Another Trip!

Oh, I forgot! I'm going to one of my favorite cities next week--Charlotte, North Carolina!





I'll be there for three days. It should be fun :-).

Time for a Big Adventure.

So I officially purchased my ticket to Seattle! I will be in the Pacific Northwest from August 24th until August 31st. I'll also be spending two days in Vancouver, which seems like a brilliant idea since Vancouver appears to be the kind of city I'd adore. (Vancouver Island is denser than Manhattan!)

Instead of shelling out tons of money for hotels that I'll only been sleeping a few hours in, I'm taking a little adventure. I'm going to try CouchSurfing. Have you heard of this? I have friends who swear by it and have done it for years, but I always thought it was kind of risky and strange.

CouchSurfing is a real simple complex--people go on the website looking for a place to stay. People in cities around the world set up profiles indicating whether they can host a person or if they want to visit a new city...and that's it. You set up a connection, and people open up their homes to you.

It's kind of scary, so I'm going to try and establish some relationships now. After two months of e-mailing, I'm sure it will be like friends visiting instead of me sleeping on a random couch. And, if it turns out not to work so well, I'll just budget to have the money for a last-minute hotel if need be.

Anyway, so I fly to Seattle, spend Mon-Tues-Wed there, then take the train to Vancouver on Thursday. (I hear that this train ride is GORGEOUS!) I'll then return to Seattle on Saturday and leave early Monday morning. I won't be renting a car because, well, it's a waste of money. Hopefully I'll be able to find a fun place to rent a bike. AND I sure hope it doesn't rain the whole time!

Now I just need to start learning everything about the area. I did this with my Minneapolis trip, so when I got there I really was able to maximize my time since I already knew my way around.

Any Seattle people out there? Do you have any suggestions for things to do? :-)

Finals are (almost) OVER!!!

I have one last final, and it's an easy multiple choice test so I'm not that worried.

So what does this mean?

Well besides summer, no classes and party time...it means I will actually start blogging again! Whoo-hoo! More stories, more random Urban Planning updates, more ridiculous amounts of Minneapolis photos...gah! Finally!

Blog lives!

A Random Thought.

On one of my trips to London my friend and I had separate flights leaving from separate airports. We had planned a three-week European adventure together, yet we only spoke one time about where we would meet once landed. We had both flown through London-Gatwick before, so on this brief talk we came up with a familiar meeting location. We never called or texted to say our flights had left, nor had we called or texted when we landed. I simply walked to our said meeting place, waited 10 or 15 minutes, and then she showed up.

I wish life was always this easy. Travel 2000 miles to a different continent and just plop down waiting for your friend to arrive. It worked then, why can't everything go so easily?

My Nightmare.

I really wish this photo was a joke...but it's not.



Why would anyone ever want to live like this? I realize I'm a little drastic with my only-dense-city-living ideals, but there are still plenty of alternatives to my ideals that are practical. Grandview, Bexley, Upper Arlington...they're all great areas with beautiful houses that are just minutes from the city. But this kind of development? It happens 30 miles outside of the central city. Its homogeneity is painful. Its impracticality is nearly palpable. I just don't get why people would willfully choose to live like this.

A New City Love Affair.

I'll be going here in August. Can't wait!