Sin City, Speakeasies, & Stargate

My friend and I were drinking cocktails outside a bar when we got The Call.

We were standing outside because the only way to stand inside most bars near NYU was with your elbows pinned to your sides--not the most convenient drinking method--and even then you were in danger of another customer knocking your drink down your front.

It was a lucky kind of night. Not only were we enjoying the bar's urban courtyard but we'd managed to find an electrical outlet for my friend's phone. Had we not, we may never have received The Call and my visit to New York City would have been much more ordinary.

Welcome Back

It's been two and a half years since I've written a travel blog on this site. Not surprisingly, that's the exact amount of time I've been in the working world. Writing blogs for money took some of the thrill out of writing blogs for my family, friends, and me. In the last few months, however, several things have changed that have given me the drive I needed to tell stories about my travels again in blog-form:

Bad Guides

"So you're not coming with us," my aunt said to our tour guide, Kevin. It wasn't a question.

"No, he's coming with us," I assured her.

"No," said our guide. "I'm not."

I finished slurping my noodles through sunburned lips and winced. "You're not?" I was the only person in the room naive enough to still be phrasing my sentences like questions.

"Something has come up," he non-explained passively in that thick Chinese accent that always sounds too dynamic to our Midwestern ears. My aunt looked unsurprised by this completely unexpected turn of events. Then again, she'd never really liked Kevin and we always suspect the worst of people we don't like.

Sometimes with good reason.

Did You Miss Me?

Hello, loyal readers! I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post (or since I left London, for that matter). In that time I've had many the random adventure. Unfortunately, I will be unable to tell you everything, but never fear because I will be entertaining you with several stories from my most recent trip to Asia. So stay tuned for The Random Adventures of a Young American in China and Kyrgyzstan!

I may want to come up with a shorter title...