Katrina Wood
Hi everyone!WriteAbroad07
I'm a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, and you are looking at/reading a part of my final thesis, or Capstone project. I kept this blog for the duration of a study abroad trip around Italy in the summer of 2007, and now I hope to add more travel-related entries to take this blog even further into looking at how travel broadens one's horizons. As I worked on my Capstone on this trip, I kept up with my photography and journaling techniques. The latter also had to do with a class I took with ASU-that was the university I took this trip with, and our group was comprised of students and many others that made it all the more interesting.
One of my goals after putting together my work from Italy with my surveys from study abroad students (adding in literature readings by the big names in the genre) was to have a solid piece of travel writing. The travel narrative is my primary interest for placing my travels in print form, but I aspire to be a travel writer in any capacity, really--a features magazine would be just the ticket for the near future.
So family and friends, MAPW colleagues, my wonderful project committee, and fellow travelers, please leave comments and partake (and contribute to) my experiences as a writer journaling and pursuing the travel writing field. This trip took place from June 25th to July 20th, 2007. Thank you!
-Katrina
I've created a map through Google that I would like to have show the trip route. It's posted in my first entry (since I had to put it in an entry somewhere to make it show up, I think), but maybe you'll be able to view it as I add the trip route (I'm not reading much about an 'edit feature' option for it on this site, so oh well. We'll see.): http://www.travelblog.org/gmaps/map_45I.html.
Also, it should be noted that my blog and 'field research' on Italy has a "co-captain" of sorts. I was indeed at the mercy of Italian technology (or at least their available computers) for this trip, so my Mom volunteered to help post or edit things from back home. I would have had her do more of that, but again, this was a major learning process for us all. :-) Now comes the time that I present more of my "field research;" the blog's not over just yet! Please keep these little stipulations in mind as you navigate through everything.
Travel Blog Posts
May 21st 2011
The spring season means the natural wrapping up and conclusion of things like television seasons and school years. Even though I have yet to bid my current job and living situations adieu, I’d like to think that it will still happen, even if it’s summer. After all, I will have a May birthday no matter what, and each passing week always holds some sort of significance in April . Yet, my travel-related entry concerns winter and mid-February. My parents had a safe, meaningful and altogether memorable tour of Israel. My mother is almost finished with a power point presentation of her pictures, and on a recent visit with family in Clarkesville, Georgia, I also got to see what she had been working on. She combined some stock photos off of the internet with her own photos, ... read more
Fall in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Jefferson’s beloved homeland
Published: February 2nd 2011North America » United States » Virginia » Charlottesville
February 1st 2011
The art of travel is a vibrant, ever-present necessity that I need to make it through my current life situation. It’s also something that I think we all need to embrace. I have allowed my blog to go untouched and stagnant, but like an upcoming trip or promise of a new home, the travelogue won’t stay down forever. I managed to visit a new state in 2010 as well as return to Disney World (and I do not plan to do that in the summer for anyone for a while!). My last real adventure was a road trip in mid-October to Virginia. My plans were really to visit the campuses of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. I was drawn to these college towns and I secretly (well, not so much now since nothing has ... read more
The city was the state in this case! So, what’'s in a city?
Published: September 17th 2010North America » United States » Texas » San Antonio
September 14th 2010
Here comes the entry on Texas, our 28th state in the Union. I have now seen some of it, but the thought that continues to nag me is that I saw exactly one city. That’s out of the 268,601 square miles that are available. I don’t want to start off my entry of the 2010 Birthday Trip with mere complaints, though, so let me tell a few stories instead. My mom and I took off and made it to San Antonio on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in May. Just the airport was cute in comparison to Hartsfield in Atlanta. The lower level had the conveyer belts for our luggage, but someone could easily leap over one and be at the wall in a few seconds. We figured out how to pay for the shuttle to get ... read more
A brrrr of a getaway!
Published: April 26th 2010North America » United States » North Carolina » Highlands
April 22nd 2010
I believe that when I last left this blog, I mentioned looking for a job. I then tried my best not to dwell on that incredibly trying, painful, near-hopeless process, but alas, I have moved into the PT working world. I am still on the job search bandwagon and (slowly, slowly) striving to become a bona fide travel writer whose work can be seen in the newsstand section of the store in which I work. That is the big picture and main details that I’ll share right now, but 2010 is one of those “this is the year(s).” A networking group with which I enjoyed some writing/journalistic events has 2010 in its name; it has about died now that so many professionals and companies in our field are no more. Yet, I have an (small) income ... read more
Perhaps you would like a little rain with that beach? Or a small sunburn and the path less traveled with that fall excursion?
Published: November 6th 2009North America » United States » Alabama » Mobile
November 3rd 2009
I begin back with some late summer and early fall travels. My seeing a new state and somewhat far-off literary landmarks are at a pause for now, but I have been to the following since August: Hilton Head Island, Savannah, the Virginia Highlands in Atlanta, the Florida Panhandle and Mobile, Alabama, plus another location of the music store chain that I briefly worked for during their busy season. All in all, I managed to come up with some material to put together a new entry. It is a new season and I welcome that fact, yet many a day comes when I longingly gaze at my atlas or wall maps. I probably shouldn’t even list the many places to which I’ve yet to make the venture, or the combinations of sights and cities that I must ... read more
America’s Hometown (we made it!)
Published: September 10th 2009North America » United States » Missouri » Hannibal
August 22nd 2009
So I’m sure I’ll arrive in Hannibal this time. For this entry, that is! My mom and I spent Saturday (May 9th) in St. Louis, and I left off with Kayak, the hip and happening place to study and enjoy a cool brew nearby Washington University. I had something called the bullfrog, I believe, and it had mint and chocolate mixed in with the ice and other iced drink goodness. I miss having a go-to coffee shop like I did in college, although I never had one of Kayak’s size. Plus, you got every notion of the store being outdoorsy and adventurous; there was gear on the walls and wooden furniture. And a guy studying chemistry, poor soul. We were pleased to find the Metrolink station in front of Kayak, for we crossed the street underneath ... read more
Visiting the Gateway to the West...and Twain!
Published: July 2nd 2009North America » United States » Missouri » St Louis
June 26th 2009
We’re in…a parking garage at our hotel. Well, I knew about it when I booked the place, so we checked in and took some things to a cart before I punched in the code and maneuvered my car to a space in the single-story garage. The GPS (which we narrowed down the names for; I think Sylvia will stick) won’t work in there, so we had to ride out from under the roof and start our day and route in the parking lot. Next door to our hotel, a community project garden was growing. A sign said it was sponsored by several organizations, and we could gaze in at the rows of the vegetation on our way to St. Louis Union Station. Our first night, I snapped my photos of the skyline from the seventh floor, ... read more
Midwest meets the South: Things apart from Twain
Published: June 10th 2009North America » United States » Kentucky
June 10th 2009
Let the material commence! I’m writing as I go, just about, but I wanted to figure out some way to post a few entries on the Missouri road trip from last month. Or, at least two. As with all of my trips, if I was interested in any of the historical significance of a place or people that have affected the area I’m going as a whole, I was even more so when I got home. Lewis and Clark and their expedition were major factors for St. Louis and where our trip’s destination was taking us, but Mark Twain stayed at the forefront of my thoughts. He’s still there now, so the next entry (or part II, as it were) will focus more on Hannibal and his influence with my seeing his face on a magazine ... read more
April 30th 2009
I have a trip to prepare for and be excited about this go-round. How glorious! I’ll admit that I’m not loving every minute of looking into available bed and breakfast establishments in St. Louis, but I will be happy once I’m there and satisfied with the area and the accommodations I chose. I also thought that most of the trip (when not in view of the Jefferson Expansion Memorial, or the Arch) would be the road and picking a good hotel when the time came to stop, but now I have to at least have a sketch of where to stop and a few more guideposts. The itinerary of a trip long in the making (maybe a few years in theory, but certainly a few months for the actual thing next week!) is something I miss ... read more
February 28th 2009
Greetings to the travel universe and beyond! I have finally returned to my TravelBlog after more than a year, yet the persistent e-mails from the site asking me to return were only one reason for my decision. It's true that I have seen the end of my travels in Italy and my initial reason to keep this blog, but as I carve out time (which is quite a feat at times, I must admit) to be an ongoing travel writer, I need to write while I am simply stateside and looking for a job. It is in this predicament that I find myself, yet I've been on a one of those journeys of self-discovery that has some extreme highs and lows since graduation last May. My thesis was finally completed, defended, and shelved for future generations ... read more
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