Well, here it is - my very last update from the state of Massachusetts and potentially from the USA altogether. Today (Thursday, 6/19), I depart for Washington DC one last time in order to pay a visit to my brother and all of his friends. As I was telling my mom the other day, the planning for this weekend reminds me of one of my birthdays when I was a kid; I think it was my 10th. I had slept in or taken a nap or something that day and when I woke up, my brother was wearing a birthday hat [View Full Entry]

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testing, testing, 1,2,3, testing. This is my first time posting to the TravelBlog. We are headed to Boston in a few weeks and I would like to journal our trip. Practicing seems like the best way to learn. I would hate to get there and not be able to post after telling friends and family of our plans. I will be practicing with entries and adding photos that have little or nothing to do with Boston. Here we go! [View Full Entry]

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its june 17 at 10:40 pm right now. i'm sitting at my house, preparing not for my year off, but for my summer. i will leave on thursday for 9 1/2 weeks of camp. that means i have 2 weeks in september to come home, unpack, do laundry, repack, and go to california to begin my year. the other day, when it was 103 degrees out, my mother and i went to REI. we spent $1200 on the things i needed. let me back up. i joined a program called leapyear leapnow. on september 14, i will go to california for [View Full Entry]

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Megan and family members met in Boston. Megan loved the swimming pool at the hotel. Daddy ate raw oysters at the Salty Dog in Boston to amuse her. We walked around the Haymarket where there were street jugglers and musicians. "Build a Bear" was a winner that Aunt Sherri found. took the subway. Adventures! Surgery was tough on all. June 18, Megan is out of ICU and smiled. Tomorrow chest tube comes out. Doctor says Megan is recuperating fantastically, one day at a time. All are afraid to cry too much. Thanks for prayers. More bright days ahead. [View Full Entry]

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One week to go, then away on my next 'big day out'. This time, I'm off to Brazil, and I hope some of you will write to me as I pass through the seven or so weeks I intend to spend there. I fancy visiting some splendid islands for tropical fish and the like, the Amazon, for obvious reasons, and the wildlife paradise, the Pantanal, for added exotica. Hopefully, I'm going to meet up with my good friend Eric for a portion of the tour. Right now, I have an exciting and action packed week ahead wrapping up the School year [View Full Entry]

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Week 1, Day 1 Today is travel day! It still hasn't hit me that I am flying to the other side of the country for 7 weeks! ...or 49-50 days. This will surely be one of the most exciting and life changing experiences ever! I am currently at home for some last minute shoving and cramming items into....yes, 2 suitcases!! It's a good thing that I checked the airline requirements today, because I just found out that if your luggage is over 50 lbs. you have to pay $100!! When I weighed it just a few minutes ago one was [View Full Entry]

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Two days in Boston, Massachusetts and Kev and I know a lot more about the American Revolution than we did before! We stayed in Charlestown, an area which played a vital part in the Revolution and we were within cooee of where the Battleof Bunker Hill took place in June 1775. It was Col. William Prescott who led his men in the aforementioned battle and who is reputed to have issued those orders to those know as the patriots who were fighting the English Redcoats. The result was a victory for the British, however, they suffered their greatest losses of the [View Full Entry]

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We're still home, packing up our apartment and trying to get everything settled before we leave this Friday (conveniently also Friday the 13th). [View Full Entry]

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On Friday, June 6 at 10:30AM, Liz and I left for Boston in her new Prius. We made the trip in 5 hours, including one pit stop to stretch and one stop to eat at Pizzeria Uno. Our stay at the South Boston Hampton Inn started off on a positive note, and just kept getting better! There was a parking garage with card key access opposite the hotel where we parked our car (being that it's a new car, not having it velleted was key). When checking in we were told about a free shuttle van service the hotel had that [View Full Entry]

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hello everyone! heres my first entry! im still in the states, but i went to YFU Pre-Departure Orientation to prepare for my time abroad this last weekend. it was SO much fun! We went around to seminars on different things like "realistic expectations", "meet the critic" and "family living" and that sort of thing, and then later on we played games and had time to hang out and just have fun. I met a lot of really cool people headed off on exchanges also and hopefully will be able to stay in touch with them especially while i'm abroad. anyway, here [View Full Entry]

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