DAY SIXTEEN: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Friday, December 16, 2011.

Here we are...outside of the United States once again. And, from here on up, it's down South all the way!

DAY FIFTEEN: ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Thursday, December 15, 2011.

Here we are...the city that Mickey Mouse built.

Here, in Orlando, we're just one step closer to the fashion capitals of the world...or at least two weeks away. But, in central Florida, where I went to school...at the University of Central Florida...they care about fashion. For me, it was like coming home again. I was wondering whether some of my old classmates, who lived in Orlando and some of the surrounding cities, were still here. Or had they moved on? Whether they were here or not would have to wait until after the afternoon show was finished.

Donatella Versace had rented the use of one of my old haunts...the Orlando Regional Theatre, where I had appeared as an actor while I was attending UCF. As I entered the theatre, I looked around and saw that very little had changed. I could almost see and hear the directors shouting out orders at the casts and crews of the plays that I appeared in.

We were led to another familiar spot...the dressing rooms backstage. As we changed into our first set of clothing, one of the other models asked me how it felt to be back at the theatre where I performed so many professional productions while I was attending the University. I told him that it felt a little strange returning here as a model and not as an actor.

When 2 p.m. arrived, we walked onstage in Ms. Versace's fashions, showing the buyers what she had to sell. When I had appeared onstage for the first time since 1994, one of the buyers recognized me...and I recognized her. She used to be the fashion editor for the Orlando Sentinel, the same paper which I used to work for as a travel journalist-photographer. I told her silently that I would see her after the show to catch up on old times.

After the show was over, I met with her. She couldn't believe that I had hardly changed. I told her that physically, perhaps, I had not changed. I told her that I was now married for 12 years and that I was the father of six children. She told me that since I had last seen her at the Sentinel, she had been married and divorced twice and now seeing another man.