reality TV

One of the most fascinating piece of travel writing I could image doing would be involved with reality TV.  I think it would be really neat to be able to travel from reality TV cast to reality TV cast and write about my experience with them.  Whenever I watch a reality TV show, I always picture myself in the show with the cast, just to imagine how horribly awkward it would be!  I think it would be especially fun to travel to one of the "Real Housewives" sets and document my travels and experiences with the cast.  I feel like I could say nothing, and be able to fill almost a novel's worth of writing on my travel experience!

First Communion

This past weekend I went to a First Communion for my fiancee's cousin.  Now, I was raised a strict Atheist, and have grown into an Agnostic, but I have never been to a religious ceremony like this before.  I felt so out of place but I tried very hard to fit in! I felt like I was in another world!  I knew it would end up fine because I was already like a part of their family, but I was still so awkward!  I decided I would just kind of follow my fiancee around all day because I needed someone by my side who could help me out and prompt me when I needed to be prompted or tell me what to say and when to say it.  I ended up being fine when I didn't talk about religion, and I learned very quickly that when religion came up in topic of conversation, I would simply smile and look interested.  I quickly learned not to speak about topics I was not knowledgeable about!

Wedding

Planning a wedding is a lot of work, and I am certainly learning that the hard way.  I had to choose a location for my wedding and that in itself was like traveling to another country!  I had to appease both my fiancee and I, but also both sets of parents.  We toured a few venues, and finally we found a place that we loved.  We then had to think about those who are going to have to travel from out of state to some to our wedding, so then we had to find hotels nearby.  Traveling to and from the venue every day took up a lot of gas, but also we had to picture how it would seem to others traveling to our wedding from out of state.  How would they feel about the venue? How would they feel about the hotel? How would they feel about getting from one place to another?  There were so many different issues, that we finally had to realize that those traveling would have to figure that out for themselves.  We'll give the venue and the hotel, and they can make their own travel experience out of it. 

Malls

I know it sounds silly, but looking at the differences in attendance between the Providence Place Mall and the Warwick Mall is really entertaining.  While popping into the Warwick Mall for something, I notice that there is a more old clientele.  I think this is because it is more accessible- no parking garage and all one level for the most par.t  As you can simply park and walk in, this is easier for old adults who do not have the time or energy to deal with the multiple levels of Providence Place. When I visit Providence Place, it is a more young vibe.  There are tons of college and high school students no matter what time I visit.  There are always crowds, and there is always a new store going under construction.  I choose what mall I go to depending on what I need and how much time I have to do so.  Preferably, though, I like the Providence Place Mall because it does have that younger feel. 

Clark University

In visiting my little brother at his college, Clark University, it was interesting to notice how life was at another college.  He is a freshman, and the freshman culture is just very different than a graduating senior who lives off campus at URI! His dorm smelled like "boy".  There is no other way to describe it.  My brother isn't a partier, but he does like to have his friends in his room til late at night.  Because of this, the laundry piles, up and the room starts to smell like "boy".  The decorations in the hallway are all about new activities to join on campus and places to live for the next year.  It was actually somewhat adorable.  The most amusing part, from a travelers perspective, was that when I told him I wanted to use the bathroom, he gave me a whole list of the stalls I "shouldn't use" because he had witnessed activities in the stalls that he wished he hadn't!  Oh, freshman...

Eat Pray Love

So I recently watched the movie Eat, Pray, Love, and I thought I'd blog about it because it because it was a film about travel!  I honestly thought the movie was kind of silly.  Yes, she travels all around the world, but I don't feel like she's doing it for the right reasons.  I almost got the idea that she was traveling all around the world so she could write the book in the end.  I don't mean to be cynical, but I just feel like it was too unrealistic to be so conveniently true! As far as travel writing goes, she certainly does a successful job tracing her life and her travels. 

Culture Clash

When I was in high school, I was a member of the drama club, and president my senior year.  I was also, at the same time, friends with people I had known for years.  These people were wonderful people, but they were the more sporty types.  When high school hit, I realized I had to balance being friends with both the sporty group and the theatre group.  I threw a few parties inviting friends from both groups and it was just an awkward, divided party.  The sports players were on one side and the theatre kids were on the other side.  It wasn't that they were rude to each other, it was that they didn't have anything in common that they knew of.  So, I ended up trying to divide my time between the two cultures.  After a while, however, I began drifting more towards the theatre group and away from the sports group.  This was not because I didn't like the sports kids, I just happened to have more in common with the theatre group.