Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Stop. You have to see this!
When I first learned I was going to take a trip to Philadelphia, I was excited. I would get to see some friends I hadn’t spent time with in ages. The city itself didn’t matter to me–it was mostly about D and R (and Trudy, the cat).
I even mocked the city a bit by calling it exotic and scenic–words you definitely wouldn’t use to describe a former factory town. But it won me over.
It’s official. I won.
If you haven’t yet heard, I entered a video contest for the iSchools organization. It’s a global consortium of information science and technology schools. They staged a contest for promoting the organization, and selected my entry! I wasn’t able to announce it for a bit, because they wanted to do it first. But I’m allowed to now; I placed second.
On March 20, I’ll have an all-expenses paid trip to exotic Philadelphia and a generous honorarium. I’ve never been to Philly, but I have some friends there that I’m excited to see. If there’s time in between the conference talks, I’ll be sure to check out all the historical landmarks and take as many interesting pictures as possible.
If you’d like to see it, check out the winning video below. I do my best radio announcer voice, and V even makes a cameo!
Location: Ilwaco, Washington (and various other areas around the Olympic Peninsula)
Adventures rarely go off without a hitch. Despite countless months of rigorous planning and scheduling and attempts to prepare for any number of scenarios, there are always events outside of our control- unforeseen circumstances. That being said, we’ve never had a disaster quite like the one that occurred two weeks ago.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
My family is from Chicago. Well, I grew up in the Northwest suburbs, but we spent a lot of time downtown. I’m usually averse to the crowds and tall buildings. I love green and the city is etched in gray. But, for some reason, during the holidays the city becomes beautiful to me. K had never been, and I simply had to introduce him to the city during this time of year.
Mid-autumn Festival (中秋節) or Moon Festival is the harvest festival. It comes once a year on the night of the full moon from September to early October- the 15th day of the 8th month on the Lunar calendar. It has been celebrated in China and Vietnam for centuries and is one of the four most important Chinese festivals. Everyone has the day off to spend with friends and family, eat mooncakes, and sit outside to enjoy the beauty and splendor of the full moon. The holiday has a spiritual quality that comes from the ancient love story a beautiful woman named Lady Chang’e who ascended to the moon and became a celestial being representing fortune and peace.
But, mooncakes, though.
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Last week, I returned home from my first business trip: Alexandria, VA.
One of my biggest problems for this trip was that I simultaneously over- and under-packed. As you can see by my suitcase, I brought a suit and some dress shoes. I brought a bunch of dress shirts. And, of course, the attire after the first day reverted to business casual. When it warmed up, people wore shorts and t-shirts. I felt like the lawyer for a startup.
Outside of that, there was little to complain about. The weather was moderate, maybe even nice. The hotel staff were obsequious and went out of their way to make us comfortable. The rooms were excellent, and I didn’t have to share with anyone else (a first!). Almost every meal was free, and fine cuisine abounded. I should have devoted some of these photos to food photography. Alas.
Location: Blue Ridge Parkway Overlooks and Boone, North Carolina
Alas, after our hiking adventures we had to press on towards our new home. Of course, we couldn’t resist picking an exciting route. We chose to travel 99% of the way entirely on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Why, you ask? Because it’s “America’s Favorite Drive,” of course! Well, actually, that and we didn’t want to have to drive more than 45 mph in our moving van, we wanted the road mostly to ourselves, and we wanted to make ample stops- preferably scenic ones.
Location: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
We had a few weeks to spare, so K and I decided to take the scenic route down to our new abode in North Carolina.
Note: we are both pretty minimal, and we like to make each new home its own. When we realized that we could fit everything we owned into a 10’ moving truck–and that such a truck is actually smaller than most RVs–we designed a week-long trip where we could stop and camp at some of the most beautiful sights along the Blue Ridge Mountains! We knew that we wanted to drive down along the Blue Ridge Parkway and also stop in Boone and Blowing Rock (more about that in our next post!). Since the Northernmost tip of the Parkway runs practically straight into Shenandoah, we couldn’t resist spending a few days there.
Location: Columbus, Ohio
V: Guys, I’m going to be honest with you. This post was hard to write.
Columbus has been my home for the majority of the last 8 years, so I have an intrinsically complicated relationship with it. This city- the capital of the heart-shaped state- is where K and I met and fell in love, where we both graduated from The Ohio State University, and where we have made so many beautiful friends and connections. Personally, I have moved 6 different times within the city’s limits. Now, we plan to leave it for good and move forward to our next adventure. Naturally, we are both happy and sad to go. We are indescribably grateful for all the things we’ve experienced in this place, and all it has done for us. However, we sense it is the time for new places and new opportunities. This post is written as a farewell tribute and also a bit of a travel guide for those who plan to visit or see a little more of the city’s magic.
himheradventure.com 