(5) Becoming ... Back to the USA

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1am flight out of gritty Lima.

Sloshing down Peruvian whiskey cuz it's gonna be a long night. So sad with saudade (it's a portuguese word) because I met some Hasidic Jews from Israel who had gone into the jungle and drank the shaman healer drink: Ayahuasca.

It was time to depart from my first amazing destination. We sat up talking about Peru. The clarity was amazing. I thought how I had to someday return to this magical country and explore my mind further.

10am arrival in Miami Florida. After a layover in Mexico my actor friend Barry picked me up in his pink VW rabbit at Miami international. I was shown south beach. The water was like Hawaii; warm. Peru was frigid.

Didn't take long 'til I tired of the American wonderland city and my friend Cheryl who I had met in Peru came to visit. We rented a mustang convertible and hit the highway south. Destination: Key West.

We switched off driving in balmy days and nights. Underlying all my thoughts were Jimmy Buffet tunes as we island hopped southwest to the furthest southern habitation of the continental US.

There is a grandness to being surrounded by crystal blue white ocean and drinking the rich warm air.

The next day we drove back to Miami and parted. It was time to go see my brother.

Roughly 10 hours driving north I was almost in Alabama where my brother, sister in law and niece reside. Talk about culture shock: Panama city Florida. Different lifestyles from the South Americans, for sure.

Take two people and raise them in the same environment and make them as opposite as possible and you have me and my younger married brother. He is my best friend in the world but we are of different worlds. That being said we loved and hated through fire and fights. I saw little Madeleine Margulies, my niece.

It was with wings for the want of unfurling that I went to see my mother in Washington DC.

For the first time in 3 years I reunited with my Momma! It was awesome. We walked on the lawn of Capitol Hill. Went to the air and space Museum. We finished up a long days work with some great whiskey and wine drinking.

I was ready to venture off into the old world. It was early June and the summer sun was starting to warm the northern earth. For me everything was running smooth.

My next stop was England. The Ancient Ancestors of the Americans. I had bought my tickets for a Shakespeare show at the Globe theatre. They spoke my language with a funny accent. I was staying with a friend from college. What could possibly go wrong?

SURFTRAVEL TIP #5: Expect nothing. Cherish the chaos. Let go.

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