, I spotted a Fat Tuesdays. I was meant to try this in Miami but never got around to it. Seen as it was my final night in America, I decided to get one (and an extra shot). Fat Tuesdays is a frozen daiquiri bar and the strawberry one tasted amazing. It also meant that on the drive back to the villa, I was pretty drunk. Uh oh. Fear not though because soon enough, we were all (well, except Carl who was driving) drunk whilst eating at Logan’s roadhouse. I barely remember much of the meal except that I accidentally ordered ‘homemade chips’ instead of ‘fries’, 7 weeks in America and I still forget that they call crisps chips.

It was then time to make my long journey home. Because I changed my flight from New York to Orlando, my stopover in Reykjavik was no longer one hour but TEN hours. I got my 7 hour flight from Orlando to the Icelandic capital and arrived in the freezing country at 6am. After trying to decide what to do for a while, I found a return bus into the city centre for 3041 Icelandic Krona (err… £16). I decided to look around the city and saw how beautiful Iceland was whilst en route to and from the airport. I had a good few hours sightseeing, eating and drinking in a small cafe and visiting the Hallgrímskirkja church which is known as Reykjavik’s landmark especially because the main tower can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. I did enjoy Reykjavik and would definitely return to Iceland to explore what else this beautiful country has to offer. I then got my final 4 hour flight back to Heathrow and met my parents in a movie style fashion (I was walking out past all of the taxi name boards and saw them rushing in through the double doors). I’M HOMEEEEEE!