After writing about half of my dissertation, plans had an abrupt change, and what was originally going to be an epic two-week road trip back to Chicago turned into a still-epic five-day trek in early-August. We visited from Scottsdale up to the Grand Canyon (National Park), then to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas on Day 1. Day 2 ventured us from Vegas up to Zion National Park, then Salt Lake City. Day 3 we cut clear across Wyoming, with a stop at Independence Rock, into the Black Hills of South Dakota, with a stop at Mt. Rushmore and Rapid City. Day 4 we began at Badlands National Park, then drove across SD, down through Iowa and actually back-tracked maybe 20 minutes west into Omaha, Nebraska to add yet another state. Finally on Day 5 we headed east with stops in Des Moines, Iowa City, and at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, where he was born and later buried, and finally back to Chicago.
With that trip in the books, my count stood at 42 states, 8 remaining.
As such, when the opportunity came up in October to visit Alaska, one of my remaining states, with a friend on the cheap, I leaped at the chance. We spent 5 days based out of Anchorage, with mini-road trips down to Seward on the Pacific coast (at Resurrection Bay), over to the Portage Glacier Valley where we saw four glaciers (Alaska is home to more glaciers than the rest of the world combined), up to a dog kennel in Willow, and beyond to Denali. Simply put, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, would go back in a heartbeat, and in an interesting way, reminded me very much of Hawaii in that there were literally jaw-dropping scenic lookouts every mile or two along the Seward Highway especially. 43 down, 7 to go.
In December, about three weeks ago at the beginning of the month, I visited Spokane, WA for a week, the headquarters of People to People (see pretty much any previous post). While there I gave a number of presentations regarding my experiences traveling as a student and as a staff member both internationally and domestically with the company. In addition to interviews and some quality time with friends, some of whom I had not seen in 3 1/2 years or more, I made a decided effort to get to either Oregon or Montana, two of my remaining states. As the weather would have it, Montana won out, and we spent a few hours at Lookout Pass, at 5,000 feet in the middle of a blizzard watching skiers and snowboarders crash their way down the mountain. Fun stuff to say the least, haha. That said it was gorgeous wilderness, and like almost all places I visit for the first time, I am fascinated by the idea of getting back. Montana certainly fits that bill.
With that, my current list of states is 44 down, and only 6 to go: Oregon, North Dakota, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. My goal is to get to all of them in the next 6-7 months, so we will see how that goes. On a continental level, I have been to 5, with Australia and Antarctica remaining. Given the schedules of friends, miles, work, and the like, it is looking like the month of September will be spent in Australia and possibly New Zealand, while Antarctica season is basically from mid-November until early-February. It will be all but impossible for me to get there this season, so I am looking at next season, one year from now.
Most recently, I just returned back from a week in London for my graduation from the LSE. I had an absolutely fantastic trip and spent a lot of quality time with my friends who I hadn't seen since leaving London in late-June/early-July. It was nice to see where everyone is living now (great to put places and images to where the skype calls are coming from), but also to be back on campus at the library, the Garrick, and the George. Also, walking down Fleet Street towards St. Paul's and across the Millennium Bridge to Bankside brought back a flood of great memories from the past year, as did venturing through Borough Market and into Covent Garden. Beyond all of that, I actually made time for a few new places I didn't manage to visit while I lived in London most of the past year. At the top of the list, I climbed The Monument, a 311-step pillar that is the tallest isolated stone pillar in the world, and also the monument to London's Great Fire of 1666. 202 feet tall, it towers over the surrounding buildings with unparalleled views of Tower Bridge, the new Shard, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Best part: it was only 2GBP! Peanuts! I also made it over to Brick Lane, Fulham, and the Old Spitalfields Market.
Aside from all of the above, the graduation ceremony was wonderful, and while only 9 of the 27 of us from the Public Policy and Administration class made it, it was an honor to walk across the stage with all of them and graduate.
In addition, I also took a day trip from London over to Amsterdam in order to explore a new city and new country that I had always wanted to see and hadn't yet made it to. To say the least, I had a great day despite awful weather and the unfortunate circumstance of traveling by myself. From Amsterdam Centraal, I walked over to Dam Square, the main central square in the city and home to the world's first stock exchange, arguably the invention of modern capitalism by the Dutch East India Company. From there I visited the Anne Frank House, which I would be comfortable placing in the top 10 museums I have visited, along with the Oklahoma City Federal Building Museum from July. It told the story in great detail, with powerful effect, and I learned far more than what is already described in the diary. Speaking of which, the actual diaries were on display, something I found surprising and fascinating as well, to see the actual handwriting, etc. Along a similar theme, I then visited the Amsterdam Portuguese Synagogue, which for no known reason was left completely untouched by the Nazis during the occupation. From there I walked over to the Amsterdam Flower Market, the largest I had ever seen, and the largest floating flower market in the world (as it is entirely on one of the canal's, the Singel). Finally, I completed my day trip with a walk over to De Wallen, Amsterdam's famous red-light district, and from there back to Amsterdam Centraal, the airport, and then London. What a day!?!
With all of that, I have had a busy and good past five months, though most of it has been spent here working in Chicago as usual. It has been nice to catch up with family a bit though, given that I was gone for the year and all, and it certainly is a heck of a lot cheaper living at home as compared with living in London, so I suppose those are all benefits. My travels have all been great, and as stated, my goal now is to get to the last of these states and continents, preferably in the next year. How I will balance that with working here and around the US part-time instead of getting sucked into a 40-hour week office job remains to be seen. Of course, in a perfect world, I will find a job that is primarily travel-based, and can do it all together. We shall see!
On that note, I think it is time to change the name of this blog, as I am officially a graduate of the London School of Economics. Thoughts? I will also try to give more updates as well, if people are interested.
On that note, I think it is time to change the name of this blog, as I am officially a graduate of the London School of Economics. Thoughts? I will also try to give more updates as well, if people are interested.
Until next time.
