http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Wisconsin , Madison en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:08:08 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:08:08 UTC It happened when I picked my brother up from the airport tonight. I arrived a little early and decided to use the ladies' room. After I closed the door to the stall I got the fright of my life. The toilet flushed suddenly and without warning. I shrieked dumping the contents of my purse all over the floor when I instinctively threw my hands in the air to cover my head. Apparently I am stil http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-349489.html Tonight is my last night in the good ole town of Madison. Hitting up Bluephies with some friends for a good meal and some drinks. Packing has been hectic but still fun. I enjoy being constantly busy. That might be hard when I go the beach in Thailand for days at a time but I think I will enjoy that too. Packed everything I have left into my car with room to spare except for my grill my bike a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-346048.html The day we've been waiting for has finally arrived. Election Day November 4 2008. I felt so excited the night before that I had trouble sleeping. Like a small child the night before Christmas I tossed and turned eagerly checking the bedside clock to count down the hours until I could arise and meet the day. And now....it's here. HOUR ONE I'm currently sitting courtside watching the pro http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-341627.html ...thanks Keith. I have been selling off all of my stuff recently. It is amazing how much you can actually live without. I am going to be living out of a backpack mostly for the next few months. It is going to be a huge change. I won't have my computer to watch TV shows on I won't have my comfortable bed to relax in. I am not going to have a lot of what I have now but I won't miss any of the s http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-339682.html I have made the first big step in my travels. I bought the ticket. Although technically the first big step was telling work that I was quitting I feel like that was a big step in moving away from my job not towards my goal. November 19 is my last day in the country. Lily and I are going to Japan at first for a layover of a couple days. Check out Tokyo and see how cool that is. I have always want http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-329776.html well.... i'm home and what can I say it was an amazing trip Here are some more photos for anyone who hasn't had a chance to see them These are just a few of my photos from Harnas http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-328639.html My journey starts in just about 80 days. I have never been more excited for anything in my life. For those of you who don't know and if you don't then how did you find my travel blog I am moving to Thailand in NovemberI have a lot of stuff figured out already but I don't have everything figured out. Some of it I will some of it I don't want to yet. This is my first little adventure steppin http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-315075.html Today was a travel day through the land of cheddar Wisconsin. It seemed fitting after hearing that Brett Favre was traded from the Packers to the NY Jets. We did see a lot of signs wishing him well and certainly the pubs were ready for the first game for Brett. Come join us for Favre vs. the Dolphins. We stopped first in Lincolnshire Illinois to play a great minigolf course. It was a classic http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-310338.html The first indication that I'd returned to the United States came when I opened my computer to write this blog and realized I would have to type in English. That was over two weeks ago. Each day I summoned the courage to crack open my Macbook and timidly tap out a letter or two. The past several days have brought colossal victory as my grasp of the Roman alphabet returned and I realized that t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-308360.html Hey everyone Just seeing if my blog is working. Laura and I are leaving for Chicago today and will be flying to Thailand tomorrow morning. Hope everyone is well. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-307915.html One day down 3 more til we get to Glacier National Park. We made it to Madison Wisconsin at about 940 local time. We've decided to see as many major college campuses as we can along the way. Our first stop was University of Illinios in Champaign. We snuck into Memorial Stadium football that was unlocked due to construction. Rachel and Emma were convinced we'd be thrown in the clink for t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-300343.html Well my procrastination has apparently sunken to a new low. I'm finally finishing this deal. I've been back in the States for over 5 weeks now so I suppose this should be finished. Looking back on Greece despite Brad's accident it was a really cool experience. Athens was slightly disappointing the city was pretty dirty and not much to see besides the Acropolis. Also the Parthenon was covered http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-291983.html I still find it weird to be back in the states everytime i look at my pics i just want to go backMy week has been a blast full of reunions and catching up with my friends from my Ceiba Program. Last weekend I drove up to Northern Illinios just over the border with bretski and brenna and met Joe and Cath Molly and her sister and some other ceiba kids from past semesterssummers and we campe http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-285267.html So i am in the united states writing this from the convenient and comfortable confines of my backyard underneath my gazeebo to be exact. It has been four days since I've arrived in the states and the weirdness of being back is beginning to wear off. The final flight per my typical nature carried its own adventures me ab and steve met two body guards from californina who had justbeen on http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-276705.html Here we are. Our last venue. And we couldnrsquot be more tired. This morning we did a school show and the kids looked like they were about to fall over Then load out and a drive and load in. At a notsoaccommodating union house. Lots of noncommunication before not so much miscommunication just things no one was told. And to make things more fun the bosses decided we should record http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-268810.html Our last day in Toronto we took a tour of the Steam Whistle Pilsner Brewery. If you're in Toronto and you want a few free drinks go here and just hang around they pretty much just pass them out. We did take it though heard about the great efforts they put into the drink got to compare prefiltered to officially filtered had a few more me anyways I kept finishing Lauren's. We met a film stu http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-267101.html Warning The following contains explicit recollections of this days events. As it were smoking cessation may cause already sarcastic indivuals to enter into a state of increased audacity inappropriatness and vulgarity. God Dammit Quitting smoking is not the rewarding adventure I had anticipated. I am on day 3. It's raining for the 5th day in a row and I woke up and still live in Wisconsin. DAMM http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-265789.html Dear DiaryThere were 2 very special things about April 9th. The first is that it was my sister Caroline's 27th birthday I wish I could have been there with her to celebrate but I sent her a 'birthday in a box' filled with all of her favorite goodies including coffee Runts more coffee soap and a plastic stretchy monkey with suction cups on its paws. I know I know.. I shouldn't have but I'm http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-265092.html My first trip home since moving to the snowiest place on earthI promised my family I wouldn't bring any snow to Pennsylvania and I managed to keep that promise. Although the weather wasn't the prettiest it was oh so nice to spend some much needed time with my family. The only complaint I have is that I missed Whitney terribly and the entire trip went by way too fastA few highlights from the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-261645.html Connie and Larry came to playHooray My mom and dad came to Madison 1 to see our house 2 for some fine wintery fun 3 to listen to oompa music and eat brats and cheese curd and 4 to fix everything in the house. We had a lovely time. They arrived on Thursday and left on Sunday. Here are a few highlights of the trip...1 Tubing I think my mom had an especially nice time. We blew up a tube took http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-258667.html When I think back to the Fall I remember sitting on our deck and trying to forecast our first Wisconsin winter. I was so excited to see Winter..a REAL winter. I looked forward to learning about this mystery they call snow to shoveling the driveway of our new house to learning the ends and outs of salting administration and hunkering down for 'the big one.' I thought of these things while I was http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-247665.html A week ago the department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin sent Kathina Caroline and me to Kona Hawaii. We left just in time as 2 feet of snow fell the day after we left Wisconsin. Hawaii rocked We stayed at the Marriott an open air 4 star resort with an infinity pool a waterslide and of course a beach. Highlights included sunsets lounging on the beach brightly colored drin http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-247284.html Today I had my first real brush with democracy. Throughout the heated race for the democratic nomination I've kept my cool. I decided on a candidate early on in the process but also made time to listen to all viable candidates debate during the runup to the Wisconsin primary. I expressed my opinions politely when disagreeing with a friend or acquaintance's choice. I calmly explained my rati http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-246373.html That's how it feels at the moment...like the calm before the storm. It's like I'm in limbo right now just waiting to step onto that plane and get off in a completely different world. I mean in the midst shoveling snow right now and being forced to watch High School Musical with my mother and friend it's hard to think that in four days I'll be in ninety degree weather putting on sunscreen and http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-243674.html So that feeling starts...the feeling that I am about to embark on a lifechanging experience or at least I hope so. I'm ready for warm weather and different food soda with real sugar and glass bottles a different culture and way of life. Sure I'm a bit scared and a bit worried but hey that comes with the territory. What worries me more is making sure I get everything here at home finished b http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-242956.html It's the Second to Last Day of Work nothing much to do... Just getting ready to party tonight and over the weekend and then leave on a 5 month trip around the world. Current planned routeMadison WigtMilwaukee WIgtColumbus OHgtNew York NYgtSan Salvador El SalvadorgtLima Peru 3 Week Trip through PerugtBuenos Aires Argentina 1 month in Argentina and UruguaygtCapetown South http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-241496.html Dear DiaryToday was lovely. A nice Wisconsin man came to fix our garage door. As some of you know one of my favorite shows is MacGyver. I love how the hero can be caught in any situation high tension deserted island tied up with 3.2 seconds until an oncoming train runs over the helpless virgin.... No matter the situation MacGyver can get out of it by taking something apart and compiling the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-240859.html OK so I'm going to be leaving quite soon to fly out to LA have a short visit with my aunt and then fly out to Brisbane... eep It's really exciting but slightly nervewracking to realize that I'm not going to see my family again for close to half a year and that everything I need for that time and the subsequent time at FHL needs to be packed in two suitcases. I effectively won't be home http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-239462.html Oh what a night....My day started out as an average Thursday. Well kind of average. We were scheduled to get about 59 inches of snow but only ended up getting about 3. But the great thing is the 'frozen tundra' I kept hearing so much about. Frozen tundra is defined as type of environment with a permanently frozen subsoil. Vegetation is restricted to mosses small plants shrubs etc. Kathina http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-236950.html It's starting to sink in that I'm actually leaving actually saying goodbye to some family and friends the last few days crazy. I'm almost all packed just like toiletries and updating the music on my Zune is all that is left to do. Also if you somehow lose the link to this site if you google my name it's the first one listed.I called UWP and I got some more info.Home AddressCalle Len XIII 1 http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-235894.html