I decided on the morning of December 17th that I was going to Miami to attend the Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua fight in person. I’d been going back and forth about it. I’m a fan of Anthony Joshua and know somewhat about Jake Paul. But based on my knowledge of the two, I felt this was a tremendous mismatch. 

Anthony Joshua is my favorite fighter of this current generation. He’s not perfect, has some flaws, and things to work on. But Jake Paul is nowhere near his level. I felt there was a chance that as the day got closer, there would be some kind of shenanigans or story, and the fight would be canceled. Or the fight would take place, and because of the disparity in capabilities, it wouldn’t be a particularly good fight. 

The Decision Process

I love to travel, but I’m not a club person, and I don’t really drink. Miami is not a place that I would think of for vacation. But I previously attended two of Anthony Joshua’s fights. The second of which was the Daniel Dubois fight, which happened to take place on my birthday in 2024. I had a really great time with that fight. It was my first time on an international solo trip, so I was a little bit nervous about going. But once I got there, I had an amazing time. It was a great experience. 

I was really apprehensive about going to the fight in Miami, but on the one hand, it could turn out to be a great trip. Anthony Joshua is most likely going to retire within the next year or two. And I have a goal of, if possible, attending the rest of his fights until he retires. So I was like, you know, this is kind of in keeping with that. But at the same time, this isn’t the kind of fight that I was looking forward to or the kind of fight that I was thinking about. For the two previous fights, I got floor seats. Not ringside but floor seats. But I wasn’t willing to pay much for the tickets to this fight. My limit was 100 and something dollars. 

What helped to tip the scales was that in the days leading up to it, I’d gone on to ChatGPT and entered a prompt for it to tell me some things that I might enjoy doing. A budget vacation for three or four days in Miami for someone who doesn’t like clubs, doesn’t really drink, and isn’t looking for the party scene. Someone more interested in museums and cultural experiences. I like history and art. And it gave me some pretty good suggestions. After that, I thought I could probably turn this into a pretty good vacation. 

I woke up on the morning of the 17th and decided to just go. Bought my tickets, and then had roughly about two and a half hours to throw some stuff in a bag, shower, dress, and be out the door and on the way to the airport. 

ATL to MIA

Since the renovations at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport were completed, parking at the airport has become much more expensive. But I happened to do a quick Google search, and it’s like the stars were aligning for things to work out. I learned that you can get really cheap parking near the airport. You just have to be a little bit creative about it. So I considered my other options. It turns out that College Park MARTA Station is just one stop away from the airport and has long-term parking. 

I drove to the train station, parked in the surface lot, and hopped on the train. The ride to the airport took about three minutes. And it was after the train doors closed that I realized I had forgotten to get a ticket for parking. When I got to the airport, I explained my dilemma to one of the employees. And she assured me that I didn’t have to worry because parking on the surface is actually free. If you park in the covered garage, there’s a charge. But at the time, that was just $8 per day. 

I merrily headed into the airport and got through security very quickly despite a minor mishap. I’d purchased a drone a few weeks earlier and took it with me. But I didn’t realize that I needed to take that out of my suitcase.

I now have this thing and don’t know where the habit came from. I rarely drink Starbucks, but now whenever I go to the airport for a morning flight, I feel like I have to go to Starbucks. My gate could be in another terminal. I’m gonna go find my gate, but then I’m going to Starbucks to get a chai tea latte. It’s my drink of choice. 

I ran to get my chai tea latte and used the app to place my order. By the time I got to the counter, I was sweating bullets because it was coming down to the wire for boarding, and it felt like my order was taking an eternity. (It was probably just a few minutes.) But I got my breakfast sandwich and my chai tea latte, so I’ve now got these two hot things in my hand. I’ve also got my backpack and my carry-on suitcase, and am just booking it through the airport terminal, trying to get back to my gate. 

I got to the gate and panicked for a moment because I saw no one, just the gate agents and the door was open. Oh my God, did I miss the flight? Is it too late? I ran up to the gate agents all kinds of stressed about missing boarding and everyone being on the plane. The gate agent was very nice and told me to relax because boarding hadn’t started. It turns out there was a delay in the plane’s arrival at the airport. So while our boarding time was technically done and we should have been taken off, they hadn’t finished cleaning the plane from the previous flight. I was right on time, and the plane had a very quick turnaround. 

We boarded the plane, which was rather small, so the overhead bins could only fit very small carry-on items. Unfortunately, this meant I had to gate check my bag. In recent years, when I travel, it’s with a different pair of Jordans for each day or every other day. And a pair for the fight and maybe some flats, because of safety. But this time, I was trying to pack light. Just one pair of neutral Jordans that would match all of my outfits. And just one pair of loafers for the fight. All of my clothes and personal items were in the carry-on. My electronics and camera gear were in my backpack. 

I had a mental plan that I was going to land in Miami and bypass baggage claim to get out of the airport quickly. Things didn’t go according to plan. Fortunately, aside from the delay, there were no issues on the flight, though I was never able to connect to the Wi-Fi.

Welcome to Miami

The flight to Miami was pretty quick. Getting to baggage claim at Miami International was not. It was a trek and a hassle as I thought it would be to get to baggage claim. 

The airport is pretty big. I had to go up an escalator, down an escalator. Next, I took a shuttle train and got off at baggage claim. Then, I had to go down another escalator, out some doors, and there were the baggage carousels. But they were like carousel 20-21. Meanwhile, my stuff was on carousel 8 or 9. I’ve got all this stuff but I’ve got to trek all the way over to this other baggage claim area to get my carry-on. It felt like I was walking forever. Yet, by the time I got there, the bags still weren’t on the conveyor belt. 

I really wanted to get out of the airport quickly, but even with the baggage delay, I figured it wasn’t the end of the world. After waiting for the bags, I then had to trek back to the elevator near carousel 20-21. Took the elevator up to the rental car floor with the idea that I’d be able to get my rental car and get out of there. Not so fast.

I didn’t realize when I booked the car that the rental car place was a little bit away from the airport. So I had to go outside to wait for the shuttle. Keep in mind, I was wearing a sweater and jeans because it was cold in Atlanta. Fortunately, my coat could be wrapped around my bags. When I got outside, I learned the shuttle bus had just left and stood there baking in the Miami heat.

I arrived at the rental car place and only one person was working. He was running back and forth check on the cars and dealing with the paperwork. No knock against him, but it just felt like it took forever, and I was standing there melting in this seemingly non-air-conditioned room. After waiting, a good 20-30 minutes, another employee came in, and she was able to help me quickly get my rental car. 

I put my carry-on in the trunk and decided to change out of my Atlanta clothes into some shorts and a t-shirt. So I’m sitting in the driver’s seat, changing my clothes. And I happened to look up, and my eyes met the rental car maintenance man’s eyes. The look of judgment. SMH. The look of judgment. I just bowed my head and continued changing because the guy was looking at me like what are you doing in the car? Like I’m playing with myself, but I was just changing my clothes. After our eyes met, I just tried to hurry up. I grabbed my sweater and my jeans, ran around to the trunk, and threw them in. Hopped back in the car and drove out of there because I didn’t need the judgment. 

Snacks on Deck

I was now in Miami, music pumping, AC blasting, and headed to Walmart to get some snacks. Why? Because when I travel, I’ve learned that I do not have patience in the morning. 

When I wake up at home, a lot of times I’m on the go. When I’m on vacation, I want to have a somewhat slower morning. I like to take my time. But I also try to get out of the hotel by 10AM. If I leave the hotel at 10AM and then have to go find somewhere to get breakfast, my day isn’t really getting started until 11AM or 11:30. But, if I get some simple breakfast stuff and keep it in the hotel room, I can relax a little bit more and have a slower morning. Easing my way into the day while still getting my day started relatively early. 

Now, when I travel, I stop by Walmart to grab a few things. Some fruit, bananas, oatmeal, water, and tea. With that, I feel like I have the makings of a good breakfast. And if I get back in the evening and I want a little snack, I have some fruit in the fridge. With snacks on deck, I felt like I was now well prepared for this vacation. 

Adaptability When Traveling

I hopped in my rental car and drove from Miami proper to Miami Beach. Going over the MacArthur Causeway is a nice drive. The palm trees created a nice vibe. And combined with listening to a mix of reggae and R&B, I now felt like I was officially on vacation. I was feeling great and felt relaxed. Everything hadn’t worked out according to plan, but I made it to Miami. 

The press conference wasn’t scheduled to start until 6PM and the doors wouldn’t open until 5:30PM.  My plane was supposed to land a bit before 1PM, and hopefully, I could be out of the airport by 1:30PM. That should have left a few hours to stop by Walmart, get lunch, and drop my bags off at the hotel.

Getting held up at the airport meant that I arrived at the hotel a little bit late. This wasn’t the end of the world, because the hotel check-in didn’t start until 4PM. As long as I had a smooth check-in, I could still get something to eat before heading on over to the press conference. Unfortunately, when I got to the hotel, I had some issues.