So far the travel plan is going well Fiji, Hawaii, the Western USA and Canada have all gone pretty much according to plan (fuel thieves not withstanding). For my last two weeks in the US before my visa runs out there has been a change of plans. Tomorrow morning (too bloody early) I'm getting on a plane from here to North Carolina to go and spend my last two weeks in the US with Jamie, a girl who I met in Hawaii. After this I'm heading to Mexico and will spend the best part of two weeks attending a Spanish school in a village just outside the capital before joining a trip through Mexico which then heads down through central America, ending up in Costa Rica in early November.......

I'm a bit nervous about the culture shock factor over the next couple of weeks as talking to a number of Americans they all assure me that North Carolina is definitely part of the 'South'. I'll be staying in a fairly small town, Edenton, where Jamie's just started teaching, talking to her over the last few weeks I've noticed her accent and expressions have become decidedly more 'southern'. I've been assured that its NOT 'Deliverance' country but I also know that the major town pass times include suping up ride-on lawn mowers and seeing how much weight they pull out of swamp (sounds like a sport for Plucka and Alby!). I wonder will people look at me funny when I walk down the street......When I was shopping for a pair of boxer shorts today I even started looking for ones with a Confederate flag so I could better fit in, I'm more nervous going to North Carolina than I was moving to Irian Jaya which has bona fide cannibals.

See y'all later!