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. 

Crowded Post

Last year, my friend and I decided to take another friend of mine to a Red Sox game because he LOVED the Red Sox but had never been to a game before.  So, being the fabulous friends that we clearly are, we bought three (cheap) tickets and went to the game.  Now, we weren't able to plan this part, but the game happened to fall on one of the ridiculously hot days last  August.  IE it was 95 degrees at 9am.  The game was luckily an evening game, but we arrived a few hours early and it was still literally 100 degrees. And our seats were in the sun for the first hour or so.  Not only was it crazy hot, but it was SUPER crowded.  Fenway is a popular and crowded place to begin with, but with it was that hot out, boy it was awful.  The game itself was fun and my friend caught a homerun ball which was a FABULOUS birthday present!  But the worst part was when the game was over and we had to leave.  We drove and parked about 3 blocks away, but it was so crowded it took about 2 hours to get out of there and my friend was driving whom had never driven in Boston before; my desire to control everything was outrageous.  I just wanted to scream at everyone to move.  Overall, it was a wonderfully fun evening, but the heat and the crowds nearly ruined the evening. 

Exhausted Travel

Not intending to dwell on the Disney trip constantly, it's just fresh on my mind, one particular day in Disney this past January would definitely qualify for a trip that ended in utter exhaustion.  On our third full day in Disney, my fiancee and I went to EPCOT.  Now, I knew a lot about EPCOT from popular culture, but I had never been; he had been 3 three times, so he knew the ropes.  I assumed it would be as happy and fun as Magic Kingdom with characters hugging you and a wonderful glowing castle that turned colors at night.  Nope.  We got there early-ish; certainly by 9:30 or 10 in the morning.  And it was immediately clear to me that it was not as happy and care-free as Magic Kingdom; it actually reminded me a lot of Six Flags- lots of concrete everywhere.  We went over to Futureworld to hit up some of the big attractions and our first stop was the Ellen DeGenerous Ride. Random.  It was relaxing, though 30 minutes long.  However, HUGE screens that project images that makes it feel like you are moving make me incredibly dizzy and nauseous, and I didn't know that prior to this trip.  And this ride had tons.  So after feel slightly dizzy and just overall meh, we decided to go on Mission Space.  REALLY bad idea.  I was already not feeling too happy, and we went on the low level of the ride.  Inside, I was MISERABLE and nauseous and dizzy and very very nonplussed.  After Mission Space we walked out, got me a drink and sat down for a while.  That's when we noticed every single kid in teh world sobbing, yelling, pitching fits, being awful. And that's when I lost it.  I was done. Finished. NO MORE. So we went back to the hotel.  I took a shower and a nap and checked out of the world for a few hours.  I felt loads better afterwards, but I was SO unhappy during that morning. I learned not to go on ANY rides like that ever again, and I learned that bad parenting is a horrible disease that many families in Disney have, and I learned that next time I go to EPCOT I am skipping those two rides and drinking a LOT of coffee. 

Home Post!

When thinking about a travel experience involving my home, the first thing that pops into my head is when I moved into my current apartment.  My fiancee and I lived in a different apartment with one other person, but the time came for us to move into a smaller apartment, without another roommate! The first apartment was very nice, but there was a man who lived above us who had a SOBBING baby and he liked to yell randomly.  It was all quite startling at 3am.  We were on a waiting list for a one bedroom in the complex and did not know when one would become available.  One weekend at the end of September, was the best weekend of our lives; my fiancee proposed to me on Friday night and then we got a call saying we got our apartment on Saturday morning!


One weekend in November we moved. It was super stressful becaues I had never really moved into a new apartment before; I had moved IN with my fiancee before, but all his stuff was already there. So, we loaded everything into our cars and drove the 40 feet across the complex to our new place.  It was so wonderful and cozy. We have a fireplace (and it works!) and an adorable (that's code word for super tiny) kitchen and dining room. But the best part, is the in-unit washer and dryer.  That REALLY made me happy.  The balcony looks out over scenic Rt. 2 in East Greenwich, so when the door is open, you can hear the auto dealership announcing that Bob has a phone call on line 2.  These are such small details, however, and we are both beyond thrilled to have our first home together.  It's cozy and warm and just exactly what we need right now. I am always excited to come home!