RIP My Blog

Well friends and family, I have absolutely loved the past 9 months of vainly writing about myself and knowing that you would all continue reading. I contemplated continuing my narcissistic ways and transforming the blog into the funny things that happen to me while traveling (clearly, they are plentiful), but finally I came to the decision that if I'm not homeless, then the blog address hzhomelessadventures doesn't exactly apply.

The quantity of my travel won't subside, however, in case I haven't told you, I signed a 6 month lease to use for the winter. I decided on a Monday morning when I was standing outside in the cold, barefoot, searching for a pair of socks to wear. I realized, being homeless in the winter isn't fun, and from that moment in time, I became fixated on the idea of finding an apartment.

Since I can't commit to anything, I only signed for 6 months so that I can reevaluate the situation once again come June.

I sincerely thank you for reading!!

- Hilary

This is why you should live out of your car

You never know what's going to happen... this wouldn't be an issue for me :)


http://www.vancouversun.com/Snow+strands+hundreds+Ontario+winter+storm+heads+east/3978319/story.html
SARNIA, Ont. — The snow squalls that stranded hundreds of motorists for more than 24 hours along a southern Ontario highway were headed east Tuesday evening, following a day when much of Eastern Canada faced extreme weather conditions.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/Snow+strands+hundreds+Ontario+winter+storm+heads+east/3978319/story.html#ixzz189K4jY8v

Change of Plans

I was driving to New York today to go to a meeting in Moscow, and the next thing I knew I was turning around and leaving for Russia on Saturday afternoon.

Bad weather in Frankfurt delayed my flight and I was going to miss my meeting even if I went. Somehow though, even though my flight was delayed, everything fell into order perfectly:

- I had decided to drive myself to JFK even though I have NEVER done that before. I always take a car.

- I made a stupid decision when I was 45 minutes into my drive to turn around and to back to CT once I got the phone call my flight was delayed. I say stupid because what did I think I was going to do once I got back to CT? And once I got back, I was going to have to drive to NY at 10pm (which is waaaay past my bedtime)

- Ammie was headed back to the office late so I was going to be able to meet up with her to figure out the schedule.

- Ammie accidentally dialed the normal travel agent instead of the after hours travel

- Our amazing travel agent, Dee, was there 2.5 hours after the office was technically closed, which was lucky because we had no idea what to do.

So all the stars aligned perfectly, and now I am going to have my meeting in New York and leave for Russia on Saturday.

No Clothes

A few weeks ago I went to my storage unit to dig out my winter clothes. Turns out that my box of winter clothes is buried behind my mattress and box spring as well as my kitchen table. I’ve desperately been trying to recruit help to move things around, but so far have been unsuccessful.

Since the weather turned cold, I (not exaggerating) have worn the same 4 outfits to the office every single day: a grey and black striped sweater, a grey hooded sweatshirt, an ugly brown sweater that looks like I stole it from my Grandpa’s closet in the 90’s, and a blue fleece zip up. I refuse to buy a whole new wardrobe out of sheer stupidity.

My theory is that maybe since I’m on the road a lot, no one will notice? Although, since a few of my coworkers read this.. I think I just gave myself away.

Sleep on a Plane

Yesterday I got a 20 minute chair massage and the massage technician said (about my back), "Oh my god, in my 5 years of doing this job this is the biggest knot I've ever found" That's what 3.5 years of stress and sleeping on planes will do to the body..

NYC Thanksgiving

No Address.

Great. I just received notification via email from the Post Office that I forgot to pay my biannual fee to keep my PO Box open. They closed it, and now I temporarily have no mailing address.

Welcome to Russia.

Near Death Experience #1: From Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod I flew on S7 Airlines. The “S” stands for Siberian, which means it’s a Russian plane and Russian pilot. Having worked in Russia, I know that this cannot be that safe of a combination. While on board the 50 minute flight, we abruptly hit the most violent bout of turbulence I have ever experienced. There was no warning from the pilot or anything. The lady behind me was crying, the flight attendants were looking scared, people were muffling their screams, and I was literally praying because I thought that it was going to be the end of my life. I am by no means a person who is scared of flying, but I truly thought this was the end. It lasted maybe 3-5 minutes (which felt like an hour) and then it stopped, just as suddenly as it started, with no word from the pilot. Welcome to Russia.

Near Death Experience #2: Maintenance guy was welding something for us and didn't remove it from its location. It was too close to a machine that had oil lubricant.. sparks flew, and the machine caught on fire (had a vacuum sealed part on it -- which is explosive) and neither of the two fire extinguishers we could find worked. We had to find a bucket of water to dump on it, and after wards had to clean out the entire machine because the oil was now mixed with water. It's the second fire that's started within the last 3 days. Welcome to Russia.




By the way, are we sure history books are right when they say that it was Russia and the USA who were a part of the Space Race?

A little bit of panic never hurt anyone..

So you had to of known when I typed the previous itinerary that there was no way it would go that smoothly.

I started the day at 6:00am in Chicago, flew to LaGuardia, and took a taxi to the Visa Processing office in Manhatten to pick up my passport. When I got there, they acted really surprised to see me. They didn’t expect to have it until tomorrow due to last week's holiday in Russia (despite their conformation that it would be ready Thursday).

After going through my paperwork, they realized that it was their mistake and sent a liaison over to try to negotiate with the Russian consulate to pick it up. However, there was some kind of bomb scare, so the Russian consulate was closed for approximately 4 hours. I got a call from the office that it was very unlikely I would get my passport tonight.

In the mean time I was walking around NYC and ran into the Veteran's Day parade, met an old college friend for coffee, and walked and walked and walked.



I almost never get stressed about things going wrong traveling, but this one was causing me some anxiety since I really need to be in Moscow tomorrow. If I missed the flight, that would mean I would miss the meeting altogether since we are both meeting in Moscow en route to someplace else. Luckily for me, Murphy's Law proved wrong for once and the story ends well since I am now enjoying some relaxation in the Lufthansa lounge before my flight..


Anyways, I say things are good.. but it's only been 15 hours since I left this morning, and it'll be another 11.5 before I arrive at the airport in Moscow.. so there's plenty of room for more adventures.

New Plumbing Technology

So here was my itinerary for this trip:

Saturday: Fly into Chicago, IL, Drive down to West Lafayette, IN for weekend with friends and family
Monday: Drive to Champaign, IL for work
Wednesday: Drive to Chicago, IL just as a transportation night
Thursday: Fly to LaGuardia NY, pick up passport, fly from JFK to Moscow
Friday: Arrive in Moscow
Saturday: Meeting in Moscow
Sunday: Fly to Nizhny Novgorod

Now, you know on a stint like this.. something is bound to happen. I'm already at Wednesday (Chicago, IL) and things have gone pretty smoothly so far.

However, tonight when I got to my hotel near the airport after I flushed the toilet, and it just kept running and running. I'm not really into fixing toilets, so I decided if I let it run for a while it might stop on it's own... until I got a call from the front desk. They explained to me that the person below me was complaining that there was a noise that sounded like a radio. My only guess was that it was the running toilet, so I was forced to take action. I lifted the lid to see if the thing was stuck (yes, this is very technical plumber lingo) and much to my surprise, it was filled with doorknobs...



I'm not so sure what to make of this.

Halloween in Chicago

A weekend with two of my favorites in Chicago..

I typically hate halloween.. but somehow we managed to have some fun. I had two costumes because one was suffocating me..





At 5am I woke up to the sound of the fire alarm going off.. turns out we almost burned down Sara's apartment by leaving the pizza rolls in the oven overnight... if you ever wondered what pizza rolls looked like after baking for 9 hours, now you know:

I literally live at work.

I had put it off for about 2 weeks and just used my passport.. but finally this week I went to get my replacement license. It got to a point where I couldn’t put it off anymore because my passport is required for finishing the processing of my Russian Visa.

Not surprisingly, I needed to give them a permanent address, even after I explained my situation to the lady at the DMV and even after she talked to her supervisor. (I’d like say ‘told you so’ to the officer that pulled me over for talking on my cell phone and told me I could put a PO Box on my license).

They told me I could put an address of a hotel I frequently stay at (not normal), so I gave up and put the office address. People who work a lot always use the phrase “I live at work”, but now my permanent residence is at work... I literally live at work. If I ever get fired it’s going to be awkward.

Exhausted.

Well, I had been looking forward to last weekend for a long time. I decided it was my weekend to catch up on the past 3 months of sleep. I did a lot of relaxing and slept probably 10-12 hours a night. No Spike or 5 hr energy was consumed within this time..

After the weekend I felt great and ready to take on the week. Until Monday afternoon when I was tired again... So I started reading that it is impossible to repay sleep debt. Turns out I'm pretty screwed..
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20100115/sleep-debt-hard-to-repay

I love this life, but it is extremely exhausting traveling every week for work and not sleeping and traveling every weekend for fun and not sleeping.

RIP Passport

05/07/2001 – 10/01/10

I am sad to say goodbye to a loyal travel companion and holder of many memories. The past 10 years we’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, and we’ve created memories I will never forget.

Summary of my Passport’s life:
- Germany: Frankfurt – 8 stamps
- Germany: Stuttgart – 1 stamp
- Ireland: Shannon – 1 stamp
- Mexico: Baja Californai – 4 stamps
- Mexico: Neuvo Leon – 10 stamps
- Netherlands: Amsterdam – 1 stamp
- Norway: Oslow (Gardenmoen)- 2 stamps
- Peru: Cuzco – 2 stamps
- Peru: Machu Picchu park – 1 stamp
- Russia: Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow (I don’t know how to tell the difference between the stamps) – 60 stamps
- Russian Visas: 4
- South Africa: Johannesburg – 1 stamp
- USA – 24 stamps
- 12 pages more than a standard passport has in it because I ran out of room


RIP Passport

My new passport has a lot to live up to…

Guest Writer: KYLE ZAK

Kyle came to visit me last weekend, and there was so much that happened that I was too lazy to summarize it myself... so here's Kyle's entry:


Dumb and Dumber take on New England

Last weekend I had a long weekend so I decided to visit Hilary. I booked my flights about a week before, and that’s when the problems began. Turns out I booked a flight for Friday morning instead of Saturday (meaning that I would have to miss my classes on Friday). Luckily, Hilary caught my mistake and since I called Expedia 24 hours within booking, they took care of it without making me pay the nasty $150 fee.

The original plan was for me to get there Saturday, go visit Salem (where they had the witch trials), and then drive up to Mt Washington in New Hampshire. On Sunday we would climb the mountain and then head back to Connecticut.

This did not even remotely resemble our weekend.

The troubles began when we got to Salem and started walking around. It quickly became apparent that Salem is an awful place to visit. Something about the lack of historic buildings and the abundance of Italian sausage and Spongebob balloons really turned us off, so after meeting up with a couple of Hilary’s friends we decided to go to dinner.


On the way there, the navigation system took us through a light that decided to stay red through two whole cycles. We didn’t stick around to find out if the third time was the charm, and after the navigation system took us in a few circles we got to dinner.


Keep in mind that at this point I’ve flown out to Connecticut and driven to Massachusetts to go to a mall and eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

After dinner we left for New Hampshire, heading towards Mt Washington. On the way Hilary’s friends called to see if we wanted to go to a haunted house that was kind of on the way, so we decided why not. When we got to the haunted house we started calling around trying to find hotels in the area, only to find that they were completely booked in the entire “region.” A few phone calls later told us that “region” implies New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, so after the haunted house we drove back down to Boston. The haunted houses were fun, and included Hilary squeezing my hand off, freezing in lines, Hilary’s friend Chris entertaining everyone around us with his stories, and being told that we “smell like Walmart.”


Not wanting to drive the 6-hour round trip to Mt Washington all in one day, we spent Sunday in Boston attempting to follow the freedom trail, which is a clearly marked trail that goes past several historic sites in Boston. Apparently following a red line is above our capabilities though, because we lost it several times.

We then drove back to Connecticut. On the way, Hilary managed to lose her wallet at a rest stop. So, we had to turn around, get back on the toll road, drive past the rest stop another 6 miles, get off the toll road and pay the toll, turn around, get back on the toll road, and drive back the 6 miles. They didn’t have it.

After checking in at the hotel in Connecticut, I went to the lobby to get some toothpaste from the front desk. The guy in front of me was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but unfortunately no underwear. And his pants were quite loose, so there was about a half to three-quarters moon. And the girl he was with? In a wedding dress. I love how these things happen to me.

Monday was the day for me to leave. However, at some point on Saturday, we realized that I had my flight back to Indy booked for Tuesday night. After the lady at the ticket counter told us that it would cost over $350 to get my flight switched, we logged on Hilary’s computer and booked a new flight for about $180. Ha!

Overall, the weekend was a disaster. Fun, but awful at the same time.

dumb dumb dumb dumb......

So I’ve noticed that this blog has shifted from “How to be Homeless” to “Stupidity in Traveling”.

Anyways, this morning I was arriving at the Eastern Iowa Airport with only about 20 minutes until the departure of my co-workers flight, so let’s say that I was driving like we were in a hurry. I made the turn into the terminal a little late, and over shot the turn. Turns out my little Mercury didn't have a good turning radius and I couldn’t make it into my lane. So next thing I knew, I was driving the wrong way down a one way street at the airport…

Well, of course my luck, I got pulled over.
As my coworker is grabbing her bag from the trunk and sprinting into the airport, the police walked up to the car:
“Ma’am, do you have a driver’s license?”
“No sir, I recently lost it… I have a passport in the trunk if you’re interested.”
“Ok, you do have an active drivers license, right?”
“Yessir.”
“Is this your car?”
“No, it’s a rental.”

“Have you been drinking?”
“Nosir, just stupid.”
“Ok have a good one.”

4 Month Homeless Anniversary

So I've been officially homeless now for 4 months..

Those of you who questioned (or discouraged me) from doing this, I'm going to have to say a quick "told you so".

I frankly can't say that I'm "saving money" so much as "freeing up money to do other fun things".

Here's a summary of some of the things I've done these past few homeless months:

- go boating in North Carolina
- get overserved after the Red Sox game in Boston
- turn day into night drinking in NYC
- attend weddings (Stephanie/Derek and Michelle/Jason)
- create Blackout Weekend 2010 in San Francisco
- see Ziggy Marley at a music festival in Boston
- take adventure vacation in Norway
- catch up with old friends for a night in Chicago
- go back to Purdue for a football game
- take a weekend trip to Disneyland

**sidenote: another contributing factor to all my weekend fun is that I have not gone to Russia for work since early July, which frees up a lot of my weekends.

and next weekend Kyle is coming to visit, and then I'm headed back to Michigan for my cousin's wedding. And after that, who knows what is to come..

I'm definitely going to continue being homeless, the question is whether I'm going to continue this blog or not. If you still read it, could you let me know (you don't even have to tell me your name).

A New Level of Random

When I got to the Dayton airport at 6:00am this morning, I was planning to fly back to Hartford via Chicago. I stepped up to the United ticket counter... but the reservation was not found. So I rechecked my blackberry and to my surprise, I was flying Continental (not United) .. oops. As I printed out my boarding pass, I found out I was flying through Cleveland (not Chicago) .. oops.

The flight from Dayton to Cleveland was so short and I was in such a deep sleep, that I was Grumpy Pants McGee when they made me wake up. And I was pouting that I didn’t have anything to do this weekend while I was waiting to board my flight to Hartford when I realized.. my sister lives here, maybe I should hang out with her for the weekend. So I frantically texted her and of course she said I could come. So I got out of line to board and headed over to Hertz.

Now unfortunately, my bag still went to Hartford, but I guess I'll just get that on Sunday when I am back.

been blog MIA

Well, I’ve been lazy about writing blog entries lately. So I’ll have to write it all at once, but I added pictures for all of you who prefer to read picture books over chapter books.

- Cornfields of Iowa – the only exciting part about this is I found out we can get day passes for the local gym from the hotel. Only problem now is I have no excuses for not getting up (at 3:45am) to work out.

- Windy City Apartment Tour– Thursday night I slept at Stacey-pin’s new condo, which is absolutely amazing and decorated to the T. It almost made me want to get a place…. Almost. Friday I got a chance to lounge around and drink coffee at Sara’s new place… she basically lives in a resort complete with indoor and outdoor lap pool, half-mile circumference track on the 3rd floor, outdoor fire pits, and a view of the city. Again, it almost made me want to get a place…. Almost.

- Family Sleepover in West Lafayette, IN- I joined my family at Purdue for the football game and tailgate. Since Kyle has an extra bedroom, my parents stayed there and the rest of us just slept on the floor 4th grade slumber party style. We stayed up late night gossiping about Jonathan Taylor Thomas and playing with the Ouiji board.



- Weekend at the Happiest Place on Earth - I spent this past weekend at Disneyland staying at the Grand Californian Resort, visiting Craig and Mickey Mouse. We packed as much in the weekend as possible including park hopping, black tie SETP dinner, Newport Beach, In and Out, etc...



- Back to Ohio - where they upgraded my room to a suite, which is a nice sentiment, but really... who uses a hotel room jacuzzi??

CAR THIEF!

Last night, my Hartford night, I stayed at my friend/co-worker's house while they are vacationing in Paris. This morning, before my departure to Charlotte for the weekend, I went to the gym, then headed back to the house to shower and finish packing up. When I got there, I opened the garage and much to my surprise, the Audi sitting in the garage was GONE!

I was frantic, and went and checked every door in the house (all were still locked). Peered in through the doorwall to see that the house looked as if it were the same order in which I had left it. I went to the next door neighbor's house and rang the doorbell to see if he knew anything, but he wasn't home. And I frantically called and texted them in Paris, but couldn't get a hold of them. Finally, I worked up the courage to go inside the house (where everything was normal, including my computer was still there). I started trying to find their son's phone number when I got a call from Paris.

Turns out Greg's brother came to pick up the car and take it to the dealership, and the crisis ended just as quickly as it began.

More chaos ensues..

I'm sorry, I'm becoming too lazy to update every time I go someplace, but let me give you a quick overview:

Yesterday morning: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Yesterday afternoon: Chicago (which was supposed to be a layover, but turned into overnight at the airport)
This morning: Chicago
This morning: Boston
This afternoon: Hartford
Tomorrow: Charlotte, North Carolina
Monday: Greenville, Ohio
Thursday: Hartford

Got all that?

Because of this silly little hurricane they call Earl (amongst other things like thunderstorms in the midwest), my flight from Cedar Rapids into Chicago was delayed, which caused me to miss my connection to Boston. But all I had to do was flash my Star Alliance Gold Card (aka The Magic Card) and suddenly the woman at the ticket counter was handing me a voucher for a night at the Hilton, a $15 food voucher, a confirmed first class seat for a 1:15pm flight, and first on the list stand-by for a 6:00am flight. I'm just going to go ahead and say it, I love Star Alliance and they love me. Honestly, the only thing that really got me flustered was in the morning when there was no overhead space for my luggage (because I was on stand-by, I had to be the last to board), and they made me check my bag. There is nothing I have more hatred for that waiting for my bag at the carousel. I know, it's a tough life..

Anyways, once I got to Boston, I found that I had ever so cleverly left the lights on in my car and was warmly welcomed back with a dead car battery. I guess I'm not the only one this has happened to though because they have a call button in the airport parking garage for dead batteries, and they send a very grumpy gentleman to jump start the car.

I'm becoming a little bit nervous because last year about at this time, I had a long drawn out series of unfortunate events (including lost phones, wallets, etc.) I'm hoping that these incidents are not signs that the streak has been revitalized.. I'll keep you posted.

Yet another strange story

Welcome to Greenville, Ohio... the hometown of American legend of Annie Oakley and the setting of this latest bizarre travel story.

I arrived in Ohio from Connecticut late at night after a delayed flight, still somewhat jet lagged from my vacation in Norway. So I checked into the hotel and headed up to Room 320 to pass out for a few hours before headed to work very early in the morning.

The night begins as usual.. I ride the elevator up to the third floor, key in the door, green light on, open the door, peer into my room, but oddly, I notice a watch and ring on the dresser, and then look up to find a man standing in his boxers staring at me. We stare at each other for a moment, and at first I think that maybe I was so tired that I walked into the wrong room, but once I realize that this is definitely not a possibility, I politely excuse myself and go back downstairs to the front desk to ask for my own room from the lady at the front desk (who was more mortified by this incident than the man or I was).

The Sleeping Arrangements from my Norwegian Adventure

Our home in Spiterstulen

Our breakfast nook in Stigen

Our home in Stigen

Our home in Stigen

Stigen

Our home in Draego

Our home in Draego

Camping in the fjords

Camping in the fjords

Viking Hotel in Gudvangen

Viking Hotel in Gudvangen

Our Hotel in Bergen

Kidding, we didn't actually sleep here

Someone is taking us in!!

So Jillian and I are leaving for our Norwegian adventure on Friday!!! All but one of the nights that we are there we have accommodations taken care of for us because we are part of an adventure group. (http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/europe/nor.html#sec4)


Anyways, our last night there we didn’t have anywhere to go, and we didn’t want to just waste the time away in a hotel somewhere. When we travel, we prefer to get to know local culture rather than stay in the Hilton. What better way to do it than to stay with local people? So we decided to become part of the couch surfing network to see if we could find a free place to stay (www.couchsurfing.org). Since we are both new members (never hosted, never surfed), it was becoming very difficult for us to find anyone that would take us in. For a long time it wasn’t looking promising, and we were investigating hostels to stay in our final night, but a few days ago I received an email from Jillian that this family would love to host us! They have an extra bedroom above the attic, and well.. we’re going to give couchsurfing our first try!

Oh Connecticut, when are we going to become friends?

This weekend I decided to try staying in Connecticut (stop laughing). My stuff had been all set up in the hotel from the week, I knew I was going to have a late night at the office on Friday and some work to do over the weekend. Plus I made plans for a training session at the gym Saturday and brunch with the girls on Sunday, and all flights out anywhere that I wanted to go were over $500.. so I decided to stay.

I’m always complaining that I never have time to relax, so I thought that I’d take this opportunity to give it a try. Well, turns out I’m really bad at relaxing and really bad at being alone. I desperately tried to fill up the time and call everyone I know in CT to make plans... mostly unsuccessfully.

I ended up going to REI garage sale, working, having brunch, and exploring the trails around CT. Over the weekend I think I ended up hiking around 15 miles.. (which will be a nice warm up for our upcoming trip to Norway!)


I really shouldn't say that it was a bad weekend by any means, it just was a clear reminder to me why I decided to become homeless.. So I could have the freedom to go anywhere and wouldn’t ever have to find myself wandering around CT wondering how to pass the weekend.

Fat Kid's Gotta Eat

In addition to my endless questioning of "Where should I sleep tonight", one of the main challenges has been figuring out what and how to eat. In order to avoid having to eat take out or in restaurants all week, I went grocery shopping when I arrived home from Russia on Saturday evening. To store my groceries, I have taken over a drawer in the refrigerator at the office. This proves to be quite convenient during the week when I'm there during normal eating hours, but is extremely comical when I stop by the office on Sunday evening to have dinner.

As I told you before, I basically only eat raw foods (uncooked vegetables, nuts, lunch meat, protein shakes, yogurt, etc.) so that I don’t have to worry about cooking anything. Don't get worried, I realized that it’s actually not that different than how I used to eat when I lived in an apartment.

This afternoon (Tuesday) I wanted to have a snack/dinner of a couple of pieces of turkey, and much to my surprise, I finished off the pound of turkey that I had just purchased! Let me spell it out for you: I ate an ENTIRE POUND OF TURKEY IN 3.5 DAYS. I think I ate that lunch meat turkey as my source of protein for almost every meal without ever realizing it

I should really reconsider my food shopping habits.

Is this still your address?

Sneaky little Cop #1 was hiding in the corner and radioing to Cop#2,3,4,and 5 about who was talking on their phone or texting while driving. Well, obviously, I am never in my car and not on the phone, so Cop#1 saw me. I got pulled over along with a long line of other cars who had been caught to be issued a ticket.

Here's how it went:

Officer: "Miss, I pulled you over because we have another officer around the corner and he noticed you talking on your phone. May I please have your license and registration?"

HZ: (Hand guy my stuff)

Officer: "Is this still your recent address?"

HZ: "Well, no actually I don't have a permanent residence. If you want I can give you my office address?"

Officer: (chuckles) "That's ok"
(Walks away and writes up my ticket)

HZ: (Have to use a lot of self control not to text Jillian during this wait and tell her why I had to suddenly hang up. But I decide officer wouldn't appreciate it if he sees me doing this)

Officer: (Returns to the car) "Here is your stuff and your ticket. You have until 8/13 to either pay the $100 fine or plead not guilty and be given a court date"

HZ: "Ok, thank you. I know I'm guilty"

Officer: (Nods and begins to walk away)

HZ: "Wait! Sir! Can I ask you a question? I'm wondering... if I don't have a permanent address and don't plan on having one in the near future, where should I register my car to?"

Officer: (chuckles again) "Well, you could to a PO Box"

HZ: "Really? Are you sure? Because most things won't allow a PO Box in lieu of a permanent address... Insurance, Credit Cards, etc."

Officer: "I think so, just go to the DMV and they should take care of it"

HZ: "Ok thanks!"
(Drive away, highly doubting that he has any idea what he's talking about).
(Promptly get back on my phone.. but put it on speaker this time)

Disaster Zone

So Trevor requested that I post pictures of the disaster... I hesitated to let everyone in the world see. But Trevor gets what Trevor wants. (You all can go ahead and say it, I'm the best big sister ever)


Backseat mayhem.


What? It's not normal to keep your mail and stamps under the drivers seat?


Looks organized, but try asking me what's in any of those bags..

Decision

So I finally made a decision regarding tomorrow night.. seems shocking, I know. But I'm not going to Iowa, and I decided to go back to Hartford this weekend. I can always cancel my reservation if I change my mind. I was debating between the Marriott and Hampton Inn, but in the end, even though it's $10 more per night, Hampton Inn won because it has free high speed internet as well as free breakfast. Plus, the staff there is getting to know me. Haha just like the ladies at the nail salon. It's interesting that my only friends are those who are paid to be friendly to me..

Commitment Issues... even with a hotel

You may or may not know, but I over think almost everything. This is just a glimpse of what goes on in my brain. I think you’ll be exhausted by it.

The issue is that need to figure out where I’m going to stay Saturday night after I get back from Russia. Now this is a dumb thing to worry about, but let me spell it out for you and maybe you’ll understand.

Decision #1: Am I going to be exhausted or am I going to be a functioning human being?
After my 24 hour plane ride back from Russia, it’s hit or miss. Sometimes I land ready to go out for a beer and enjoy the evening, and sometimes I land and go straight to bed for the night, or somewhere in the middle. I just never know what it’s going to be. I’m flying into Boston Logan, so if it’s the “go out for a beer”, I have a lot of options, and can potentially even stay at a friends. But if it’s the straight to bed option, I just need a cheap hotel near Boston, but not in Boston (because the price will be inflated).

Decision #2: Am I leaving for Iowa on Sunday afternoon or not?
If I leave for Iowa, I once again have two options. Stay in Boston and fly in and out of Logan, or go back to Connecticut and fly in and out of Bradley. I’m trying to find out if I’m supposed to be involved in the activity Monday in Iowa or not. However, I’m not sure when I’m going to find out. If I’m going to fly in and out of Bradley, then I can get a hotel anywhere between Boston and Hartford, something with the lowest price and a nice outdoor pool since it’s supposed to be 89 and sunny on Sunday. But then on the other hand.. my favorite swimsuit is at my friends house since the Fourth of July, so am I really want to go lay out? Also, I actually hate laying out because its so boring, so even if I have good intentions, this isn’t going to last for more than eight minutes, is it? If no, why am I worrying about finding a hotel with a pool?

Now, I know you’re thinking, just wait until you land to figure it out. However, I wont have internet access, and my jet lagged self is not capable of making decisions and figuring things out when I get off the plane.

Do you understand my dilemma??

This is precisely why I don’t make plans.. it’s because I never know what I’m going to feel like doing when that time rolls around.

I'm not trying to blow up the plane

Ok so it's happened a few times that when I go through security, my bags set off an alarm saying that it detects explosive materials. When this alarm goes off they have to do a complete pat down and bag search, special tests, and then re-run the bag in x-ray machine. Complete bag search entails them emptying the entire contents of my suitcase onto a table in the middle of airport security. It's happened a couple times, this time in Boston Logan airport on my way to Russia. I am not a terrorist!! I think I'm going to have to hose down all my luggage and clothes so it stops happening!

Home Sweet Home

So this month has been kind of difficult on me regarding my homeless plan. It’s July 16th, and I’ve only been out of town for the weekend to go to my parent’s house. Although, I am leaving for Russia this Saturday.

I’m very fortunate that this week that my coworker is letting me “House Sit” while her and her family is on vacation at Martha's Vineyard. This means watering the plants, bringing in the mail, and caring for the cats, and in return, I have free accommodations for the week. Pretty good deal, right?.


me and Tinkerbell

I won’t lie, I love this homeless adventure, but having a home and constant place to stay, keep groceries, and do laundry is kind of refreshing. I don’t have to pack my bag every night, I don’t have to search for my toothbrush, and I had a place to boil water when I wanted to cook some eggs for breakfast.

One final thing to vent about, I really cannot stand how messy my car is. It is just a disaster and I get stressed every time I get inside of it. Honestly, there’s mail, laundry, overnight bags, gym bags, suitcases, towels, jewelry… just shit EVERYWHERE. It needs to improve.

I knew that months would be up and down regarding how much I am traveling, but I promised myself that minimally I’d break even month-to-month. To make that happen this month is going to be a stretch. Luckily, I think I have August worked out, I’ll let you know the master plan once I get it sorted out.

A Trip to Storage

So, yesterday I went to my storage unit for the first time since moving all of my stuff in there to pick something out to wear this weekend. Well well well, turns out I kind of forgot about the part where I'll go there to swap out clothes frequently. I caught myself several times saying "oooh, so that's where that is" I discovered so many things that I had been "missing". My car is turning into a complete chaos, so I thought those things were buried or in a different bag. I need to spend at least an hour sometime within the next week organizing a little bit..

A Strange Strategy

So this is my third night in Connecticut and I have been taking a very strange approach to my hotel booking this week. I have been waiting to hear back from the lady about arranging a corporate rate at the hotel next to the office, so I’ve only been booking hotels one night at a time.

Since I check in every night and out every morning, I didn’t want to have to be lugging suitcases everywhere. So each night when I check in, the only thing I take into the hotel is my workbag because I don’t want to leave my computer in the car. I ask for a toothbrush/toothpaste at the front desk and use the hotel soap to wash up. The next morning I leave in the exact same clothes, and then change and shower at the gym. It’s kind of bizarre, but it kind of works.

Here’s an evaluation of the local hotels I’ve been staying at:



Obviously, my hotel of choice at the moment is the Hampton Inn.. they even upgraded my room to a suite for tonight.. thank you very much.

Month One Ending

So tomorrow I’m flying from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, to Frankfurt, Germany to Boston to Orlando (totaling 27 hours) in order to join my family vacation. I am going to be completely exhausted, but at least I get to go for a few days. (In case you didn’t know, I am a closet Disney fanatic. I agree whole-heartedly with people when they say that Disney World is “The Happiest Place on Earth”. )

And from the Homeless point of view, it is a free place to stay, which will wrap up my first month of homelessness!

A few stats as month one draws to a close:
- Total nights I had to find my own place to stay: 6 (excludes nights stayed with friends and family)
- Flights I purchased that I wouldn’t ordinarily have: 0
- Approximate savings (versus renting my old apt): $530
- Amount of stress caused: minimal
- Amount of teasing ensued: quite a bit
- Overall evaluation: so worth it

Really the only problem that I'm having with this set up is that I still struggle knowing where my stuff is, and I’m beginning to realize that that part will probably never work itself out because I'm just not that organized. I worry for the months when there is snow on the ground and I’m not able to unpack and repack suitcases in hotel parking lots. But that’s still such a far ways away… so month two, here we go!!

Temporarily Evicted

I got a flat tire driving to Boston Logan airport this afternoon. Luckily, I had dinner plans in Boston, so this delay didn't make me miss my flight. First of all, I have to say that I'm mildly embarrassed that I don't know how to change a tire. Second of all, I had on a thin strapped sundress.. which turned out to be pretty much the most inappropriate outfit for attempting to change a tire. So since I have no idea what I'm really doing, I decide to call road side assistance. However, road side assistance won't come because I'm on the Mass Pike, so they refer me to another service, who refers me to another service that is just an automated system. So I decide to get a friend on the phone to talk me through it step by step.

Step 1: Remove the cover from the spare. As I am trying to figure out how the cover comes off of my spare on the back of my car, the wind is blowing, and my dress is going everywhere. Naturally, the wind blows my skirt up, I butt flash all of I-90, (I got a few honks). You're welcome if you were driving on I-90E around 4:30 this afternoon.

Step 2: Remove tools from my car. The tools of course are kept in the underneath part of my trunk, which means emptying my trunk so that I can lift up to remove the tools. At this point, all of my life possessions are sitting on a curb on the side of the road.


(this picture does not do justice to the chaos there was by the side of the road)

Step 3: Thank God before I ever got to step 3, some random guy stopped to help me. He had power tools and did it within a matter of 5 minutes. When I heard from my roadside again, they told me that they would have sent the police since it is not an area where they allow their service trucks to visit.

Never a dull moment. Never...

prolonged stupidity

This morning a wake up call rudely awoke my sleep at 3:45am. Last night I stayed in the Marriott near the airport because I wanted to maximize on my sleep by minimizing driving time. After packing up my things, folding my laundry, and reorganizing bags (I was too exhausted to do this last night) I headed to the airport with very little time to spare.

I know that I can push the limits on how much time I allow prior to departure because I was flying United and have highest status with them, so I skip all of the lines. Once I got there, I stepped up to the front of the Red Carpet line, hand the guy my ID and he tells me he can’t find my reservation.

Now let me say, I never book my own business travel, but I didn’t decide to go to Iowa this week until after 5pm on Friday, so I took care of everything by myself.

He continues to look up my information and he tells me that my flight is booked for next Monday, not this Monday, and that I need to call to see if I can get it changed because all flights this morning are completely full. Also, he mentions that I need to step out of line because he has to check in the rest of the passengers.

Fine, I get out of line and start asking around for the payphones (yes, I lost my phone this weekend… it’s part of the sleeping in the car story). Turns out payphones are now a part of history and no longer exist in the Bradley International Airport. So I get back in line to the ticket counter so that I can ask if I can use his phone.

Now at this point, my stupidity just completely overwhelmed me. Between the phone fiasco and this ticket mistake, plus exhaustion, I have tears welling up in my eyes. I was struggling to handle my life, and the guy was clearly feeling awkward about it

Magically, seats appeared on both of the flights that I wanted to get on; I made it through security and to the gate just as they were making a final boarding call.

The moral of the story is patience and tears basically fix everything. However, at this point, I’m not sure if he changed my reservation or what he did or how I’m going to get back to Hartford. Also, I have no idea if I have hotel reservations or if I did the same idiotic thing for that too. It’s not all fixed, but baby steps in the right direction.

a real homeless night

So, I think I'll leave out all of the events leading up to how I ended up here, but I felt that it should be documented in my blog that I woke up this morning in Boston and found myself in the backseat of my car curled up using a suitcase as a pillow and a towel as a blanket. True homeless style...

Priceline, worth the risk?

So, I have been using priceline to book hotels. For anyone who doesn't know, you go on line, put in where (what areas of town you want to stay), how many star hotel, and then bid a price. For example, for last night, I said: Hartford, Farmington, Avon, 3.5 star, bid $55. Then priceline either accepts or rejects your offer and assigns you to a hotel. In this case, I got downtown Crowne Plaza.

I have been getting incredible rates, but it's a bit of a risk each time (especially since some Hartford areas are dumps). When you book priceline it's more or less set in stone (no cancellations). Well, this morning I was up waay too early, so decided to book a room for Sunday night. I accidentally booked it for the wrong week (and I happen to know I most likely won't be in town that week). So now I'm stuck with this hotel. Even with the risk of no cancellations and of not knowing what hotel I'll get. At this point, it's still worth it.

Seriously, Hertz?

I arrived in Iowa on Monday and picked up my keys from the Hertz counter. My car was in stall D11, so I headed out the D isle and as I was walking all the cars D1-D10 are legitimate normal sedans, then I get to my stall D11 where there is a shiny white Nissan Cube sitting there. Thanks Hertz...

I’m wondering if someone there has a photomontage of me driving the funniest cars that they own. There is no other explanation. Not only this Nissan Cube, but my 4 previous cars were: Chevy HHR, Toyota Prius, and another Prius, and a Corolla that got a dead battery. There is a car rental conspiracy against me..

A visitor in my own home

I'm back at my parent's house for Stephanie and Derek's Wedding Weekend. I arrived in Detroit sometime late last evening, we rewatched the absolutely terrible call by Jim Joyce that ruined Galarraga's perfect game, and got my Dad all riled up again. Then we chatted for a long time, and went to sleep way past my bedtime (so like 10pm hahaha).

It's interesting to come back to Troy, because at some point in my life... I'm not exactly sure when, it went from being "home" to being "my parents house". It's really obvious I'm a visitor here in my childhood home. It isn't at all that I'm unwelcome or that my relationship with my family has changed, but it's clear that I'm in someone else's home. Few examples:

1. In preparation for my visit, Mom has to make up the bed for me in the guestroom (what used to be my bedroom long ago got converted into my little brother's Lego Room and has since become his Music Room where his drum set and keyboard reside)

2. I wanted to do a load of laundry, but Mom has a new washer that I don't know how to operate, so she does it for me. Yeah, I really can't complain about this, but at age 26 my Mom doesn't need to be doing my laundry.

3. I want to make something to eat for breakfast, but they just re-did the kitchen, so I have to open and search every cupboard and drawer to find the appropriate utensils needed.

This truly means, there is no where I call home. Anyways, I'll be staying here until Sunday, then after that, stay tuned..

Adjustment Period

As you know, my life officially fits into a 5x5 storage unit and the back of my car. However, as much as I had everything planned out, there were a few things that weren’t so well thought out.

1. I Can’t Find Anything: There is a big question of where I put stuff. I tried to be very deliberate and organized as I packed. Although I'm a fairly experienced mover... in my 5 years of college I moved 11 times, I never had to be that organized. Usually when I come down to the last few boxes, I just say “F it” (F = forget for the PG version of the story), throw everything into one box, and figure it out when I get there. However, despite my desperate attempts at organization, I’m still not sure where half my stuff is.

(This is my storage unit)

2. Unintentional Raw Foods Diet. I took over a drawer of the refrigerator at the office; however, right now I have no way to cook things, I am only eating things that don’t need to be cooked. I had a chat with my coworker Ammie today about what small appliance I might need. She had a lot of good suggestions, and I need to do some investigation.

3. Theft: I have a bit of a concern about keeping so much stuff I my car (because of security purposes). My goal was to get it down to what could be kept in the trunk and covered. I’m overflowing into the backseat right now, and I don’t like it. I’ll work on it though…

(The Trunk of my Car)

4. How to Pack: My last concern is regarding packing. I’m leaving tomorrow for my next trip and need to pack. Right now, it’s unconfirmed but it looks like this is going to be my plan:
- 4 Days Detroit for Steph & Derek’s wedding weekend
- 5 Days Cedar Rapids, IA for work
- 2 Days Chicago for fun
- 3 Days Cedar Rapids, IA for work

Packing for this under a normal condition would be difficult for me (especially because of my moral opposition to checking luggage). But my packing experience today was one to be remembered. The suitcase I needed was full of other stuff that wasn’t going with me and I didn’t know where anything was. So my strategy was to drive to the Storage Unit and pack in the parking lot there. That way, anything I couldn’t find in my car, I could run upstairs and take out of storage.

Of course my luck, it was torrential downpour as I was trying to do this. So there were clothes thrown all over my car: the drivers seat was for the “maybe taking” pile, the passengers seat was for the “taking” pile, and the backseat/trunk was the “not coming with me, but need to get it out of the way” pile. Although I ended up soaking wet, I think I have most things that I need for the trip all ready. I got a friendly reminder from my Mom not to forget my bridesmaids dress or shoes… but just in case, someone please check in with me tomorrow to be sure I have it!

Underappreciated Mode of Transportation

After packing up all my stuff, I decided to spend the first homeless weekend in Washington DC. I took the train down to spend the weekend with Becky, Uncle Ken, and Grandma and Grandpa. To get there I basically had three options: drive, fly, or train (there was likely a bus option, but I didn’t investigate). I decided on train mostly because I didn’t want to pay for a flight and I didn’t want the stress of driving (Memorial Day traffic and the likelihood that I’d get lost).

Overall it was a great experience. The train was punctual, I was able to do some work, sleep, and rewatch some episodes of Modern Family that I have on itunes. Had I planned a little bit better I would have packed myself a decent lunch because the quality of the train food was equivalent to gas station food, but about five times the price.

DC was a great time and is absolutely amazing at night when all the monuments are lit up. We managed to see a lot in a short time, but there is still so much I want to see in DC now that I actually appreciate history. Now that I know the train is such an easy option, I think I’ll try to go down there again soon.