The Long Hitch Home

This book arrived on my door step and I had no idea who had sent it. It took 2 guesses. It was from my friend Kate in Australia. She loves travel. Friends of hers gave her the book when they met the author selling his book on Portabello Rd.

This is a memoir written by a British man in his early 30's.  He details his ~4 month trip hitchhiking from Tasmania back to Britain. This dude is very adventurous. He told great stories and I admire his resourcefulness and commitment to travel. He met lots of local people and understands a great deal about the politics of places I had never heard of and rarely think about. Fascinating how the US is truly everywhere .. especially when there are natural resources to be had.

I appreciated his political view point. I was surprised when he referred to Tony Blair as a war criminal but he's spent lots of time in places where imperialist American and British interests have wrecked people's lives.

One thing that gave me pause is that I will never be able to do what he did. It is not possible for a woman to hitch hike alone throughout the world and not be harmed. Just not possible. There are many things I choose not to do (ie climb Mt Everest) but I don't think a lot about things I am excluded from doing. Most people in the world do not have the luxury to travel like this author even if they are male.. they are limited in other ways.

In any case, I enjoyed this book and passed it on the a very adventurous neighbor.

NYC days 3 & 4

Our third full day in NYC was Thanksgiving. It was the coldest thanksgiving in 117 years.

Since I'd made these plans in August, I purchased tickets for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was extremely cold at that end of Manhattan. I purposefully decided not to get near the parade. We saw a lot of the set up the day before and I was grateful for that decision.

No good family pictures to be had

The kids enjoyed Ellis Island. Sonia followed a guided audio tour and learned a lot about immigration from the late 1800's to mid 1900's. They turned the building where immigrants were processed into a very kid friendly museum.

We spent 4 hours at the statue and the museum so we went home to rest before our Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant we chose (very randomly) in Brooklyn. It was very disappointing and very expensive. We took the subway both ways so at least we didn't overpay for transportation. 

On our last day, we split up. Sonia wanted to see a Broadway show so I'd purchased tickets to Wicked. First we visited the Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building as a cake.

Then we visited the Museum of Modern Art. This was a bust. The audio guide Sonia picked up was terrible compared to the made-for-kids version at Ellis Island. She was bored. I was bored too. In fact, large museums filled with people overwhelm me. I wanted to go to the more manageable Guggenheim but I learned that even though NYC is small, one cannot get around quickly. Walking is as fast as driving.. and the subway isn't much better. The Guggenheim was 2 miles a way while the MoMA was only 1.

We had a mediocre lunch and then went to Wicked. We loved that. I could see plays every day. Sonia agreed.

I really like NYC and I enjoy adventure. However, this trip was very expensive and the kids fought and complained a lot. It's made me re-think travel. I do not think I'll take them to another large urban center unless I have a free place to stay or some other obvious incentive. 

NYC! Days 1 and 2

At the beginning of the year, I'd planned a trip to Japan for the last 2 weeks of November. I've always wanted to go. In the summer, however, I cancelled the trip. Because we'd be visiting all urban places in November, the trip sounded like more work than fun. When a friend told me there'd be an exhibit celebrating the 20th anniversary of the American publishing of Harry Potter in NYC in November, I decided that would be our substitute for Tokyo. We are here for 5 nights. Urban trips are a lot of work but they are also fun.. although they might be more fun for adults than kids.

On the first day, we walked 10 miles.

We took the subway

We walked along the Highline

We visited the Intrepid: a decommissioned aircraft carrier built for WW2. Years ago, when the aircraft carrier was decommissioned, it was put up for sale with the expectation it would be turned to scrap. A wealthy New York businessman thought it would make a great museum. He parked it on the lower west side of NYC. I was surprised the Intrepid got on of the Space Shuttles-- the training unit but that's more than Seattle got when they bid to host one of the shuttles.

One of two shooter seats for large anti-aircraft machine guns.. seems like a slice of hell to me but Jack liked it.

We then took a cab to the Tenement Museum on the lower east side. It turns out that in NYC walking and taking a cab take about the same amount of time. Before the Tenement Museum, we went to a famous Jewish food/culture restaurant called Russ and Daughters. The restaurant is owned by a 4th generation member of the family and started in the early 1900's. I thought that since we'd arrive around 230, we'd be able to get in for lunch pretty easily. I've also learned the lunch hour in NYC starts at 2. Ryan thinks it's because so many people work with businesses on the west coast so they don't start work until 10. I think there are 1.6 million people who live in the 22 square miles of Manhattan and then 1.6 million more tourists who are there at any given time. NYC is popular so there are lines.

It was worth the wait though. We had bagels and smoked salmon and matzah ball soup among other things. Great food.. this is one of the reasons for 1.6 million tourists.

The tenement museum was interesting for us but pretty boring for the kids. You have to sign up for a tour and the shortest one was 90 minutes. The kids did a good job but Jack asked the tour guide many times when the tour would end. No pictures allowed.

We headed back to our hotel's wine and cheese hour and then onto an Italian food court where we had gelato and canoli. 

Day 2 started with a trip (by taxi when we should have taken the subway) to the NYC Historical Society for the Harry Potter exhibit. It was great.. They have some of JK Rowling's original notebooks where she wrote HP in long hand. The books are such a phenomenon that it's hard to imagine these ideas just leapt out of someone's brain onto a piece of paper.

We walked through Central park to the upper east side where we walked into the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The kids were adamant that they didn't want to go in but I at least wanted them to see the lobby. Maybe they'll return as adults. We then walked to midtown through Central Park. We stopped at lots of playgrounds and enjoyed the nice weather.

Alice in Wonderland statue

Sonia throws leaves when I snap the picture. Jack shows you how he feels about walking around Central Park.

We walked down to midtown so Jack could visit the Nintendo store and Sonia could ice skate at Rockefeller center.

lots of Christmas decorations and so many people it was hard to walk on the streets.

Even walking two streets over from the Avenue of the Americas meant less people traffic. We headed back to the hotel. We walked 8 miles today. 

San Diego

We visited San Diego last week because Jack wanted to go to LEGOLAND for his birthday. We haven't done much travel as a family this year so in the summer, San Diego in November seemed like a good idea.

We stayed in South Oceanside which is almost Carlsbad. The Southern California coastal towns run together. South O as they call it is on the 101. The 101 seems a lot like Aurora as it's no longer than main highway up the coast. However, it's clear this area is in the middle of a revival. There was lots of construction, hipster restaurants (we ate at a place called the Wrench and the Rodent), good coffee and many a pilates studio.

LEGOLAND is a theme park geared for younger kids. Because Jack is a bit young for his age, it was a great park for him. Since we went the week before Thanksgiving, there were no lines. We also got to visit the beach when we got home from the park. Fun was had by all.

While Jack can have fun when we travel, it also challenges him a lot. Melt-downs are very common as he is called upon to be flexible. I include moments like this because it's not all fun. 

Slow cruise through LEGO mini town. We are in NYC right now so when we were in San Diego I pointed out many of the major landmarks we'd see in NYC.

San Diego in November... sunny, 70's, perfect

Almost Everything: notes on hope

Anne Lamott is great. I admire her authenticity and her ability to write about pain and joy and somehow make it interesting.

My favorite part of this book was her point that "we should never allow them to get us to hate them."

If you don't know to what she is referring, consider yourself fortunate and move on.

Phoenix

We visited Phoenix to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday. My mom threw a lovely celebration... lots of fun. It was 88 degrees during the day.. so we spent time sweating by the pool.

Santa Fe

I visited one of my college roommates for 4 days in October. Santa Fe is at 7000 ft above sea level. It's also the oldest city west of the Mississippi river -- founded in the 1600's by the Spanish. Somehow the Spanish and Native Americans sort of got along and traded so there is still a lot of influence visible from each group. Cool city.

We went to the famous balloon festival, hiked and hit a few spas carved into mountains. Great visit.

hiking slowly at 10,000 feet.

hieroglyphics from a REMOTE trading post

How to Build a Girl

I listened to this story. It's about a teenager who lives north of London in a poor / working class neighborhood in the early '90's. Her dad takes disability payments and hates Margaret Thatcher. The book describes the destruction of British industry as globalization rises. The book isn't about that though. It's a funny and sad story of a young girl trying to get out of a hopeless situation by becoming a music critic.  There are lots of stories of terrible, painful humiliation but the narrative is about growth and that is sadly just part of it for everyone.

There were parts where I laughed out loud. It distracted me from the sadness of the world so thumbs up!