I had quite the unfortunate journey on my way from Menomonie, Wisconsin to Miami, Florida…I was seated at the rear of the plane, on the inner window seat of a row of 3 seats. The problem arose from the fact that there was no window by my window seat. So for the duration of the flight, I felt like I was in a large tube being hurtled across the sky mercilessly.

However, my time in the sunny Florida completely made up for my sickly plane journey. In a sense, being in Florida felt like being back home in Lagos, Nigeria. The sun was on full blast throughout the time I spent in the aptly nicknamed “sunshine state”. I was surprised to notice there were very few pedestrians to be seen everywhere I went in the state. Everyone seemed to have taken cover from the blazing sun. In comparison to the UK, I noticed there were loads of people driving white cars and under the bright sun, they sure did look good with the rays bouncing off of the white.  As I think of it, I do not think I have ever once seen a white car in the UK (moments after writing this I realized my neighbors actually own a white car….).

One of the major highlights of Florida was dropping by Chick fil A on our way to Orlando. I  had the most delicious milkshake ever made, in my opinion, and I have had a lot of milkshakes.

Without a doubt and it will come as no shock, that the best experience in Florida was visiting the Universal Studios in Orlando. I am an adrenaline junkie and hopped from roller-coaster to simulated roller-coaster. My dad, who I went with, is not an adrenaline junkie and he nearly had a heart attack. I wish we had more time though. We were only able to visit one section of the theme park and I would have also loved to go to Disney World which is a stones throw away from Universal Studios. It is definitely worth setting aside a few days (and wad of cash) to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

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Other fun experiences were visits to South Beach and Daytona Beach (which is the self-proclaimed most famous beach in the world…). The waves reminded me of some beaches in Lagos, I often went to as a child. The waves of the Atlantic hedging Lagos are very wild and my idea of a perfect beach – warm sand, wild waves.

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It probably goes without saying that Florida is a fantastic place to visit especially if you live in a country with more frigid temperatures. I found the people there warm and friendly and can’t wait to have another opportunity to return.