The best trips have no itineraries

Last month I visited my friend Raegan in DC. It was kinda a last minute thing...I was waiting for just the right airfare...which never happened. But I was excited to catch up with Raegan who had been my roommate in Brookline for the last 7 years, up until June. We casually joked before I left that I "would do some research"...being an information professional...it's kinda my thing. And other friends asked me what I was going to do in DC, and I just replied, "coffee and shopping"...very uncharacteristic for me.
So, I left for my weekend in DC...changing planes in Newark, which I will do everything to avoid in the future. After 2 delayed departures in Boston, an hour on the tarmac at Logan, and a 2.5 hour delay in Newark for my connection, I was in DC. Thank goodness for once in my life I resisted the overpacking urge, and carried on. I read all 495 pages of Twilight while in transit, finishing the last page while landing at Reagan-National.
When I finally met up with Raegan, she was surprised to learn that I had done absolutely no research on DC. I had seen all the sights on multiple school trips, business trips, and vacations, and was kinda touristed out of DC. My Dad made sure to remind me 10 times before I left that the Smithsonian Museum of American History had just re-opened after a massive renovation, but that was just not on my radar.
So, what did I do for the 36 hours I was in DC? I had coffee and shopped, and ate great food at local places. Got a really cool hat at World Market. Bought the second Twilight book. Went to Loehmann's. Shopped pre-Christmas sales for ourselves. We bought wine in a beaker-type bottle. We watched fashion television. Walked all over Georgetown before decidicing on a place for dinner. Visited some "Irish" pubs--not sure if thye'd pass for Irish pubs in Boston. Overheard some really interesting conversations on the Metro explaining the difference between a "pimp" and a "whore enabler". We went to a great jazz brunch. Saw a Santa pub crawl and a real live walking Christmas tree (well, someone dressed up as one with presents to boot). We walked the National Mall. My one sole touristy thing was seeing the national Christmas tree. Check in that box.
And then it was time to go home, another Newark derailed trip, but luckily I got switched to a direct flight. I did a lot of unplanned and fun stuff...which is a big step for someone who has been dubbed the "master planner" by friends. The person who is handed the map, and figures out which metro line to take no matter the city. The attraction spreadsheet maker, currency converter, and translator.
It was not a matter of having plans, but a matter of being with friends...something that I've been slowly realizing over years of traveling with friends and with Jesse. When an innkeeper in Galway told me, "you've come to a door, but you haven't gone through it," upon hearing the regimented day I had planned to taking us (me, Louisa, Denise, and Glod) away from Connemara, the rustic, rural, picturesque area to the west, I stopped, and realized that traveling is about being flexible. Something that hasn't always come to me, the structure-lover. After a quick conference in our Ford Focus, the four of us were on our way to Connemara...abandoning our original plans. And I was ok with that--something changed in me that instant.
Traveling is not about how many museums, monuments, or battlefields you see (don't tell my Dad that), it's about enjoying the time with your companions, and just letting yourself adapt to a city, culture, country. And carrying-on whenever possible.A

The hardest business trip to come home from...

I'm still on West Coast time. My body still thinks it is in San Franciscio. I just got back from nine days in the most gorgeous weather I've ever experienced in California. I was there 5 days for a conference, and an extra 4 for a wee bit of rest and relaxation. Jesse flew out to join me on at the tail end of the business of portion.

My green backpack was able to join me for my second foray to the West Coast this year. In July I had a difficult time leaving San Diego, but this was worse. I stayed in the middle of the top ranked walking city in the US. I purchased my weeklong Muni pass on the second day I was there, and I was off riding the Muni underground, the F line streetcar, the cable cars, and the Muni buses. I walked the Embarcadero, up and down the steep hills of Hyde, Mason, and California streets; and paths of Golden Gate Park. I shopped at Zara (first time ever, and loved it!), and had my Jamba Juice. Jesse and I met my cousin for fondue at the Matterhorn, and had fantastic drinks in pineapples at the Tonga Room. We visited Alcatraz, City Lights bookstore, Muir Woods, and Sausalito. I couldn't believe how much of the city's geography I retained. From remembering the location of AT&T Park to Safeway in the Marina district that I bought groceries at seven years earlier, it was an eerie sense deja vu minus my Dad.

My flights worked out well. For years, I shied away from JetBlue in favor of miles and better times on American. I'm coming back to JetBlue on a regular basis. I few them to Seattle three years ago, and it was a good value. This trip was fantastic. I loved the tvs. I watched Samantha Brown and some What Not to Wear on TLC, and I was set. I also loved the free Doritos Munchies.

Oh, it was hard to leave the rainless, perfect temperature weather. And the clean Muni. And the Swedish pancakes at Sears. And of course Zara. A trip back will certainly be sooner than seven years...

Returning from Chicago with a broken zipper

I was tired when I returned from Chicago on Saturday night. Tired from networking and connecting with other archivists for the previous three and a half days, tired from lugging my overstuffed suitcase and backpack around O'Hare before my 5:15 flight. My backpack was filled with my computer, magazines, books, cameras, and all that stuff you just don't want to risk in your suitcase.

As I sat in the airport shuttle, I noticed the non-broken zipper of the two zippers on the larger section of my backpack was not staying closed...the tracks were splitting...was the backpack that I had raved about on its way to an untimely demise??? Upon going through security, it received special attention from the TSA folks. All of its contents were strewn on the metal tables, as I watched TSA agents run some sort of swab over it, and then run it again through the screening machine. As I clutched my laptop, I felt powerless...and then I felt annoyed...and then I realized that in the US, bag owners are not allowed to touch their bags or contents during extra screening tests. I half-smiled since any TSA worker who singles me out, has to meticulously repack my always overstuffed backpack. If you're going to pick me out, you're going to work! This is a lesson a screener learned the hard way in Dublin, when my suitcase was pulled out randomly for extra screening as I stood in the check-in line, and in her frustration, she appealed to me with a look of desperation as if saying, how did you get all this in your bag! I stood back then, reluctant to touch my stuff as you can't go near your bag in the US. That didn't appear to be the norm in Ireland.

After clearing security, swishing from left to right on my back as I chased three gate changes at O'Hare, and resting in the overhead compartment on the plane back to Boston, my bag stayed closed until arriving at baggage claim...when it split open on my back. I quickly zipped it closed, but noticed the ends of the zipper track again fraying open. A trip to Freeport is now on my docket...to get it functioning as soon as possible. So, the green backpack is temporarily out of commission, but its purple non-monogrammed twin will fill in just fine.

meet my backpack...

So my backpack and I were united in October 1994. It was a 17th birthday present...oddly enough. It was the middle of the grunge phase, and at my school everyone had one glued to their backs. Both straps over both arms, because it was now socially okay to do that, not just the over one shoulder thing that seemed to have evolved in the mid 1980s. I used it everyday to school, and then every day in college.

When I got to grad school, I thought it'd go into semi-retirement, only working on holiday. I had a messenger bag. And my backpack was only for the days when I had too much stuff to carry for work. I grew out of the messenger bag thing, and I matured into the tote bag thing for work...that's my work bag status now. But whenever I want to hit the gym after work, the backpack is the bag of choice. Since I work in a place where our bags are checked upon leaving, my backpack always gets checked, but my other bags not so much. Considering I walk 2 miles to work and back everyday, I must state that I make better time with my backpack than any other bag I own.

It's got some advantages: fits under airline seats, lots of pockets, can hold clothes for 5 days, still works even with a broken zipper (need to contact LL Bean about that)

It's been some really cool places with me, and some I bet it wishes it never had been dragged.

Furthest away: Hobart, Tasmania
Closest: work, school (as in high school, college)
Best: Bondi Beach, Sydney
Worst: Great Barrier Reef during a severe bout of seasickness
Most recognizable: Rennes, France. No one used backpacks in France in 1997. There were 60 US high school students in the city, and we could 'em out (and vice versa) with their backpacks (LL Bean Deluxe Book Pack, just like mine)
Hottest: Negev Desert
Coldest: Walking to work this winter in Boston
First time on a plane: Boston-London (via Brussels) in a suitcase
Last time on a plane: Boston-Indianapolis
Next time on a plane: Boston-Chicago tomorrow
Most crowded place: Indianapolis 500
Least populated: Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Iceland--it stayed in the van, but it was there...
First time sniffed by police dogs: baggage claim in Hobart. No importing of fresh food from other states, without declaration.
Best trip as solo bag, not in a supporting role: Toussaint vacation, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, 5 days.
Most socially awkward: accompanying me on the school bus as a senior in high school
Hardest to find experience: anytime coming out of the dining halls in college

Its been molded to me since age 17, and still there now that I'm almost 30...that's reliability...maybe it could get in an ad for LLBean?!?!?!