– How did this trip come about?

“After seeing the Florideah Swampfest footage from last year I knew I had to get there. I spoke to Martin and he agreed so after a couple of conversations at The Level we got round to booking the flights.”

– You guys slept in the van… Pretty ghetto. Was it OK? You find some good places to camp out?

“I’d spoken to Martin about hiring a car and booking an airbnb or hotels as we went, but we noticed on the car hire website that there were minivans. It made perfect sense to get one of them and road trip the whole way, sleeping in the back!

In my opinion there is no better way to travel because it allows so much more freedom and forces you to make the most out of your day, as you don’t need to travel back to a hotel every night and in the mornings you’re not tempted to chill and be lazy – once you’re up, you’re out and planning your day.

“In my opinion there is no better way to travel, it allows so much more freedom.”

Originally we had plans of finding some good camping spots by lakes and the beach but we ended up in a Walmart carpark every night, just because of how convenient it was!”

– How did the hire van compare to ‘hotel lingo’ back in the UK? Was there enough space for you Martin and the bikes or was it mad cosy?

“The van we ended up getting was perfect. All the seats in the back folded flat and we found a way to arrange the van so that all the bikes, the bags and ourselves fitted in.

I did miss the lingo at times just because its a bit more organised when it comes to making food and storage, but it would have been too tight in there.”

– What about that lake spot, was it rad? Is that where you guys washed?

“Yeah the lake spot was unreal… Somehow a tree has grown up and over the lake making it the perfect jump spot, it was so refreshing to jump in there after a day’s riding and a night in the van.”

– How much fun did you have at Florideah Swampfest?

“Swampfest was so good, being there gave me the same type of feeling as getting the latest props DVD when I was younger. The most pure BMX event I’ve been to in years.”

– Were the ramps tricky to ride?

To be honest after growing up riding ROM and all the crazy setups they come out with they didn’t feel too bad! I was lucky enough to get a session on the ramps a day before the event when the set up was pretty empty.”