Man Flu Both Mark and I are now in the firm and gungy clutches of that most terrible affliction to befall man, 'man flu'. 5 x more potent and at least 3.5 x more virulent than anything a woman has ever experienced, both of us have lost our voices and I am (though I expect Mark is also) hawking up plebs of green globules, the shade of which has not been witnessed since the wallpaper choices of 1970s interior decorators. Not 10 minutes ago we were communicating by...

Saint David Following Highway 101 down the coast, my Couch Surfing driver gave more of a guided tour as he pointed out his old haunts growing up along the California coastline. What really fascinated me, however, was his own personal history. Once a base commander on the East-West German border during the height of the cold war, his duty, should it have come to the crunch, was to fend off a Soviet attack across the border. If this scenario had arisen, the 5 tank...

Christmas in LA LA Land I finally arrived in LA X in the evening of the 22nd. The air was cool, rather than cold, and there was no hint of snow the ground. Christmas seemed so very far away again. I climbed aboard the airport shuttle, which was to ferry me towards Union Station where my Couch Surfing host was to pick me up. I boarded along with a couple of airport staff, one of whom was caked in make-up causing me double take. Is it a man? Yes, it is. Welcome ...

Out in the Cold My 5 days in Canada were a bit of a whirl as I hectically tried to sort out my flight down to California and a SIM card. I was successful in the former; not so in the latter. What can I say - if you think mobile phone companies in the UK rip you off, you haven't experienced the shiesterness of Canada. They literally make you pay for each button pressed on the keypad, whether it's your phone or not. I did, however, have a great Couch Surfing expe...

Back to the Future It's a weird feeling to arrive earlier than you departed. I touched down in Vancouver in the afternoon, having left Auckland this evening. Confused? You and me both, although the 22 hour time difference pretty much negates the jet lag. It was the first time I'd looked at the flight map on the screen in front of me and been amazed to see the distance I'd covered. Not that I haven't already covered 1000 miles over the past year, but to see that...