Hello, world!
I’m starting this site as a way to share my journeys, past and future, with family and friends. I also want to record specific places, especially restaurants, I’ve visited in case I want to visit them again. Sometimes I stumble into something that made a trip go really smoothly, and I want to remember it so I can do it again.
My Early Travel Experiences
My first memories of travel are childhood road trips. My family lived near Dallas and would drive to visit my grandparents in Ohio and West Virginia every Christmas. Crossing the Mississippi at Memphis, the dense evergreen trees along I-40 approaching Nashville, and the immaculate horse farms in the rollings hills of Kentucky became a familiar part of our yearly drive.
As I got older, we took more summer driving trips. Dallas’ central location allowed for trips west to New Mexico or Colorado and east through the Ohio River Valley, Appalachia, or the Gulf Coast. On these trips I got to experience places that were very different from my hometown. I also learned to read road atlases (this was before Google) and spent hours watching for license plates from various states.
I remember my excitement on the rare trips by plane to cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Orlando. The curiosity instilled by these trips is why I still prefer window seats so that I can watch the landscape below.
How I Travel Now
I love seeking out new places and experiences. If I’m revisiting somewhere I’ve been before, I try to mix in at least one new thing. I also pack a lot in to each trip — I can rest at home.
My work hasn’t required any travel for several years, but I do attend at least one hobby-related conference each year. The host location of that conference changes each year, so I tend to add an extra day or two and look for interesting places to explore nearby. It’s been great at encouraging me to travel to areas that wouldn’t otherwise be near the top of my list. And I’ve had a fantastic time.
My goal is to continue to explore the world, enjoying one journey at a time.