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.