Ryan Porteous (second right) is happy to be back in the Scotland fold
It's been quite the journey for Ryan Porteous, literally and metaphorically.
Let's take the former first. He's gone from Dalkeith to Los Angeles in a career trajectory that started with the Hibernian Under-20s and a loan at Edinburgh City.
He then played more than 150 games for the Hibs first team - and more than 80 for Watford when he moved south of the border.
The man from Midlothian has row racked up 52 appearances for Los Angeles, the cross-town rivals of the better known LA Galaxy. A transatlantic trip that makes him smile when he remembers how it all started.
"Dalkeith, I know man. I could be the first ever, actually, to be fair," Porteous laughed when asked about his journey to California.
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"It's some place. It's good. I stay in Pasadena. So a little bit outside the temptation zone, as I call it. I stay pretty close to the practice facility as I can't be doing with the traffic every day when I'm in and out to training."
The smile on his face, the tan on his skin and the use of the phrase "practice facility" all lend themselves to a man loving life and adapting fully to his situation.
His last Scotland cap came against Greece in March 2025 and the 27-year-old is now determined to notch up many more appearances for his country for the man who's recalled him, Sebastien Pocognoli, following an injury to Swansea City's Stephen Welsh.
"That's the same as everyone," Porteous said. "The manager is probably still figuring out who he wants to select and he's given boys an opportunity in most games.
"For me, it's all about just putting in a good representation of myself and being professional and doing what I do."
What's clearly helped him since moving to Major League Soccer in August last year is the level of forward players he's come up against, including a certain Argentine superstar who's just retired from international football.
"I'm enjoying it," Porteous said. "There's been a lot of games. It's probably something I didn't realise when I went over there, how many games there were in terms of travel and dealing with long flights, recovery times and things like that.
"That caught me off guard a little bit. It was tough, but I think, once you start getting into the swing of it, it's good.
"I think I've probably had one of my most consistent seasons over the last three or four years. The level varies, I think, between every team and every position.
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"I'm fortunate and unfortunate at the same time that the majority of the team's best players are number 10s, strikers, or wingers, so every game for me is really tough and the league's growing out there.
"You see it, there's more money getting put into it. There's bigger names coming out that, you know, aren't just coming out for retirement. I think it's a good place for me to be."
As for the aforementioned Inter Miami veteran Lionel Messi, Porteous admits: "I don't know if I enjoy being up against Messi like that, but we had a good night that night.
"But that was one where you just could never settle. We managed to get the win, so I'll take that.
"You're playing against world-class players. Even if you take Messi out of it, you're still playing against probably good Premier League forwards with the amount of money that these guys are getting paid.
"So, for me, it's playing at that level all the time and being used to coming up against these top players."
Having rediscovered his club form in Los Angeles, Porteous is now hoping to rekindle his Scotland career in Glasgow on Friday against North Macedonia.
If he can get back into the side, the man from Dalkeith might take some shifting.