Sorry for the lack of updates lately, travel friends. I’m in the process of moving this week (only down the street, alas) and have been out of town on business. Sure, I’ve visited 50 countries but last week was the first time I’ve ever been to Ohio. Exciting!
This month’s Women Who Bike brunch was held just down the street. Good food, interesting conversation and I even found another couchsurfer. This picture inspires me to wear more fun stuff when I bike but I’ll have to wear shorts underneath if I’m going to get my leg over my bike’s cross bar. Shoutouts to…
We had a glimpse of spring here in Chicago a while back but it’s turned cold again. During the winter I continue to bicycle as my primary form of transportation but this cold is really getting old. My Gary Fisher bike is almost one-year old and I really love it and it’s huge, steel basket.…
This morning Chicagoland woke up to more than 20 inches of snow on the ground—the third largest in recorded history. When I ventured out my back porch I quickly realized that I was snowed in. The back gate into the alley was blocked on both sides by a four foot drift. Luckily the snow drifts…
I was pretty excited when my brother first played The Metro, a concert venue I spent much of my teens and 20s at. This weekend he topped the Metro, gracing the beautiful House of Blues stage. Now I just need to convince him to face the audience! Amrita at House of Blues – Keyboard Solo…
Saturday afternoon was spent in a cleared out storage room in the back of a record store watching Steve Wiebe attempt to regain the world championship title in Donkey Kong. Watching someone play Donkey Kong for two hours isn’t as boring as you’d think, but I still can’t get the soundtrack out of my head.…
I haven’t posted much about one of my hobbies which I’ve kicked up a notch since I returned to Chicago—biking. I’ve always loved exploring areas around my home by bike and found renting a bike in another country to be the best way to see areas you might not make it to by foot. Earlier…
Living and working alone without cable TV means that I see very little about Christmas until I head out to my mom’s house to celebrate. Missing out on the crazy commercialization America has become known for is great but I sometimes miss the decorations and fun. Tonight the CTA made sure I got in the…
It has been unseasonably warm in Chicago this week so I took advantage of the good weather with a 23 mile bike ride on Chicago’s beautiful lakefront path. Those of you in the Northern hemisphere, get outside and take advantage of the weather before winter sets in for good!
After more than 39 hours in the air and nearly 19,000 miles flown across 15 flights I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of Jet Blue’s All You Can Jet promotion. With that much flying I had the in-flight commercials memorized and had no problem deciding what snacks to choose (plantain chips are interesting but you…
There is a reason I haven’t flown jetBlue before—it has very few direct flights from Chicago. I’ve already connected through Boston and New York a number of times and I will admit that the jetBlue terminal at JFK is gorgeous. I certainly didn’t mind waiting for an hour surrounded by modern design, an extraordinary number…
Originally I planned to spend a day in Baltimore and fly to Chicago in the late morning. Once I decided to spend that day in D.C. another plan presented itself—New York City. Although this trip was meant to be about seeing new places flying out of Dulles gave me the option to connect through JFK…
Despite traveling to remote area of the world there are a number of places much closer to home people are surprised I’ve never visited—Washington D.C. is one of them. Most of my readers know how much I love museums. I’m happy to wander around all day looking at exhibits and looking at people looking at…
Last night’s Chicago Meet, Plan, Go! was a success! REI’s community room was full and I was surprised at how well-traveled the audience already was. We even had someone who had been to Uzbekistan—I was impressed. Hopefully everyone had a good time and left with a reignited passion for RTW travel. As always, I always…
My first leg of jetBlue’s All You Can Jet is finished and it was pretty exciting. Washington D.C. was so amazing that I changed my flight at the last minute to skip Baltimore and stay in D.C. another day. Since my friend was flying out at 6am on an adventure of her own I ended…
I had heard about the deal last year but didn’t take advantage of it. This year I jumped on the chance to fly anywhere JetBlue flies for $499 for a month. The pass sold out in two days and I didn’t have much time to plan my trip. JetBlue only flies direct to three locations…
Meet, Plan, Go! is coming up in a few weeks and out host in Chicago, Lisa Lubin, has been doing some press for the event. Although the Chicago event is pretty full make sure you put your name on the waiting list because things may open up as it gets closer to September 14th. You…
Couchsurfing is a great way to meet people and experience other cultures. My first surfing experience, staying with David in Urumqi, was memorable. We’ve stayed in touch, talking via Skype, and he’s visited me in Chicago twice now—even couchsurfing at my apartment earlier this summer. My long list of “posts to write” includes an introduction…
I’ve just returned from a week in Southern California and have some great photos of the amazing Indian wedding I attended. This was my first opportunity to wear a sari and, despite my concerns, it stayed up for 16 hours. I’ll post as soon as I get the photos ready, meanwhile, here are a few…
Celebrating American Independence Day on the road is always weird for me. Often times I forget the date while traveling—when you travel by road and buy your tickets as you go the date just isn’t that important. During my last around-the-world trip I was not only away for two 4th of Julys but out on…