Back with a Vengeance

After a long absence, I have returned!

I have to apologize for how bad I've been about posting. I realize there is no legitimate excuse for my carelessness, but I'm going to make an attempt anyway. First of all, I had to finish up my internships and get through my final weeks of graduate school. Then I had to spend hours applying for one job after another as well as running around Chicago to attend interviews. You should all be happy to know that I have completed my masters and am now working full-time as a copy writer for a marketing company. Yes, you can celebrate my good fortune, I know I am. Second, as you all know I had a very important trip to South Africa and the World Cup, and let's face it, I was way too preoccupied with happenings there to post anything.

But now I have returned, as dedicated as ever to reporting on the various travel stories and personal anecdotes that I find interesting. (I don't really care if you don't think they're interesting, cause it's my blog.) As you may have noticed, I've done a little rearranging and redesigning to my page, and I think this new layout is rather fitting. So with all that has happened and all the changes going on in my life, it's gonna be a lot to cover.

So let's dive right into it shall we?

Struggling with Airfares

I know that right now is a great time to travel. Hotel deals galore, cheap flights, and easier ways for people to redeem miles. But my family and I are still battling with finding reasonable flights for the world cup next summer.

"But it's 8 months away!" You might be thinking.

Well, unfortunately because it is such a big event and the destination can take two days to reach, we need to jump on flights right now. But every time we search on any combination of options--Chicago to London to Johannesburg, or New York to Paris to Johannesburg--we are looking at prices far exceeding $2000. That is just way outside our price range, especially me and my boyfriend who are struggling graduate students.

But it isn't just the expensive airfare that poses an issue. Once we get to Johannesburg, we then have to find a way to Durbin, the city where we have tickets for games. The easiest option is to fly because it gives us more time to get there before the first match, but that's more money--as you can imagine. The train takes the whole night and we would arrive just before the game and a day later than our hotel check-in date, and the bus takes even longer.

I am tempted at this point to reach out to anyone in the travel business who may be able to find us a good deal. If we can't find one soon, we may have to bite the bullet and book the expensive flights.

I'm gonna need to start saving.

Any Travel Trends or News?

Ok, so one of the courses I am taking this quarter is Magazine Writing, and I know I am in for quite a lot of work. Basically, I have two articles to write, and while that might not seem like much it is actually going to be difficult. The stories have to be locally based, meaning happening in Chicago mainly, and they need to be timely and prominent in the news. I also have to have face-to-face interviews with 3-4 sources for each one.

The first task is to find story ideas. Right now I am really struggling finding anything that has not been done already. I mean, I read the news so of course I know about stuff going on, but already I'm behind the journalists who wrote it. How am I suppose to come up with fresh ideas if they're taking all of them?

My professor told us to think of areas that interest us and focus on news stories there because those are the things that we really care about. Well, I love travel. But with my luck, Chicago does not have much going on in that area. The only thing I can think of is the Olympic bid, but we don't know if we have it yet...not until Oct. 2 And, let's be honest, that has pretty much been written to death.

So if anyone has any thoughts about some current events relating to travel and Chicago, I would really appreciate the help.

Packing Prompts Inspiration

Graduate school classes have resumed. Back to the grind of reading 300-page books in two days, writing paper after paper, and sitting through three hour lectures and workshops. Luckily, this is what I want to do with my life, so I find most of it pretty enjoyable--with the exception of speeding through books without getting the chance to really enjoy them. But what I really like is when I get a good writing idea compliments of my professors or something I heard in class or read in one of our various assignments.

This time it came from my memoir writing class. One of the writers we are studying is Abigail Thomas, and in one of her books she talks about how to write a personal story. In one chapter she provides prompts for writers who may be struggling with getting their story started. I was reading through some of these prompts--write 2 pages about a time you were dressed inappropriately, 2 pages that take place in water--and I came across one that I thought was really interesting, something I had never thought about before: Write 2 pages about what goes through your mind when you're packing for a trip.

Personally, the process of packing can be stressful. First, I make out a list of everything I think I'm going to need, writing down numbers next to each to indicate how many I plan on taking. 4 t-shirts. 3 long-sleeve shirts. 5 pairs of pants. 1 dress. It appears anal, borders on obsession. But I like to have a plan, and with a list at least I can check things off and make sure that I have them in my suitcase.

Then it comes time to actually grab that bag and put everything inside. I lay out everything I am going to need, grabbing one thing and putting something else back. When everything is laid out on my bed, I scan it to make sure I have everything, plus extra just in case. Then I think, "what's the weather going to be like where I'm going?" I lunge for my laptop and enter the weather channel website. I look at the weekend forcast, the 10 day forecast, the chance of rain, etc. And since I'm on the internet, why not check some of the places I might want to visit, restaurants, bars, monuments. So I need to make sure I have outfits appropriate for those outings, as well as any necessary accessories or toiletries. Sunscreen for a long day at the beach, hats and boots for a day of hiking, jewelry and makeup for nice parties and dinners.

Somehow I get lost in the excitment of everything, and I'll start thinking about how much fun I'm going to have on my trip. And while packing is my priority at this point, I take a moment to appreciate that I can pack a bag and jet off to somewhere unknown. When I place that dress in the suitcase, I wonder what memories it will collect as I wear it. Will that sunscreen protect me, or is a burn in my future? Will my camera even be able to capture the moments of my trip, the experience I will ultimately come away with? Packing no longer becomes a quest to assure I have everything and how to pack it practically. It turns into a game, guessing where an outfit will take me, or better yet, where I'll take it.

What do you think about when you pack for a trip?

Seriously Need a Vacation

I don't even care where I go, I just need a break from it all. I'm in my final week of classes, and I have a long paper due next Tuesday, and then I'm finished for the summer. But, in reality, it doesn't end when I submit that 10-12 page, wanna-shoot-myself-in-the-head paper. I still have work and an internship through the summer, and since I'm not getting paid at my internship I have to get credit for it over these next three months and write a 25-page paper about my experience. On top of that, I've been given a new assignment at my internship where I get to write a by-line for a publication that my company works with. It's exciting to get another opportunity to write and get my work published, but it's more stress placed on me because I'm not a marketing major (I work for a marketing research company) and when I have to point out possible trends, create graphs and tables from data I don't understand, I worry that I'm going to screw something up. What if what I think is a trend isn't actually one? Or what if I look at the numbers wrong and create some out-of-whack table? What if the magazine and my company doesn't like what I write because God knows I don't always know what I'm talking about? I'm not a marketing expert. Hell, sometimes I don't even think I'm that great of a writer. Self-doubt can be a bitch.

So I've decided that when I get home from work tonight, I am booking a flight. In all honesty, it isn't going to be to anywhere exciting. I just need to leave Chicago for a few days. I'm thinking home to Denver is the best plan. I can relax with old friends, see my grandparents, shop with my mom, get a haircut (I desperately need one) and just spend time away from the stress of the city. Sometimes you just need to get away.