The Capitol City in Review - People, Fashion and Architecture in the powerhouse of the Western World

To my precious fellow travelers,

As my time here in Washington D.C draws to an end it is time to reflect upon the wonderful adventure this has been. I have never felt such pride to be an American until I visited our nation’s capitol. A good friend of mine, who currently resides in the city, said that D.C. is the center of the western world. That was no exaggeration. From a single plaza you can look forward and see Capitol Hill, look to your left and you can see the largest library in the world – The library of Congress. Look over your shoulder and you can see the Supreme Court, which is every bit as grand as the name suggests. In one spot you see, law, the seat of those who protect the law and the largest collection of human knowledge in the world. Even without the Greco-Roman inspired architecture you would easily feel as if you stood in a modern day Greece. I made jokes on my journey here that I was taking a pilgrimage to the capitol of my nation. What began as a joke, concreted into a reality as I was swept up in the splendor of the city. This really has been a powerful, inspirational and life-changing pilgrimage to one of the most important places in the world. Although I am sad to go, I believe that even in my short amount of time here I have gained something that is unique and quite special.

              Deep reflections aside I was able to enjoy observing the people who live here, the armor they wear and the buildings they reside in, and as always, it was a pleasure to share their culture, if only for a few days.

Pictures from Spain - Day 2

Day 2 was a beach day. We drove an hour north from Barcelona to "Calella-De-Palafrugell," a small town on the Mediterranean Sea. I have heard stories my whole life about the Mediterranean Sea but it is far more magnificent than I could have imagined from a story. I could feel the history of this ancient sea and I found myself wondering what spectacular and terrifying things had occurred over these waters. But the funny thing about water is that it never stays the same, it is in a constant state of change. The water I touched and waded through is not the same water that was in the sea even a few years prior. It was a lovely reminder of how fleeting life truly is. Just like that my traveler's spirit was inspired once more, as I remembered that the true reason I travel is to catch the fleeting before it is gone forever. The world begs to be explored and its dark corners and secrets beg to be documented and seen by those brave enough to seek them out. 

Pictures from Spain - Day 1

Day 1 was a crazy day! My fiancé Doc and I got off the plane at 10:05 AM and hit the streets running. We immediately headed to downtown Barcelona and walked along La Rambla, the major throughway. Luck was smiling on us and we happened to be there on the one day out of the year where the city hall building was opened to the public. Unfortunately I only have one picture from there since photography was not allowed, but it is of the hall of the queen regent which surely does not disappoint! After there we headed to have lunch and see some street performers (videos to come!). We concluded the major part of our day at the Aquarium and then sat down to have Sangrias to celebrate our long day of travel. The most striking part of this day was the initial shock of the architecture. It is evident the amount of history that lies in this city, hundreds of years have passed on these stones and they still stand to tell the tale. It was truly breathtaking, and this was just the beginning.....

Travel Psychology

Maybe it is the smell, or the temperature or maybe just the sight of it all. Whatever it is, the moment your foot touches the foreign soil your body knows it is no longer at home. It is grander than the conscious awareness of your foreign excursion, your whole body changes in an instinctual response to your surroundings. In fact, that is what your body does all of the time. We are constantly changing and adapting to our differing environments. But it is far more noticeable when the environment changes drastically. Recently I travelled overseas for my honeymoon. I spent 3 weeks out of the country travelling and exploring small corners of the world. My time there was wonderful and sometimes inexplicably magical. Coming home I have new insight on the way my brain works as well as the magic that occurred when my foot took that first step.

Vlog #1

Adventuring Vlog #1 is now published. Out the gates with a quirky attitude and some basic sound advice. Always travel with a garbage bag. If you watch the video you may be able to guess why I would come to that conclusion.

This video was not intended at first to be a Vlog of any kind. I was driving downtown one day and saw an excellent looking bridge that I had never been on before. So I decided to take a detour and I parked a little ways from the bridge and walked along the lake until I got there. It was incredibly serene and there was almost no one around. I thought, wow this would be the perfect time to sit under my umbrella and have a nice read. But there was no where to sit that wasn't soaked, thanks to the heavy rain that was falling. I thought to myself, I really wish I would have brought a garbage bag to sit on. The rain was coming down too hard to stop and open my backpack to grab my little notebook to make a note of this thought. But I still had my phone in my hand from taking pictures, so I decided to just make a video note. That is why it starts out "Note to self." After I recorded this note, the thought occurred to me that it would be fun to chronicle my adventures and what I learn from them. So everyday for a week I filmed myself on an adventure. Soon I fell in love with the idea of video adventure blogs and have been going since. I will be releasing one every week from here on out, indefinitely. They will be posted here and also on my Youtube channel "The Adventures of Styx".

Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy my adventure insight!

Picture Documentation from Ontario!

The U.S. Embassy in downtown Ottawa

A very old church located in downtown

The Canadian National Art Gallery

Ottawa, Ontario

I recently took a 5 day trip to Ottawa, Ontario the capitol of Canada. It was a beautiful city, with no shortage of old architecture and cafes to snuggle down in with a good book. I traveled there by car from Chicago, Illinois with my travel partner. It took roughly 16 hours there and back, but taking 94 to 69 to the 401 almost entirely avoided tolls. 

When travelling through Ontario there are "Onroutes" every 100 km or so which are basically an Oasis meets a rest stop. They often have food, gas and parking to pull over and take a nap in, which for those traveling by car is a valuable resource. We stayed at the Days Inn in downtown Ottowa, I would highly recommend it for anyone intending to visit the city. The hotel itself was a bit broken down and the halls smell like years of smoke damage. But the rooms are very large and it is so centrally located that you hardly spend anytime in the hotel.