After 8 months away, I returned to the States with a layover in Los Angeles. It was apparent how thrilled I was to be back in the USA (despite the fact that the American state of affairs appears to be an absolute shit storm from afar) when I audibly squealed spotting Obama's portrait hanging above the escalators at LAX.

American accents were music to my ears as we power walked through the airports to grab our luggage, rent a car and make the most of our 9 hours in sunny LA.

Filtered coffee/pure joy/airplane hair. I think I look a bit like The Weeknd here.

We got breakfast at the must-always-visit Sloopy's, walked off 14 hours of flying on the boardwalk, got caught in signature LA traffic and hiked up a canyon for a view of the LA skyline.

It was warm welcome (almost) home.