USA, Florida - 25th April - 4th May 2014

On my list of places to visit in the USA to meet up with cool bloggers, Florida was right up there with Texas (meaning that like my other two US entries for 2014, this will be heavily geared towards BJJ again). The only reason I delayed until 2014 was because my girlfriend agreed to head to California last year. Naturally there are lots of cool people in California too, but Florida and Texas are the hotspots in terms of bloggers I've interacted with.

The California trip made me realise that it was much more viable than I had thought to do a multi-stop trip. I then thought, why go to just one state when I could go to three, meaning that I've also managed to squeeze in Virginia and a second visit to Texas. I flew out of Austin to West Palm Beach on the 25th, going via Dallas once again (it would appear to be the main flight hub in Texas).

West Palm Beach, 25th-29th April

First thing to note was that the demographic in West Palm was not at all the same as Austin. It was considerably less tattooed and several decades older. My plane on the way there was full of middle aged businessmen talking about fishing: judging by the in-flight magazine, they also really love watches. Every advert seemed to be yet another Swiss watch: the last watch I wore was digital and about two decades ago. My phone is my time keeping device. ;)

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Megan of Tangled Triangle and Groundwork fame was there to meet me at the airport, expanding my culinary knowlege by taking me to a seafood restaurant. She had linked the menu a while back, featuring the fabulous starter of candied bacon. I stayed at an AirBnB for my time in West Palm, in the (comparatively) nearby Lake Worth. Megan kindly drove me the not inconsiderable distance between there and West Palm.

She also took me along to the Boca Raton International Open the next day, where a lot of the Florida BJJ scene congregates. There were several big names in attendance, including Cyborg: as you would expect he won his division. Before his fights he was enthusiastically friendly, hugging everybody and looking very relaxed. During the fights, there was a not so friendly 'knee on neck' choke, though it was extremely effective!

Rilion Gracie was present too, who I previously trained with in Texas, as was Pe de Pano. The latter was wandering around in a gi and had his name called several times. Although I saw him in the 'bullpen' (warm-up area) repeatedly, I somehow missed him competing. Megan and I were surprised to see him listed as taking second place in the results, so presumably he must have fought.

There were lots of other good fights too. I especially enjoyed watching one of Megan's team mates dominate her division, putting her wrestling background to good use with a smooth transition to the kimura as soon as she got to side control. I was also pleased that she stopped a TLI representative from winning gold: it's depressing to see there are still people willing to have that name on their gi, given everything that's gone down, but fortunately there weren't too many of them.

The highlight for me, as it always is on these trips, was meeting up wih local bloggers. Aside from Megan, I also got to meet Stephanie from You Want Me To Put My Head Where? She was busy coaching her women's team and cheering on the other Fabio Novaes competitors, but I had plenty of time to catch up with her later on in Lakeland.

Mainly I spoke to another cool blogger, Suay (from Confessions of a Jiu Jitsu Junkie), who was there with her husband (a brown belt) and daughter. She's extremely easy to talk to, rather like Georgette (they both started under Relson in Texas, incidentally), as well as a capable competitor. I was on camera duty for her fights, both of which she finished in around a minute with a choke. Impressive stuff, considering this was her first tournament as a purple belt.

Later on we headed out to Duffy's, a sports bar that literally has TV screens on every available wall. They were showing the UFC fights, though we didn't stay for the main event: the match between Luke Rockhold and Tm Boetsch was a cool way to round off the night. If you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat as the finish is pretty awesome.

Suay is part of the Brazil 021 team and was helping out head coach Andre Terencio with transport and accommodation. He popped down to our table at Duffy's too, though was understandably very tired after spending to whole day oganising the Boca Open. A burger was enough to tip him over the edge: he started falling asleep there in the bar. ;)

I had a relaxed typing day at my AirBnB on Sunday, catching up on on some messages, which was useful as I needed to make a few tweaks to my travel plan. I booked another AirBnB the next day, but weirdly was asked to verify my ID by taking a picture of my passport. This did eventually work, but it took about five tries. Confusingly, it says 'front of passport', actually meaning the main photo page. The desktop version of the AirBnB verification process is less confusing than the app, as it shows you a picture for clarification.

After getting in some Monday drilling and sparring with Megan at American Top Team West Palm Beach, I gorged myself on the extremely cheesy 'Mac N Cheeseburger' at the Cheesecake Factory. I was quite tempted by the Americana Burger, purely because of the name, but the sheer quantity of oozing cheese in my initial choice could not be resisted! The sweet potato fries are delicious too, saltier than those available at Duffy's.

We finished up the day with a wander round the Spanish-colonial style town centre, checking out some random shops and laughing at the 'UK section' of the supermarket (tinned Birds and Ambrosia custard, Yorkshire Tea, PG Tips and some kind of vinegar, plus a load of Heinz soup, which is random as I'm pretty sure that's an American company...) and finally driving around the very posh Palm Beach. Megan was explaining how you needed more than money to live there, you had to have the right kind of old money. Sounded very Great Gatsby, although some businesspeople have apparently managed to force their way in over the objections of local old money residents.

Lakeland, 29th April - 2nd May

Megan booked a train ticket for me for my Tuesday departure to Lakeland. You can get that as an e-ticket on your phone, or alternatively from the machine at the station. Note that the Amtrak and Tri-Rail trains both use the same station and line. It is easy enough to distinguish, as Tri-Rail are double-decker with palm trees painted on the side, while Amtrak are grey and single-decker.

I was catching the 92 Amtrak, leaving at 13:27 to Lakeland from West Palm Beach. It was 8 minutes overdue when it arrived, later stopping randomly for a freight train, which delayed it further. Though it was due to get in at 16:04, it pulled into Lakeland slightly before 16:50. If that's typical of American trains (it happens in the UK comparatively often too), you should probably build in an hour or so when planning pick ups and the like.

Still, that did mean I could polish off Choque, the interesting BJJ history book I'd been reading. It has lots of fascinating info. For example, it alleges that Carlos Gracie never trained with Maeda, that Mario Aleixo was the first Brazilian to open a jiu jitsu school (back in 1913) and that Carlos never won a fight. Apparently, he only ever fought three, two of which were actually exhibition matches with Geo Omori, spun by Carlos as 'real' fights.

The train itself is a whole lot more comfortable than what I'm used to in the UK. It's air-conditioned, there is lots of leg room and you even get an adjustable leg-rest that pops up from under your seat. Where exactly you sit is assigned by the guard, to whom you show your ticket at the door. Keep in mind that to pick up your ticket you will generally need ID (I used my passport). You can bring two bits of luggage, not more than 50lbs each, which both have to go into the overhead rack. You can check the luggage in too, but I'm not sure what the process is as mine were both within the limits.

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In Lakeland I spent some time with Stephanie (and briefly with Allie, who drove me to my BnB from the train station), training at the Fabio Novaes school on Tuesday and Thursday. I was also able to get in some culture, as the AirBnB was within walking distance of the Polk Museum of Art. Though I got the usual confused looks when I said I was going to walk (people don't walk in the US), it was only around 40 minutes by foot.

On Thursdays (I think Fridays too) the museum is free, but even if you're paying it's a mere $5. They ask to take down your zip code, but presumably that's just for their visitor statistics: if like me you live in the UK, they clump everone by country. There is a reasonable diversity of exhibits, kicking off with three rooms of pre-Colombian artefacts from various countries in South America.

The first one that struck me was a rather disturbing statue representing a priest of Xipe Totec, who aptly enough is a god of suffering. As the caption describes it: "The priest wears the flayed skin of a slave, bloody side out, to signify the 'coat' of new vegetation that grows in spring." The priest wore this skin for 20 days until it turned a golden colour. Hence one of Xipe Totec's more surprising epithets as a god of goldsmiths.

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Another room held some skilful work from students of local schools from grades 9 to 12 (I think that is roughly 15 to 18 year olds, but I'm not sure). Professional artists had a couple of installations as well: I wasn't too keen on the first artist, whose thing was arranging toys either in patterns or thrusting metal poles through to them to create stick figure sculptures. It did make me wonder how much he spent on those toys though, as there were hundreds of them.

I much preferred the other installation artist, who created pseudo-natural scenes within the gallery space. There was a scene inspired by looking down on rolling hills from an airplane, combining textured stone (clay? Something that looked like stone at least) with a light show projected onto it. Another room held stalactites and stalagmites she had synthesised, then stuck on the floor and ceiling.

If unlike me you're into your skateboarding (though I did enjoy that old Tony Hawks game on the PlayStation way back when), there's a load of art created out of skateboards. A lot of it felt quite basic, with a few more technically adept designs, but that is no doubt just my subjective taste coming through. Anything modern in art doesn't tend to appeal to me.

Having said that, my favourite part of the museum was in the distinctly modern medium of photography, with a series of photographs taken around 1994 decorating a corridor upstairs (there's a smattering of paintings too, but not in any particular order AFAIK). They come from Peter Menzel's project, Our Material World. A team of photographers went to thirty countries spread across the world and stayed with a statistically average income family. At the end of the week, they had the family bring all their belongings outside of their house and took a photo of it. There was also a photograph of what the family ate, over a week IIRC.

I love statistics and I enjoy human geography, so this was fascinating. The captions told you which country was being featured, along with details of how many family members, their income per capita, their most prized possession (often a religious book or print, but just as often their TV, mode of transport or their livestock) and their hopes for the future, among various other stats. Some of the captions were stark: the caption for the Russian family announced that the father was beaten to death a month after the photo was taken.

If you go as slowly as I did and look at everything very carefully, you could spend two hours at the Polk, but it would be tough to stretch it out longer. There are several water fountains and toilet facilities, but I don't think there was a cloakroom, if you're looking to drop off bags.

Palm Harbor, 2nd-4th May

Thunderstorms dominated Thursday through to Saturday. Fortunately for me, my gracious host Elizabeth over in Palm Harbor was willing to brave the terrible weather on Friday to make the lengthy drive over to Lakeland to pick me up. Considering she also has some developing vision issues due to cataracts, that was especially kind of her! She's a highly intelligent woman who has had a wealth of experience, meaning she's a wonderful person to talk to. Despite the rain, it was therefore an enjoyable drive (at least from the perspective of a passenger!) back to her home.

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Saturday was another day of jiu jitsu, with my last bit of training at the Fabio Novaes open mat, after which Josh and I sampled the excellent pizza at Ozona Pizza near to my host's home. On the final day, I had a pretty much perfect combination of activities. I began the day by continuing to read some MMA history off my Kindle. Elizabeth's 11 year old son then invited me to play a computer role playing game while he watched: my own inner 11 year old leapt at the chance.

I have absolutely adored playing role playing games (decidedly of the single player kind, I have no interest in the 'LOL, did you see the game last night? How about a quest?' RPG socialising of MMORPGs) for as long as I can remember, beginning with Bard's Tale on the Spectrum +3. I was a huge fan of Daggerfall, not so much of Morrowind, but I've been intrigued by Oblivion, as I had heard it was a return to the non-linear stye of play I liked so much in Daggerfall. It's a good thing I have a girlfriend, or I could easily spend all my free time gleefully slicing through goblins in dungeons. :)

After about an hour enjoyably traversing some caves as an orc, Elizabeth took me to the Dali Museum in St Petersburg. There are a lot of Dali museums: I'm aware of at least three others in various parts of the world. While I wouldn't say I'm an avid Dali fan, I do like his work and I find him interesting as one of the major 'brands' in art. Appropriately, there was also a small exhibition going on of the even more nakedly fame motivated Andy Warhol (although unlike Dali I don't find much of interest in Warhol's work, though his life was certainly intriguing).

The entrance fee is quite steep at $21, though that does at least include an audio guide. All of the work is contained within a large room on the third floor. There are 28 paintings covered by the audio guide, so I guess there must be a hundred and something Dali paintings in total. They range from his Impressionist early work up to late pieces from the '60s (I don't think there was anything from the '70s, but I might have missed it).

It wasn't easy to find all of those 28 audio guided paintings: some of them might have been out on loan, as three had completely disappeared. Having said that, the website is relatively comprehensive, though it doesn't show the full piece: for example, this is one of the absent paintings mentioned on the audio guide. The audio guide was pretty good apart from that, giving you an idea of the complex symbolism within Dali's paintings. Some biographical information was in there too, along with a few details on how the paintings found their way into the museum (mostly they came from Mrs and Mr Morse).

The paintings are a pleasing mixture of styles and sizes, with around 10 massive ones, the rest conforming to more normal dimensions. I was disappointed the enormous canvas featuring some guy on a horse in what looked like an outdoor cathedral (after a google, I can see this is 'Santiago El Grande' and the guy in question is St James, patron saint of Spain) didn't get audio coverage, as the captions aren't very descriptive. It takes about 1 hour to 1.5hrs to go around the Dali, so perhaps a bit overpriced at $21 (considering the Polk occupied me for longer and was a quarter of the price), but the quality and name-recognition is of course a few steps up.

Elizabeth saw me off at the airport, again generously making the not inconsiderable drive over there. Just like every other flight I've done in the last couple weeks, from Tampa to Gatwick went smoothly (well, there was some turbulence, but in terms of schedule etc, there weren't any problems. In fact, it arrived early because that turbulence was from tailwinds). At Gatwick, I took the 200 National Express coach back to Bristol, which I'd booked for £43 last year. The coaches pull in to either stand 4 or 5 directly outside the main doors exiting the airport.

I have been lucky to get the opportunity to go to the US three years in a row, meeting up with a significant percentage of my favourite bloggers from over the years. However, I think it's now time to put that on hold for a little while, as my girlfriend more than deserves some big trips together elsewhere in the world. But I will certainly be going back to the States at some point in the future: I still want to hit up Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York, plus return trips to Florida (perhaps Jacksonville to visit Suay, if she's still there by that time?), Austin and Virginia Beach. :D

USA, Texas - 21st-25th April 2014

After arriving from Virginia, I was originally planning to be in Austin for four full days, but due to how the flights worked out it ended up being three. Nevertheless, it was cool to be going back, as I had such a great time in 2012. The flight from Norfolk, VA was simple enough, though I did get worried when the pilot started saying something about the weather affecting flights. Fortunately for me, it didn't cause any problems getting to Dallas: I arrived on schedule and easily made my connection.

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I saw Austin as my 'home base', because I already knew from experience that Georgette was an incredible host. After she picked me up from Austin's airport, there was a Fenom gi waiting for me and my exciting new trousers from Clothing Arts. Yes, I get excited at the prospect of new trousers, especially when they have so many pockets! :D

I was great to catch up with Georgette over the next few days, as well as revelling in the the wonderful smell of her house. I don't know if it is the washing powder, the Yankee Candles or some kind of magic Ausin scent, but my clothes have a fantastic aroma for weeks after I've stayed at the Georgette residence. ;)

Mitch was also very hospitable, just like last time, driving me to various spots in Austin. The first one was Mikal's new jiu jitsu venture, Aces Jiu Jitsu Club. He has an excellent facility and a cool group of students. Mikal showed Mitch and I around, then we hung out for a while before class, Mikal filling me in on how he'd gone about setting up the new school.

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After class, I headed to a local park with the students, where they put down a mat and got in some rolling right there. The weather was hot (at least by my UK standards), perfect for taking a dip in the nearby river. With lots of Austinites in their swimming gear, the massive abundance of tattoos was made clear. I've long wanted to get a second bit of body art and being in Austin encourage me further. There is a cool 'alternative' vibe in Austin, which come to think of it is there back home in Bristol too. I later trained with Georgette at the spacious Gracie Humaita Austin school, a place I almost felt like I already knew after reading so much about it on Georgette's blog.

On the Wednesday I walked over from Georgette's office to the University of Austin campus. Last time I visited was in November out of term-time: in April with all the students there the atmosphere is a lot more vibrant, as you would expect. Jesse, who I first met in 2012, showed me around the area, wandering up the clock tower and enjoying the various bits of art dotted around campus. There is a large statue in a fountain, which I think is some kind of commemoration of the United States entry into the First World War, judging by the 1917 date and the military helmets on the statues. Either way it was fun to speculate.

I also got to add to that expanding category, 'bloggers I have met in the real world'. This time it was John from the ILoveLegLocks blog, who has moved back to Austin from Korea. He is studying for a Masters at the university, so it was rather fitting that we then had a look around the Ransom, a museum based on campus. Entry is free, with a cloakroom type thing behind the desk. It's just a load of large shelves with dividers (enough space for an average size backpack), but John assured me that he often left his stuff there: appears to be fairly safe.

They have a number of interesting exhibits, including a Gutenberg bible and what is apparently the first ever photograph. If I remember the display correctly, it was taken in France during 1826. The picture is difficult to make out, as not only is it blurry, it's housed in an area without much light, to avoid damage. However, you can tell from the captions and the reproductions outside the dark area that it's a view from a window, showing a house.

A more extensive exhibition was dedicated to the posters and propaganda of the First Word War. I studied the two World Wars for GCSE history and recognised a number of them, especially the 'mad brute' by Harry Ryle Hopps, demonising Germany. Interestingly enough, that image was sufficiently infamous that Goebbels reprinted it in 1939, titled 'the old hatred, the old goal'! He meant it as an indictment of American slander (the alleged Belgian atrocities referenced by the original poster were not well founded in fact, from what I remember of my GCSE), but given the horrors Goebbels initiated, the line could be interpreted rather differently. The material in the exhibition was from various countries, mainly the USA and UK, with a few from Germany too, IIRC. Either way, well worth checking out if you have any interest in World War I.

On the last day I met up with jnp from Bullshido, who gave me a load of great advice about BJJ in 2012. Unfortunately he has picked up an injury so we weren't able to train this time, but that didn't matter as John is a brilliant conversationalist. I always enjoy hanging out with him, and also enjoyed being a brief part of the tight-knit community where he lives. :)

Georgette was also injured, so we weren't able to roll that day as we'd originally planned: my own fault for not taking the chance to join the sparring class the day before. Then again, it just means I've got another great reason to visit for a third time in he future. I did at least get to train for a third time in Austin, on the University of Texas campus with John T.

On Friday, Mitch drove me back to the airport, where I was once again flying to Dallas, before getting my connection to West Palm Beach in Florida.

USA, Virginia - 17th-21st April 2014

Not long after I returned from California, I decided to book yet another trip to the States. Originally I had planned to focus all my time in Florida, but flying out of different airports in California made me realise that it wasn't that difficult to make multiple stops. I therefore added in Virginia and a return trip to Texas. In case you're wondering, this is going to be an extremely BJJ-focused entry. ;)

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I was happy with the service I've experienced from Delta Airlines, so wanted to go with them again, but they only provided 1.5 hrs for my connection in New York. That's risky, given border queues can be long, so I was forced to go with American Airlines instead (though the international part of the flights was operated by British Airways, immediately making me feel more comfortable. Adding even further to that comfort, I thought I'd wear my spats on the flight too: the fabulous way to beat DVT! ;D). I could have plumped for US Airlines or United, but the level of vitriol directed online at those two, especially the former, put me off.

Flights for 2014 were somewhere in between the endless connections of 2012 and the direct flights I did in 2013. I only had the one change on the way there, at New York. Personally I quite enjoy long haul flights, because it means I get to watch lots of films. I even relish airline food, but as anyone who knows me can attest, my tastebuds aren't exactly refined.

It was a good thing I had made sure to leave at least two hours to connect. JFK did indeed have a wait at the border queue, though it didn't delay things as much as the horror stories I've read indicate. All in all it took 1 hour and 15 mins to get to my gate for the Virginia part of the journey. Once I was through border control, I needed to cross the street and grab the AirTrain to terminal 8 for my connection. It is relatively obvious where to go, but I wouldn't have known that I needed to head over there if somebody hadn't told me (but then my directional sense is seriously lacking).

The plane to Norfolk, VA is quite possibly the tiniest plane I've ever been on, but then it was a short flight of less than an hour. Norfolk Airport isn't all that big, though the baggage claim section all looks much the same if you are planning to meet someone after a flight. Fortunately I already knew what Chrissy looked like, as I've known her online through blogs, forums and Facebook for years. I made sure to wear a suitably bright t-shirt anyway. :)

Virginia Beach

When I originally decided to add Virginia as a stop, it was because US Grappling co-founder Chrissy Linzy and prominent blogger BJJ Grrl (her real name is Leslie) lived there. Prior to my arrival, Chrissy introduced me to Adrienne, where I would be staying: she has a big house with a couple of guest bedrooms. I was excited at the prospect of meeting her, as Adrienne runs a gi company, The Green Gi: a chance to look behind the scenes of the gi manufacturing, branding and selling process was appealing.

The trip got even better when it turned out that not only would I get to meet Chrissy, Leslie and Adrienne, but several other BJJ visitors were coming along too. Well known black belt, BreakingMuscle.com author and Groundswell Grappling co-founder Val Worthington was on the list, along with the mightily bearded Mike Byrd (that's one word, in case you ever meet him) and of course Chrissy's husband and fellow US Grappling brain, Brian.

We all headed out to a place called Ynot for dinner, where the portions are American sized. I was feeling pretty hungry after my flights, so decided to confront a large plate of gnocchi with extra meatballs. The gnocchi won, though I managed to get through a fair bit of it before tapping out. Less meatballs next time! ;)

The next day I had a fascinating chat with Adrienne and Leslie about the Green Gi. Having reviewed many a gi at this point, I'm interested in the whole process of bringing a gi to the market, something Adienne knows a great deal about. She showed Leslie and I different fabric samples, discussed stitching, weaves, suppliers, working with local businesses, how to correctly dye material and how minor changes can cause a significant shift in tone.

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We had numerous other chats on those kind of topics over the course of my stay, several of which I recorded. I'll be putting one of them up somewhere as an interview (either online or in a magazine if I can find an interested party), while the rest were all background research for the reviews I want to do of The Green Gi hemp belts and hemp gi.

Update November 2014: It's taking me a while, but I've been gradually putting up those interviews here. I've also got a few into magazines, such as Val Worthington in Jiu Jitsu Style. Should hopefully be a few more mags interested in some of the others. Also, Leslie got promoted to purple belt a few days ago! Awesome! :D

Adrienne's house is amazing. She not only has plenty of bedrooms, she has a large garden where she grows a range of vegetables, but best of all, it backs directly onto a river with access to a lake. There are a couple of ducks and Adrienne also has a lovely whippet called Hummer. I can't remember hearing him bark once: he's friendly, well behaved (as far as I could see) and has a great temperament.

The whole gang got together a few times to eat, as well as play something called Cards Against Humanity. I haven't played it before, but my friend was familiar with it when I mentioned the game on Google Hangout, so it must have reached the UK too. It turned out that Adrienne's partner Antwain (who owns his own gym and was part of the TUF 8 cast) and Chrissy's husband Brian had both nailed this game, though Chrissy was right behind them.

We gathered at Chrissy's house to watch the UFC, though I was feeling dozy and eventually fell asleep for part of it, so can't remember much of what happened. Even more exciting was the opportunity to interview Val before she left, which I followed up by interviewing almost everybody else in the group too. Leslie was the first of my 'blogger interviews': I'll be putting those up on slideyfoot.com in the 'BlogChat' series, as it seems the most appropriate place.

Even more so than 2012, this was very much a jiu jitsu trip. I didn't do anything that wasn't directly jiu jitsu related, including some training at Antwain's beautiful gym (I rolled with almost everyone, before I tweaked my neck slightly by being stubborn in a triangle) and then a seminar with NHBGear legend Dave Jacobs.

I also learned how to properly sew on gi patches, handily. In my previous attempts, I have tried to sew a corner in place, hoping that by sewing around the full edge, it would stretch out the patch enough to stop it becoming all crumpled. Watching Adrienne in action, I realised that a much better method is to put pins all around the patch's perimeter to stretch them out. A simple difference, but should mean my Meerkatsu patch fits properly when I sew it onto my hoody.

The next stop in 2014 was a return to Austin, TX and the fabulous Georgette on the 25th April, before heading on to Florida and yet more cool bloggers on the 29th April. There was a little more non-BJJ activity, but it was still overwhelmingly about rolling on the floor with sweaty people. ;)

USA, California - 3rd-17th June 2013

Going to Texas last November was so fantastic that I was keen to do it again as soon as possible. I also wanted to incorporate that into a holiday with my friend, as the original plan was for her to go somewhere at the same time I was in Texas. While it is always fun to go on holiday with her, it meant that California would be a different prospect to Texas, because she doesn't train.

I did still get in a few visits to various academies, but California was generally a more 'normal' holiday, with sightseeing and staying in hostels. Getting through the airport was easier than last time, with much less hassle. There were no 3D body scans or careful interrogation as to why I was there, just the usual passport check (if you want more details on transport to the US, I went into depth last time).

San Francisco (I): 3rd-5th June

After we arrived into the airport, we headed straight for the train, down the stairs. There are machines to buy your ticket from, which take both notes and cash so you don't need to worry about change. It's $8.25 each to get to Powell, the station nearest our hostel, but we only knew that because someone told us: you have to type in the amount of the ticket rather than a destination. Public transport in San Francisco is generally quite easy, with several options.

The most famous is the cable car, costing $6 for a one-way journey. From what I can gather, this is mainly used by tourists. If you are there on a weekend, that means huge queues. Note that if you want to sit in the prime spot - the benches along the edge facing the open air - you'll need to walk all the way around if you can't nab the ones on the near side. There is no way of getting to the other bench from inside the cable car.

The normal bus appeared to be just $2 to ride as much as you want within a certain time period, although nobody bothers checking the tickets. Just like the Tube back home, it can get rammed full of people. The times are displayed on the ticket, ripped off to indicate the point it runs out. Walking is possible in a few places, as San Francisco is nowhere near as sprawling as Houston, Dallas or even Austin, but you would probably want to at least cycle. The bus seems to be the cheapest option.

We weren't in San Francisco for long. Our first day (or rather, part of a day) was spent wandering around orienting ourselves. I had a tasty burger at a place literally called The Burger Bar, at the top of Macy's. Surprisingly, it wasn't too expensive, as slightly over $10 gets you a decent burger where you pick the bun, meat, toppings etc. This was our first encounter with the tipping system in the US, something we never quite worked out (almost everybody seems to expect a tip when you get any kind of service).

We tried to make the most of our sole full weekday on the Tuesday. I was still jet lagged and woke up at 4am: on the plus side, that gave me the chance to do some interview prep for Rener and catch up on emails. The HI San Francisco Downtown had decent wifi with plenty of plug sockets, enabling me to comfortably set up my workstation of phone and portable keyboard. Sadly they do not look after your bags if you are heading out on a multi-day tour, so keep that in mind if you're planning something similar.

If you like wildlife, head to Pier 39 on Fishermans Wharf for entertaining sea lions, who flop on the floating docks in front of you, sunning themselves while play fighting. You also might want to check out the Musée Mécanique in that area, housing loads of old arcade machines spanning the whole of the 20th Century. I can recommend the delicious Ghirardelli sea salt caramel hot chocolate for $4.85, but watch out for salt build up at the bottom. Ghirardelli is a chocolate shop based in San Francisco, though you'll see it everywhere in California (possibly further afield too).

San Francisco's City Hall is more impressive than the one I saw in Austin, with a majestic staircase and grand carvings looming above you. There are free tours, though only at specific times, so you'll want to check the schedule. We found ourselves in the middle of numerous couples getting married, with about six weddings in the short time we were there, understandable given the impressive setting and its function as presumably the main registry office.

Randomly, there was a guy in a sharp suit doing tai chi poses getting pictures too: I'm not sure if he was somebody's uncle, but I saw him later in front of a group of people, possibly his students. You can happily wander round almost everywhere in the building, though there is the occasional "staff only" sign.

On our way to a spot of dessert at Bi-Rite ice cream, we made sure to pass through the the Castro. I was especially interested in that street due to some of the research I did back at university, related to the beginnings of the international AIDS pandemic in the '80s. That was closely related to an increasingly politically active gay community, who were among the hardest hit at that time in the USA. The late Harvey Milk, a figure who emerged right before that, remains a strong presence in the area. His historic camera shop currently houses the Human Rights Campaign, selling t-shirts and running campaigns, with updates on the wall (e.g., gay rights legislation colour coded by state).

The Mission district is another area worth seeing, festooned with murals. I had read in the guidebook that the example on The Women's Building was especially noteworthy. Given the strong feminist impulses evident in the piece as well as the high quality, I thought it was well worth the walk. It's refreshing to see it still looks in great condition: I'm not sure if it gets regularly cleaned or if it sufficiently impresses other graffiti artists that they don't obscure it with inferior work.

Yosemite National Park: 5th-7th June

On the 5th June, we were outside our hostel at 06:15, ready to board the Extranomical tour. We were still there an hour later, when the Extranomical bus eventually arrived. Relieved, I walked over to the bus...which then started to drive off. I had to chase it down the street to make sure we did not miss our tour. It kept getting worse. Instead of apologising for making us wait for an hour and then almost leaving us stranded, the driver Jesse said because he was new, he was 'winging it'. Due to said winging, Jesse cut short one of the stops by an hour, meaning there wasn't enough time to actually walk to the sight we were stopping to see. Jesse followed that up by skipping the rest of the stops entirely.

After my friend asked when we were going to get the rest of the tour we had paid for, he insisted it was covered on the way back, despite the fact it categorically stated on the itinerary that it was not. Following repeated phone calls, my friend managed to get Extranomical to buy her a short complimentary tour (from another, better company), at least showing some willingness on their part to make things right. Hopefully Jesse is not representative of the Extranomical tour guides and will cease winging it in future. The guy on the way back was much better, so I will give Extranomical the benefit of the doubt. ;)

Yosemite itself is by contrast well-organised. There is a free shuttle that drops you off around the Park every 10 minutes (less frequently after 7pm, then the service ends at 10pm). There are numerous facilities, particularly where we were staying, Curry Village, such as showers, free (but rather slow) wifi, food and a selection of marked walks. The easiest option to start with is probably the walk to the Lower Yosemite Falls, beginning from the Visitor Centre. The Upper Falls are visible from here too, with plenty of stunning viewpoints to choose from.

On the second day, we took a $30 raft trip down the river, at a very relaxed pace: this is something you do for the scenery, not the adrenaline rush (suiting me perfectly: I am not at all interested in doing whitewater rafting again, as the experience in Canada was more than enough for me). It did unfortunately rain, but not too heavily. For wifi, there is a little internet lounge in Curry Village, but it gets very busy later in the day. For better access, a chance of a seat and to be near a plug, go early. The wifi becomes rather choppy in the late afternoon/evening, presumably due to so many people using it.

Our tent cabin was ok, if not supremely comfortable, but then you'd expect that for the price. It gets hot in there, plus you have the annoyance of putting absolutely anything with a smell (e.g., toiletries and food) into the lockable 'bear box' outside the cabin (unless you want to risk a hefty fine and being kicked out of the camp). Bring a padlock, or you'll have to buy one: they are useful for hostels too. You don't get any windows in the tent cabin, but there are three flaps that can be pulled up via ropes, lined with a mosquito net.

Our final day in Yosemite was spent on a hike to Vernal Falls, on the 'mist trail'. It takes roughly two hours to get up there from the shuttle stop, then you can either turn around and go back (we liked the view enough to repeat it in reverse) or continue on the loop, which I assume takes you back where you started. It isn't overly strenuous, but the climb is quite steep at points, up a series of stairs cut into the rock. Not only do these get increasingly narrow, they are slippery with spray from the waterfall (hence 'mist' trail: the spray does have the advantage of rainbows :D). If you have any issues with your knees or something like that, you may want to opt for an easier hike.

San Francisco (II): 7th-10th June

Returning to San Francisco, I joined the free 'Social Movements' walking tour on Saturday morning. I was expecting an exploration of the numerous movements associated with San Francisco, like gay rights and hippies. There was a bit of that, with a discussion of the Black Panthers and the Diggers, but it turned out to have a heavy dose of economics. The guide is an academic and a member of the Henry George Society (I think? Looks like he teaches here, as I see his name on the site). He took the opportunity to discuss George's theories in depth, using various parts of the city to illustrate his points.

I would have liked to continue, as he managed to make economics interesting, but had to cut it short to meet back up with my friend. She wanted to go to the 'Cultivate' festival in Golden Gate Park, rather randomly put on by restaurant chain Chipotle. It was a struggle to get there on the bus and then find out just where in the Park it was (the Park is HUGE). Once we arrived, it was crammed with people, resulting in enormous queues. Clearly the time to go was early in the morning: we soon got tired of queuing and left.

The Park itself has plenty to offer. We did a spot of rowing at Stow Lake, then headed over to something I was keen to visit, the National AIDS Memorial Grove. As with my interest in the Castro and Harvey Milk, that was prompted by some academic research I did into AIDS and poetry, with a focus on Thom Gunn's work. There is a poem of his engraved into a circle within the grove. To find it, you walk into the more densely wooded part after entering the grove. Bizarrely, there was some kind of model photo shoot going on when I got there, making for a strange atmosphere as I tried to pay my respects to the dead.

We finished up the day meeting for drinks with an internet BJJ friend of mine, Dave, who I know through the JiuJitsuForums website. We've been chatting through that forum and Facebook for several years, so it was cool to finally meet him. My friend very patiently sat through our jiu jitsu discussion, though I was trying not to go overboard. That would come later, as I arranged to train with Dave at Tatami Multi Arts the next day.

Before I headed off to train with Dave in the evening, Sunday morning was spent on a bike ride, rented from Blazing Saddles: there are numerous bike rental companies, but they all charge about $8 an hour. We considered going for the whole day, but seeing the weather, my friend decided she didn't fancy crossing to Sausalito. Instead, we just cycled to the Golden Gate Bridge, went halfway, then turned around.

It gets extremely windy on the bridge, but still possible to cycle across (although I wouldn't want to do it on a weekday at rush hour, as I assume the bike traffic gets heavy). We then dropped by a tasty wine and cheese place called Barrique: my friend drank the wine and I ate the cheese, just how I like it. You can choose from either local wines produced by Barrique or international wines, divided by the left and right sides of the menu.

Green Tortoise California Coastal Crawler: 10th-12th June

I first heard about Green Tortoise due to a positive review from somebody on an internet forum called the Heathen Hangout. They recommended it as a good option for California, remarking that back when they used it, the trip took place swathed in clouds of pot with a chilled out hippy vibe. A couple of decades later, there wasn't any marijuana, but the hippy vibe continues. Interestingly, when we booked, the operator mentioned that their business mainly came from word of mouth.

The booking system is rather backward, with no online payment functionality. You have to call them or send your payment by snail mail. I'm not sure why they do it that way, but it means Skype is probably your best option. There are forms that need to be filled in, though normally that part can be done online. For some reason my friend's form did not go through, so we ended up going to the Green Tortoise office in person to make sure.

Green Tortoise trips are best suited to single travellers who enjoy socialising and communal living. It would probably be an ideal choice for students, or for more mature travellers who are visiting the area on their own. That isn't to say you wouldn't enjoy it if you are in a couple or have kids with you - there were two kids, along with two couples (including us) - but the vast majority appeared to be 18-30s travelling either alone or in small groups.

The converted bus is the most unsual aspect of the company. It is in three main sections: an enormous 'bed' at the back, fitting around 10 people, two four-person tables, then two long benches facing each other (four on each comfortably, five or maybe even six on each if you were squashed in tightly). At night, this shifts to two huge bed sections, with the tables transforming into bunk beds. The luggage racks can be slept in too. Apparently, as many as 34 can fit in that configuration.

This does mean people will be stepping over you when you sleep, but speaking personally, I slept through both nights, helped by a hood over my face and ear plugs. I was fine with a small blanket, but you might want to bring a sleeping bag. You can hire them if you like, provided by Green Tortoise for $10 a night (although the information was unclear prior to the trip, where first we were told $20, then that you coudn't hire at all).

There is the option of camping instead, if you bring a tent, or even sleeping on a tarp outside. You will also be fed: on our trip, there was both a driver and a cook, who brought all the food with them. However, you are expected to help with the preparation of the food and cleaning up afterwards. Generally that isn't a problem, as the bus is stuffed with people: our tour was combined with another, resulting in at least twenty on the bus.

I am probably not the ideal person for this kind of trip, given that I tend to go very quiet in groups of more than three or four. I spent the majority of my time on the bus buried in a Kindle. However, if you're more of an extrovert, then I'd definitely recommend Green Tortoise: you'll get to meet people from all over the world with a range of experiences. The driver and cook were very friendly and capable, with the driver's wife also helping out. Their approach is laid-back, but still reassuringly efficient.

The specific tour we took was the California Coastal Crawler: we did it one way, but the Coastal Crawler can be done as a round trip as well. You begin with an early start at the Green Tortoise Hostel in San Francisco (if you aren't staying there, you'll have to either walk or get a taxi for 07:15 in the morning), located on 494 Broadway in a less than salubrious part of town. The hostel itself looks like it has plenty of character, but we opted to stick with the HI about a 40 minute walk away.

From San Francisco, there are stops in Santa Cruz and Monterey before you reach the first night's camp ground. There is a toilet on board, but it is reserved for emergencies. However, the bus stops every hour or two, which should be sufficient for even the smallest bladder. Santa Cruz isn't all that exciting, the main attraction being a large fairground with an old wooden rollercoaster. Probably due to the weather, my friend thought it was reminiscent of Barry Island in Wales.

Monterey is classier, boasting the literary landmark of Cannery Row, the setting for John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. There are signs marking the route with summaries of how people would have actually lived at the time, with a few mocked up houses. The whole street tries to keep the period feel, with places to eat, art on display and souvenir shops. There is also a world class aquarium, with a world-class price of $37.

The second day features a look at a colony of elephant seals, observed from a boardwalk set back from the beach. As with so much of the US tourist sites we saw, it was beautifully presented with plenty of information available, although there are not any toilets. A little later, you have the option of a short tour around Hearst Castle (for a hefty $25) or a spot of sea kayaking (for a quite reasonable $10 an hour).

Los Angeles: 12th-14th June

Our final day winded down towards LA, where there were visits to famous sights like the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Venice Beach. Like all tourists, we couldn't resist slapping our appendages into the prints outside the Theatre. I can therefore state that I officially have Johnny Depp's hands. Shame about the rest of me. ;)

For the Green Tortoise Coastal Crawler, you need to book a hostel in LA whether or not you're doing the round-trip. The bus pauses at two hostels, in Hollywood and Santa Monica, so the easiest option is to book into those. We went for the HI in Santa Monica, which was less impressive than the HI in San Francisco. The service was poor and the WiFi was a lot crapper, though it did eventually work if you hung around near the lobby.

Unlike in San Francisco, I could not get wifi to work at all in the rooms. We were in single sex dorms this time, inevitably less comfortable than a private room. Getting woken up by people stumbling in at all hours is common, though I was fortunate to have fairly quiet room mates (although one guy switched on his bed light early in the morning, then just left it glaring for the rest of the day).

That evening, I had a chance to meet up with yet another internet friend, Francisco from the DSTRYR website. My friend was out to eat with some of the people from the Green Tortoise group (she was rather more sociable than I was), leaving me free for an entirely BJJ-centric chat. Francisco has been around jiu jitsu a long time, so has an extensive store of anecdotes. It was interesting to talk about his site, plus he kindly gave me a cool DSTRYR shirt to add to my collection. Fitting, as DSTRYR apparel marked our early interaction back in 2009 too. :D

The tour had technically ended, but the next day still began with riding in a Green Tortoise bus. The driver generously agreed to give us a ride over to Hollywood, seeing as he would be stopping at our hostel again anyway. That made transportation much easier, as we were heading to another of the main destinations my friend was looking forward to, Universal Studios. I'm not a theme park fan, but the chance to learn about the film-making process was appealing.

From Hollywood, we took the train to the next station, Universal City. That's about the extent of the train system in LA. You then need to get another shuttle from Universal City to Universal Studios itself, but it's free. We had already bought our tickets from an information stand back in Hollywood, saving a few dollars compared to buying on the door. It also means you can skip the ticket queue.

The highlight for me was the informative Studio Tour, taking you round various backlots and sets. You might get to do some star spotting, as actors are wandering around: on our tour, we happened to drive past Angelina Jolie, which was rather surprising. Fans of Desperate Housewives will be happy to know Wisteria Lane is included. I didn't realise that the exact same houses had been used for many other TV shows and films over the decades, explained in detail on the tour.

There are little screens on the tour buses, showing clips from the Universal archive and the tour guide's face, instead of just a disembodied voice. Our enthusiastic tour guide did a superlative job: Alex, IIRC. The tour isn't entirely sedate, because you are thrown into several mini-rides along the way, like the impressive King Kong 360. I won't spoil the surprise regarding the rest of them, but suffice to say there are quite a few.

Universal Studios offers a selection of other attractions, most of which we managed to attend: I think we only missed out two of them, Transformers and The Mummy. Rides like those are mixed in with live performances. There is the spectacular Waterworld (as I recall the film was a huge flop, so I'm confused as to why they made a feature of it at Universal Studios), performed by a cast of actors that proudly declare their film and TV credits on the banner outside. Less explosive but just as entertaining is the more genteel Animal Magic, or for something flashier, you can try the Special Effects show. If you're there with your kids (big or small), characters like Optimus Prime, the Blues Brothers (complete with their car) and minions from the upcoming Despicable Me 2 wander around the site at certain times during the day, ready to have their picture taken with you.

All the performers are very polished, with a light dose of comedy thrown into everything we saw. The Shrek 'ride' is a 4D film (in this context that just means a particularly striking use of 3D), though there is a brief bit of animatronics before you enter the theatre. The chairs move with the plot, shaking you around when Shrek canters down the road on a horse. It is worth getting to the ride you want early, in order to miss queues, but we did not find it that bad on a weekday. We never queued more than 30 minutes (though some of the other queues reached 70 minutes at points).

Another internet friend of mine kindly picked us up around 19:30, taking us on a quick mini-tour of some favourite LA spots. We bonded years ago over a shared love of '80s music, which has dominated our email conversations ever since. Much Wham! was played as we meandered through the city, taking in sights like Griffiths Observatory (hence the Morrissey pose, something my friend was keen for me to re-enact). As with Dave and Francisco, it was awesome to meet an old internet friend in person. I won't mention their name, given that this friend has always used pseudonyms on Facebook. :)

My last day in LA was slightly marred by some transport woes, though my friend had it far worse. She spent the entire day on public transport, unable to reach any of the places she wanted to go. When she did eventually get to Paramount Studios, they were fully booked. I think we had been spoiled by the relative ease of getting around San Francisco.

I fared better, thanks to the immense generosity of a fellow BJJ forum poster, bjh13, known to the real world as Ben. He drove me over to the Gracie Academy in Torrance, where he had arranged an interview with Rener Gracie, the current face of the school along with his brother Ryron. That's where BJJ outside of Brazil really began, meaning it wasn't somewhere I wanted to miss. My visit to Torrance signalled the beginning of the BJJ-heavy part of the holiday, particularly as the next destination was the Mecca of BJJ (if we ignore Rio for a moment), San Diego.

San Diego: 14th-17th June

San Diego would have been a totally different prospect without the BJJ community. Upon arrival, my friend Dave Kim from the BJJ Library picked me up from San Diego Greyhound station then drove me to my hotel. We had planned to go train at the University of Jiu Jitsu that day, but due to my Greyhound bus being delayed, that wasn't possible.

I booked a 14:30 bus months ago, then found when Ben dropped me off at the Long Beach station that they no longer ran that service, bumping me onto the 16:30 instead (it would have been nice of Greyhound to tell me: next time, I'll be sure to double-check closer to the time). It was lucky Ben was there and was happy for me to email from his phone, as otherwise I would have had no way to get in contact with Dave to let him know. We rescheduled the University for Monday.

The reason I wanted to go to California in the first place was to train with Dagney and Caleb in San Diego. On everything else I was flexible, but training at the Fabio Santos school in San Diego was non-negotiable. The strong community feel of the 15th June reminded me of the Texas trip. I met up with Dagney in the morning, who had kindly offered me a lift over to Fabio's, then had a good chat with the people there.

I caught up with old friends like Caleb and made new ones, like Alex from Montreal. I also got to talk with jiu jitsu legends Fabio Santos and (briefly) Relson Gracie. After that, Dagney and I had a delicious meal at Caleb's house (who is clearly an accomplished cook as well as a BJJ black belt), finishing up with an interview for the Fightworks Podcast (still the best BJJ podcast out there).

I'm not sure I'm worthy of being on it, but it did give me a chance to plug GrappleThon.org, which is cool. The interview itself is now available here: if for some reason the download doesn't work, you can just click the 'play' button for the audio. My section starts about 35 minutes in.

Dave continued being incredibly hospitable by offering to take my friend and I around San Diego on the Monday for sightseeing. We spent the first half of the day at Balboa Park, arriving in time for a free tour at 11am, starting next to the Visitor Centre. It's led by a park ranger, who did a great job of educating us about the history of the park and its buildings, along with the fascinating range of flora. The park is stuffed with museums, though unfortunately we didn't get a chance to look at them: that will be high on my list for next time.

Dave wanted to share Mount Soledad with us: the reason why soon became clear. There is a stunning view of San Diego from the top of the Mount, also featuring a large war memorial. We then caught a bite to eat on Mission Beach, where I gorged myself on a burrito (or rather, half a burrito and half a burger: my friend and I often order two dishes between us then split them for variety :D). We said goodbye to Dave at the Gaslamp Quarter, the oldest part of San Diego.

According to the guidebook, that's because the Gaslamp Quarter used to be a seedy area in the past (from what Dagney said, it can still get dodgy at night). Therefore it was the only section that did not undergo a huge redevelopment, which in turn meant it was the oldest area by default. Our day finished in Seaport Village, an attractive huddle of tourist shops by the seafront, not far from our hotel. On the way, you can gaze up at an enormous statue commemorating the end of WWII, unusually painted in realistic colours (from my understanding, this used to be the case for all statues, but as the paint faded from Greek and Roman originals, the austerely blank results left to posterity became the standard). Judging by the placard it has only been there since February of this year.

My last day in San Diego was the 17th: it began the same way as my arrival, because once again Dave was there to generously offer me a lift. This time it was over to the University of Jiu Jitsu to train in the morning class from 09:00-10:00, taught by Renato Vieira (full write up here). Even more exciting, once we finished class I was going to have the opportunity to meet and interview a jiu jitsu hero of mine, Saulo Ribeiro. He is a huge name in BJJ, with multiple titles, the best instructionals in the business and some of the most famous quotes in BJJ. It was a privilege to speak with him for just under an hour.

Our hotel, the Wyndham San Diego Bayside had great service and was surprisingly cheap: my friend must have got some kind of deal. Our room looked far better than £34 per person (especially as we paid barely less than that for our hostel rooms earlier in the trip), with an attractive view out the balcony. The fact they look after your bags and provide free shuttles was very handy, as it meant we could do something with the hours before our flight rather than just sit on our bags by the swimming pool or something. Instead, we ended our time in California by eating at the Fish Market by Seaport Village, where the tables are right by the sea.

If this had been a full on jiu jitsu trip I would have trained a lot more, but I enjoyed sharing the US with my friend, who previously had absolutely no interest in going there. Yosemite isn't a place I would have gone without her, or Universal Studios. Also, her unbridled glee at a Wonka chocolate bar made me smile: I don't think we were ever more than a few minutes from a candy store. ;)

Next year, I'm hoping to do another solo trip. I may even try to combine different parts of the US, as until I booked this trip to California, I didn't realise how easy it was to sort out multi-stop options. I'm therefore thinking of fitting in two short stays in Virginia and Austin (depending if people like Chrissy, Leslie, Georgette and John are around), before spending the main chunk in Florida with the McClish sisters, Megan and another friend who lives there too. I'll have to see if I can manage to get the flights to square up. :D