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Published: March 24th 2023
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Dear All
Yay! I'm on the eve of another (fairly) big trip again, having all packed for a two-week visit to the United States of America tomorrow!
I'm very excited to be heading to the States again, it is certainly one of my favourite countries, and there is just so much of it to explore. I was telling someone about my trip the other day, and they asked me how many US states I had been to. This is something I didn't actually know the answer to. I knew I had been to 87 countries, but I guess now that I plan to visit a different part of the States every Easter until at least my current tourist visa runs out seven years from now (and probably more after I renew it!), I think it's probably a good idea now to start counting US states.
I think I'm going to do this properly, and only count states I've spent the night in, rather than passing through or just visiting for the day. And so, a quick calculation brings me to nine US states!
Thus, tomorrow, I head to my tenth US state - Florida!
I first
fly from London Gatwick to Tampa, where I'll be spending my first three nights - I understand there's probably not much to see in Tampa, but it'll be a nice place to overcome my jet-lag, and I'm hoping (fingers crossed!) it won't be as much of a "family flight" as the flight to Orlando could be...! From there I head by Greyhound bus to Orlando for a further two nights, where I'm booked to visit the Disney World Magic Kingdom!! I know I'll be a single middle-aged traveller visiting by myself, and hope I'll be able to overcome any potential awkwardness in that to just re-live my childhood dreams in that amazing place! Then I'll be staying three nights with my very good TB travel buddies on here, Merry Jo and Dave, which I'm very much looking forward to! From there, I'll be hiring a car and basing myself in Florida City for four nights while I do day trips to the Everglades and the Florida Keys! My final two nights will be spent in Miami, where I'll be hoping to visit a few places including Miami's very famous South Beach.
I'm so excited! I've downloaded the Miami Vice
soundtrack (both the TV series and the more recent film) onto my MP3 player, as well as quite a few American road trip songs which I think may very well hit the spot as I drive over the Overseas Highway to Key West and back again. I'm also looking forward to a bit of warmer weather after having just come out of a rather long and cold winter in the UK, not helped much by the extortionate rise in energy bills over here.
As in a number of recent trips now, I plan to write and publish my travel blog entries upon my return to the UK. In the meantime though, I'm writing this introductory blog on this eve of my trip, and will be posting photos and updates on Facebook while I travel. I plan to travel light this time, as it's so much easier, and my travel laptop and a few other things will very much be staying at home this time.
So, until I post my write-ups upon my return, thanks for reading my brief intro, and all the best until next time!
Florida, here I come!!! 😊
Alex
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Welcome to Florida!
We are glad to have you back in the U.S. America has so much diversity and so much to offer that I'm not surprised it is one of your favorite places to visit. I wonder if they would extend your current Visa if you wrote and asked. It seems like they should extend it two years because of COVID. I would ask. Tampa and nearby St. Pete have plenty to offer -- although the public transportation may hinder you getting around easily. I'm not sure. Ybor City is interesting as well as the Tampa waterfront. Plenty of museums, aquariums and Busch Gardens amusement park. Enjoy and we will see you soon.