Meet, Plan, Go! is coming up in a few weeks and out host in Chicago, Lisa Lubin, has been doing some press for the event. Although the Chicago event is pretty full make sure you put your name on the waiting list because things may open up as it gets closer to September 14th. You can see Lisa on WGN TV a few weeks ago talking about Meet, Plan, Go! in the video below.
The video previews the Julia Roberts movie Eat, Pray, Love at the beginning of the clip. The trailers I’ve seen worried me that the film would focus a lot on the character’s time in New York before leaving on her adventure. I haven’t seen Eat, Pray, Love yet but from reports it sounds like the trailer was a good representation of the film and, unfortunately, it focused a lot on what pushed her to travel instead of exploring the adventure as much as it could.
Couchsurfing is a great way to meet people and experience other cultures. My first surfing experience, staying with David in Urumqi, was memorable. We’ve stayed in touch, talking via Skype, and he’s visited me in Chicago twice now—even couchsurfing at my apartment earlier this summer.
My long list of “posts to write” includes an introduction to the couchsurfers I’d had so far and all of the fun things we’ve done together in Chicago. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from blogging for nearly seven years is that you have to keep posting and you can’t wait to “catch up.” I’m finally taking some of my own advice and posting photos of my couchsurfer this weekend—a girl named “G” from Lithuania.
G flew in to O’Hare Airport around 5pm and made her way to my house by L train. This was her first trip to America and I was her first impression. Despite impending jet lag G wanted to head out that night so we took public transport downtown and had a look at the view from the lounge on the 95th floor of The John Hancock Building. It was too busy to find a seat so I showed G a secret—the bathroom. With floor to ceiling windows the view doesn’t disappoint. We began walking South along Michigan Avenue, taking in the city lights and beautiful architecture. I noticed it was almost 10pm so I finished our tour at ABC 7 studio, where we watched the news being filmed from the large street front window.
ABC7 Studios
96th Floor Bathroom
Skyline from Lincoln Park
The following day G wanted to go for a walk so I decided to take her on an architectural walking tour of Lincoln Park neighborhood. We walked all the way South through the Lincoln Park Zoo, out onto the beach and down to the Loop for free. G was my 12th couchsurfer and although I try to tailor each trip to the person’s taste will usually end up at The Hancock and eating a hot dog and cheese fries at Portillo’s. As an ambassador to Chicago I feel it is important that I instill in my couchsurfers that the true king of Chicago cuisine is the hot dog (no ketchup), not deep dish pizza.
My fellow world-traveler Lisa Lubin was gracious enough to ask me to be a panelist at the Meet, Plan, Go! event in Chicago next month. Our paths first crossed after both being featured in a newspaper article about travel bloggers back in 2007. While I’ve been back in Chicago since the article was written, Lisa has only recently stopped living out of a suitcase.
If you’re in the Chicago area and have been thinking about traveling RTW or on an extended trip like I have join us at REI on September 14th for an evening of travel talk and advice. Although the event is free, there is limited space so make sure you register soon.
Meet, Plan, Go! events are happening across the United States on the same day, check out the main site to see if there’s an event near you.
I’ve just returned from a week in Southern California and have some great photos of the amazing Indian wedding I attended. This was my first opportunity to wear a sari and, despite my concerns, it stayed up for 16 hours. I’ll post as soon as I get the photos ready, meanwhile, here are a few from the plane. We approached Chicago with a u-turn over Lake Michigan—my favorite way to come home.
Celebrating American Independence Day on the road is always weird for me. Often times I forget the date while traveling—when you travel by road and buy your tickets as you go the date just isn’t that important. During my last around-the-world trip I was not only away for two 4th of Julys but out on trips in the middle of nowhere (Gobi Desert, Mongolia & The Serengeti, Tanzania). I find its much better to be away in the middle of nowhere for the 4th rather than in a hostel full of non-American travelers. Its not so difficult to be an American traveling abroad but it can be difficult to be an American abroad surrounded by Europeans in a hostel on the 4th of July.
Boyscouts carrying the flag at the start of the parade
Shriners riding tiny bikes
Jessie White Tumblers performing during the parade
This year I celebrated in the U.S., attending a suburban parade, getting together with friends to BBQ and watch a friend compete in the grandaddy of all eating championships and watched people set off illegal fireworks in a park nearby until the smoke drove us home. For some reason I thought the Monday holiday would be a great day to head to the beach but seemed like half of Chicago had the same idea.
Its not summer in Chicago until I attend a Cubs game. Thanks to a horrible record there’s plenty of seats at Wrigley this year and we got $60 bleacher tickets for $10. I managed to avoid a sunburn but was ID’d twice—the woman selling beer didn’t believe I was 21 even though I had a bracelet on. At 32 even I don’t pretend I can pass for anything close to 21 these days.
Someone of you may have noticed that I’ve been fiddling with the site a bit lately. Its starting to shape up and, although I haven’t designed the visual aspect of Me-go yet, most of the back end work has been done. My RSS feed looks like it might also be working after months of frustration and the gallery is slowly being re-installed and I hope to have everything better than it was last fall.
In the meantime I’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying summertime in Chicago, mostly on my new bicycle. There’s been street festivals, professional eating contests, couchsurfers, themed bike rides and more to talk about. Now that my gallery is back up I feel more incentive to start posting again. Below are a few links I’ve been holding onto.
I love this flash mob in Copenhagen — you can’t help but smile, especially if you watch the entire video:
There’s been a lot of interesting self-produced “around-the-world in a few minutes” videos showing up recently like this one. I could certainly put something together with my cartwheel photos if I had the time and patience:
Eugene Kuo’s travel photography portfolio has some great shots, including Myanmar and Ethiopia. I had never head of Albert Kahn before seeing a link to a recent BBC documentary and book showcasing the amazing photography he commissioned between 1909-1931. His project to document cultures included 50 countries, before Western globalization left most of the world wearing t-shirts and jeans. I’d like to see a copy of the book in person because only a small portion of the 72,000 are represented on the website and you all know how interested I am in traditional costuming of cultures.
There’s a few travel-themed movie trailers I’ve seen recently that have been interesting. Many people have recommended I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love because she travels around the world experiencing life. Although the character lives the life of an ex-pat and not so much that of a traveler, it is a good read. I assumed it would eventually make it to the big screen but I’m a little surprised to see Julia Roberts playing the lead. This trailer focuses a lot on the small part of the book that covers her life before travel. I hope that the film turns out to focus more on the interesting adventures she had on the road.
The second trailer, for Babies, is interesting from a cultural perspective. Comparing the first year of life of a child in Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and The United States would be fascinating, I imagine, because of the similarities and differences.
My favorite bit is at the end when an animal grazing outside a yurt in Mongolia walks up to the door, sticks its head inside and drinks out of the bath tub while the baby watches. It reminds me of the family we stayed with in the Gobi desert who let their baby waddle around the stone-covered desert. He fell down every few minutes but would stand up, not shedding a tear. All of us Westerners, from Europe and the U.S., agreed that a Western baby would have cried over any one of those falls. Growing up in a yurt in Mongolia must toughen a kid up quickly.
For those of you interested in Central Asia, like I am, you should take notice of what’s going on in Kyrgyzstan today. Protesters have taken to the streets and are calling for the president’s resignation. As you’ll see in the video below, police have opened fire in the main square where I took my Bishkek cartwheel photo. Neweurasia.net appears to have up to date reports.
Thanks to Jane, who used to blog from Bishkek when she taught English there, for the heads up.
I’ve been receiving messages from my readers steadily since my site was hacked back in October, asking where the rest of my site is. The rest of Me-Go will be up and will be re-designed (this ugly template is only a placeholder!) as soon as possible. The gallery, sketchbook, FAQ and more will be back. I have uploaded my finance page, as I was receiving frantic requests for the information. As always, if you have questions about planning your trip or can’t find something on this site send me an email at contact {at} me-go.net or leave a comment on one of my posts.
