The Joy of Ramen
Today I had one of the happiest moments of my life. It involved ramen. This blog entry could have gone several directions. One was to be a personal entry about how the one type of surprise I like is a chocolate surprise. The other was to be a pet please entry about care packages, because [...]
Things I Learned About Myself by Traveling Abroad Alone
This past week I’ve discussed my Ireland trip in detail, and I’d like to end the week with a reflection on what I learned from going on this trip solo. I wanted to stretch myself on this trip, to step outside of my comfort zone. I’m a planner at heart, and thus I didn’t plan [...]
11 Ways to Have a Great Vacation in Ireland
Make sure you stay tuned for the contest at the end of this entry. It involves Irish chocolate! I spent the last 6 days just outside Dublin in Clontarf, Ireland. It was a solo trip, and I’ll delve into what I learned about myself tomorrow. But for now, here are 11 insights I have into [...]
5 Reasons to Stay at the Clontarf Castle Hotel
I’ve always wanted to live in a castle. Unless I ever get filthy rich or decide to pursue a career in butlery, that’s not going to happen. Thus I satisfied part of that childhood desire of mine by staying in a castle the last four nights. Tonight is my last night in the Clontarf Castle [...]
Ireland by Percentage so Far
If all I knew about Ireland came from the first day and a half of observations and experience, here are all the assumptions I’d make about Ireland: It rains 0% of the time. 99% of Irish people are thin and seemingly in shape. 50% of dogs that walk by me are somewhat interested in tasting [...]
7 Random Road Trip Tips and Thoughts
Back during a time when I was making many road trips for my first–and last–long-distance relationship, I wrote an entry about how I’d pimp my ride for long trips if I could. Today I have a few follow-up tips and thoughts for long road trips, particularly those for which you’re alone for 10+ hours. Crunchy [...]
How Do You Travel?
I’m fascinated by how people travel and vacation in different ways. Picture your ideal vacation. Say you get a week off work and have a $1,500 budget. Where do you go? What do you do? Here’s what I’d do: I’d fly to a foreign land, find a remote town and settle in for the week [...]
Things I Learned on the Drive
I recently drove back home to Virginia for Christmas. Why drive 13 hours instead of fly? One, Biddy is too big to take on the plane. Two, I can’t fly directly to Richmond, so counting the drive to the airport, security, two flights, the layover, and the drive home, it adds up to about 8 [...]
Some Thoughts About Louisville
For a variety of reasons, I’ve been to Louisville a number of times over the last year and a half. I wrote this entry on last year’s Kentucky Derby, along with this entry on a Ray Lamontagne concert. I paid Louisville another visit on Thursday and Friday, this time for another concert. I have a few [...]
If I Could Pimp My Ride…
If I could pimp my ride, I’d retrofit it to be the ultimate long-distance vehicle. Prior to last year, I was horrible at long-distance driving. I’d get stiff, bored, and tired after about 2 hours in my Camry. But last year I had a long-distance relationship that resulted in several 8-hour trips to West Virginia. [...]
The Greatest Bookstore in the World
Before today, I just assumed that the greatest bookstore in the world was Powell’s in Portland, Oregon. It has all the press, it’s huge, friends recommend it, and I enjoy their e-newsletter. Powell’s may be amazing, but thanks to alert reader Frank W., I learned about a new bookstore today. My friends, I present to [...]
