ON the second voyage of the Mayflower in 1629, thirty-five passengers left London and the island where they were born and raised to set sail across the vast Atlantic ocean into the great unknown.

Beckoned simply by the distant promise carried on the wind of a brave new life in a brave new world, the voyage began in May and reached America's Plymouth Colony in August.

One of the adventurers upon board the ship that sailed into history was a Welshman with the surname Briggs, and now, nearly 400 years later, one of his American born descendants, lured by the call of the 'Land of her Fathers' has finally returned to the 'green, green grass of home.'

Jann Seal knows a thing or two about travelling. The 63-year-old native New Yorker spent a year travelling around the world in a LandRover in her early twenties and visited 36 countries in the process.

Since then Jann's itchy feet have seen her move locations a staggering 24 times.

Jann is also no stranger to the art of writing, the former editor of Home magazine and writer for American soap-operas such as General Hospital, Days Of Our Lives and As The World Turns, is now combining her twin passions of words and wandering in a new blog called 'Living Dibley'.

The blog describes Jean's recent move from Florida to Goytre and the myriad differences between the 'Sunshine State' and the windswept mountains and vales of her Celtic forefathers,

"The America I know now is not the one I grew up in," said Jann simply when stating the main reason why she and her husband Paul chose to leave the confines of their luxury 'gated community' in Palm Beach County and relocate to a simple farm in Goytre.

"That, and of course the weather!" said the self-confessed lover of all things British.

"No I'm completely serious," explained Jann, "People laugh when I tell them I came here for the weather, but in Florida the heat outside of the months from November to March can be oppressive to the point you see the sun as an instrument of torture.

"It gets so hot that you can't comfortably sit outside or go for a walk. Consequently you end up with an existence that involves you leaving your air-conditioned home in the morning, to get in you air-conditioned car, to go to your air-conditioned office, before going to the air-conditioned store and back to your air-conditioned home again in the evening.

"In Wales it never gets warm to the point where you simply stagnate and cannot function, and I love the bright, cold and fresh days you have in this country, especially this time of year - it makes you feel really alive.

"Another thing you guys take for granted is your lovely tap water. I haven't bought a bottle of water since moving here. The water that comes out of your taps is delicious and cold, whereas in Florida it tends to be tepid and lukewarm."

Jann is the first to admit that she had a natural affinity for Wales, stemming from her visit to Snowdonia - a place she describes as her idea of Eden - 40 years ago.

Describing her visit to Caernarfon Castle on her first trip here, Jann said, "Caernarfon was the first castle I had ever touched in my life. I rubbed my fingers across its storied stones until they pulsated with the castle's history. The ages-old castle, and the fact that it was almost 700-years-old, made me aware that as an American, I just didn't know what 'old' meant.

"And that's the way it went throughout my travels in Wales back in the days of living in a green LandRover. Old buildings, quaint villages, green hills, castles, history and sheep."

Because her husband Paul is a Welshman who moved to America nine years ago, Jann has returned to Wales on numerous occasions since, before finally deciding to make it her permanent residence. To date she has no regrets.

"Wales is definitely where I want to be," revealed Jann. "Obviously I will miss my only child, her husband, my two grandsons, and my own parents, but when something feels right you've just got to go with it. My personal motto is 'Dream then do.'

"Paul and I feel totally at home here. We love the lush and green countryside. Wales has topography. Florida has bumps. The only hills they have there are rubbish dumps.

"I also find people here are so very friendly, polite and helpful. In Wales people tend to be a lot more soft-spoken compared with what I'm used to and the unique expressions you guys use I find fabulous.

"I'm taking it all on board. You might say it's a case of when in Rome do as the Romans but I call it the taming of a brash American," laughed Jann, who added, "One of the best things about moving here is the food. Paul and I love to cook and we love to eat. All over Wales there are market towns providing fresh-from-the-ground vegetables and fruit,organic, farm-raised meat and eggs and fish drawn from local, cold water streams. Naturally we are in food heaven.

"The only thing that frightens me about this country is the roads, but slowly and surely I'm getting used to driving on them. Overall living in the UK is like breathing fresh air. Actually, it is breathing fresh air!"

In the last month, Jann has joined forces with the Abergavenny and District Tourist Association and is keen to promote the area to her fellow Americans - in fact, like a mirror image of her ancestor who boarded the Mayflower all those years ago, Jann explained,

"Amongst our friends Paul and I are known as the 'pathfinders', because we don't just talk about something we do it as well. Already a lot of our friends have booked to come and visit Wales and see what all the fuss is about.

"We love the fact that we are able to open a door onto a world where most people would never even think of visiting. A place which we are now proud to call home."

•For a firsthand account of living in Wales from an American's viewpoint visit www. livingdibley.wordpress.com.