I am writing this blog on Microsoft Word, 37,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean heading towards Honolulu. It is our third flight of the day. We got up at 4am this morning and caught our first flight at 8.30am from Montego Bay to Miami, where we had a two hour wait before boarding the next plane. We then had a 5 hour flight from the east coast to Los Angeles on the west coast. Straight from one plane to an identical plane for the last leg of our flight, the five and a quarter hour journey to Hawaii. We have managed to snatch some sleep but we have been awake for 15 hours so far and with Shrek The Final Chapter blaring through my headphones you will have forgive me if this blog seems a little ... read more

It's hard to believe we have been here in Jamaica for over a week now. One sunny day seems to roll into another as we lazily lounge around reading or lazily float about the pool on the lilos. Each day features a torrential downpour and rumbles of thunder but thankfully no more injections, yet! Rachel said to me that there is no point in putting up another blog yet but those of you who have spent more than five minutes in my company, surely know that I can and will talk about anything! Last weekend was a holiday weekend here and the villa staff (apart from the head of the house) had a long weekend off with their families and we were left to fend for ourselves... sort of! On August 1st Jamaica celebrates Emancipation Day ... read more

Our excitement (well, my excitement) was palpable as we drove along Interstate 4 and into the magical city of Orlando last Tuesday afternoon. There were signs everywhere for Universal Studios, DisneyWorld, Animal Kingdom and Sea World, and just before we left the main highway, I glimpsed the promised land, the turrets of Hogwarts! We actually arrived in Orlando a day earlier than when our hotel reservation began so using our trusty book of vouchers we checked into a lovely La Quinta Inn and decamped to the pool for a late afternoon swim and sunbathing/reading session. Rachel has brought one bikini with her. It's black and fits her great. It's lovely. But in that lovely way hat only a woman can manage, it's not right. She needs another one. Or maybe two. You see, it doesn't go ... read more

The journey to Montgomery from Mobile was fairly uneventful. It took about four or five hours as we got off the interstate and explored the Alabama countryside. Most of the towns we passed through were small and similar to each other, they had shops which were mostly shut down and modest houses. One building of note was the Greek Orthodox Church in Malbis near Mobile. A Greek man named Jason Malbis founded the town and the villagers built this church in his honour after his death. After taking a few photos we were on our way again and eventually stopped off in a town called Evergreen where we unpacked the fold away chairs for lunch at the side of the railway tracks which passed through the town. We were out of the car for no more ... read more

Almost as soon as we crossed the state line from Texas into Louisiana, the heat turned from dry to steamy as the wetlands and swamps appeared beside the highway. The scenery was very interesting considering we were driving along a major interstate highway, and it was beginning of the best week of our travels so far. (The first few paragraphs may make you think I am saying this with more than a small hint of sarcasm, but believe me, this week was what travelling is all about for us.) As the interstate cut its way through the muddy brown swamps and bayous of west Louisiana we drew closer to our first night's accomodation on the outskirts of a town called Lafayette and were treated to a lovely,if not a little humid, sunset as we unpacked the ... read more