I’m a Travelin’ Man

One of the greatest things about being back in school is that I have a little over a month off between the end of my internship and the start of classes. One month with literally no 9-5 (or more accurately, 8-TBD), no meetings, no assignments, no obligations. So after spending a total of 10 weeks with limited social life and excitement in Dallas, I am completely flipping the switch and spending four weeks on the road/air/sea.

A rundown:

Fri, Aug 21 – The minute my internship ends, I will hit the road directly from the office, destination Chicago. The goal is to drive as long as possible, crash for a few hours, and finish the drive on Saturday with enough time to unload, repack my bags and grab a drink at a bar – any bar, so long as it’s in Chicago, man I really miss that place .

Aug 23 – Through the magic of banked airline miles and a likely error in an airline booking system, I’ll take off at 9am on a first class flight to Anchorage. I’ll be joining Jake, a native Alaskan, and a few other friends from school in Anchorage for a week of hiking, ice-climbing, flightseeing, and other outdoorsy things that will probably not kill me, but will almost certainly leave me out of breath. I’m hoping I’ll get to wrestle a bear.

Aug 31 – We’ll part ways from Anchorage. Next stop for me: San Francisco. This is a city I’ve been drawn to for a while, have only been to briefly, and never really had a chance to really enjoy. I’m taking a few days here to catch up with friends, schmooze a little, and get a more thorough feel for the city.

Sept 4 – Not content with domestic travel, I will board a plan bound for Edinburgh, Scotland, kicking off an 11-day international tour with another classmate, Melissa. We’re renting a car and driving around the country for 4-5 days, which should be interesting considering I’ve never driven on the British opposite-side system before. But it should be fun. I’m hoping I’ll get to wrestle the Loch Ness Monster.

Sept 9/10 – We’ll hop on short flight to Ireland and continue the trip from there, again driving around and seeing the country by car. I’m particularly excited for this segment of the trip, not because of the Guinness or the Blarney Stone or any of that. No, I’m excited because it will be college football season. And I will be in MFing IRELAND for the MFing MICHIGAN-NOTRE DAME game. This alone has me so pumped for the trip… I’ve even written down ‘2 Michigan Shirts’ on my packing list – one to wear the day of the game, and another to gloat in the day after if we win. I don’t hope to wrestle a fighting Irishman.

Sept 16 – Instead of returning home from an already exhausting trip, I will stop over in NYC, a city I haven’t been to since I left it a year ago, for four days. That city is never relaxing, and certainly won’t be with a bachelor party scheduled for the weekend.

Sept 20 – If I’m somehow still alive after these exhausting 30 days, I’ll put an end to Summer and head back to Chicago for the start of school.

So there it is… One month, countless miles on the road, 7 flight segments that figure-8 around the Western Hemisphere, 6 time zones, 1 non-contiguous state, 1 unexplored major US city, part of a kingdom, ‘enemy territory’, a former stomping ground, and finally, Chicago. Should be one hell of a month. Can’t wait!