A Look Back and A Look Ahead: The Travel…

I’m still two years behind on my travel blogging. Sorry about that. Here in real-time though, I’m still bouncing around as much as possible. I guess 2011 can be summed up as The Great American Cities trip. Nowhere super exotic this year, but I got to spend a couple days in some awesome cities I’ve never been to.

The “Long Overdue” trip for 2011 was to Europe. It was supposed to be Turkey…then it was Morocco…then it was both…and then I really wanted to go to Nepal…and maybe India too…and I came this close to going. And then it got too expensive by the time I made up my damn mind. So then I hastily tagged along on a trip to Iceland and threw in a week in England for good measure. And in hindsight, that Nepal trip probably would’ve been cheaper if I wasn’t scared off by the cost of the flight.

Here’s how 2011 panned out. I leave out my weekend trips to NYC/Boston and my exploration of New Haven. They still count in my head. Travel isn’t defined by distance, after all. This post would just be too big.

January – Chicago

Okay, I might be cheating a little, since some of this trip is from 2010. But it was to celebrate New Year’s. Stef and I went to Chicago to watch a BU hockey tournament. Apparently, no other BU fan could be bothered. Our cheering section consisted of approximately 12 people. Anywho, we rang in the New Year with hip hop party at our hotel. This is where I learned to Dougie. I learned it from a 10 year old kid. And I’ve been teaching the less fortunate ever since.

Looking at my Flickr set now, I’m surprised how many good pictures I took here.

February - Austin, Portland, Seattle

My one business travel trip of the year. But it was a goody, as I got to see all the great hipster cities in one whirlwind week.

Did a nice daytrip out to the Mt. Hood Conservation Area with some coworkers.

And since I was in the neighborhood, I got in a daytrip to Seattle before flying home.

Watched the Super Bowl at the famous Alamo Drafthouse with a rowdy crowd that would normally be immediately kicked out of the Drafthouse on any other occasion. As for the rest of Austin…

March – Austin

…Well, two weeks later, I was on a flight back to Austin for SXSW. What an incredible week surrounded by cool, smart, hipsters who each did their part to change my perspective on work, travel, technology, and life. Also, I saw Big Boi in concert. And I bought a bike. Living and working in New Haven really hasn’t been the same since.

May – Las Vegas, NV

This trip was totally unexpected in the best possible ways. It was in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. What started as a “Wouldn’t it be cool…”conversation at dinner between friends spiraled into an actual, random long weekend a few weeks later. I saw new sides of friends, and I don’t think I would’ve ended up in Iceland were it not for this trip. Also, I won a rally expensive wallet. This was a weekend that kept on giving.

Can’t forget the annual trip to Block Island. Same itinerary, different’ish people, more seals, and tandem bikes.

There was a long depressing lull as I tried to recover financially from Vegas and preceding trips.

November – The Long Overdue Trip…Back to Europe

This trip felt long overdue after a very rough summer and fall of no trips. Can’t write too much about it yet, that’s for a blog series that will take 2 years to complete. Here’s a VERY VERY NSFW video that properly sums up my trip though. Metaphorically, I’m the rabbit in that video, whereas life is represented by me. There’s some meta symbolism in that, but I’m still working through it.

 

2012
I can’t really tell if it’s jealousy of others or that I really enjoy it myself, but this desire to travel and see the world is really intensifying. I’m so envious of the friends who get to hop on a plane every week, who are sick of living out of a suitcase, and come back on weekends just begging to not have to do it again. There is a part of me that wants to be that tired of travel. I still like the airport, I like the 4am drive to JFK, I like being horrifically lost in a foreign place and struggling to find my way out. Is that strange?

I honestly have no idea where 2012 will take me. I’m hoping to do the Mongolian line of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I’d love to attempt Nepal again. Anywhere in Africa would be a dream. And I still haven’t seen the mother country (Vietnam). We’ll see which one pans out or if a new travel opportunity awaits. “Travel more” is no longer a goal or resolution, it’s on my mind 100% of the time, so it’s just something that will happen as frequently as possible.

Happy New Year!