When I started working for Fox Sports, I immediately wanted to travel the States and explore the vast country.

My first trips were Charlotte and Washington DC and recently I visited Portland to see my friend Hassan.
When I arrived in Portland and checked into my hotel, the last thing I expected was to bump into Shaun Wright-Phillips. “What are you doing here!?” we both said in unison as we walked up to each other.

I explained that I was visiting a dear friend for a couple of days, and it turned out he had a game for New York Red Bulls in Portland a few days later. We ended up going for a drink, grabbing some food and having a catch up at the bar, before my friends joined us.

I spent the next day with Hassan, who worked for Nike, and Joshua who was at Adidas. When I returned home I had more Nike gear than I could carry. I felt like the time my mom told me I could take as much as I wanted from the candy store, and ended up almost overdosing on sugar. When we turned up at the Adidas headquarters they were trying to offer me more clothing, but I know from my playing days that you can only wear so much.

My next trip was to New York to visit one of my good friend Karis, who was flying in from the UK. This ended up being one of the shortest trips to NYC in history. As I boarded the plane on Friday I got an email saying I had to be at Fox Studios at 5am on the Sunday. That meant flying back on Saturday night so I could get some sleep and feel fresh.

Luckily I could prepare on the flight because the have internet now so my preparation for the games was done before I landed. I managed to squeeze in some fun though, having dinner, visiting the World Trade Center, and grabbing an early breakfast before I had to fly back to LA

I’ve set my sights on Chicago and Tennessee next, because I love the accents and of course, the Southern food.

#mmlove