travel

I just can’t get enough of it, so whenever I can, I travel. Whether it’s overseas or to a nearby art colony river town, I love to get away from my normal set of circumstances and sample how other people live. I can’t go anyplace without imagining myself living there.

I’ve been to Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Costa Rica and all but three of the 50 US states. A rolling wheat field in Nebraska can make me think of one in Umbria. Beaches on Kauai that I visited long ago sometimes appear in my dreams.

For whatever reason, I’ve lived in many different cities: Indianapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. In each case it was long enough to explore the surrounding regions and see how things fit together. I’ve also lived in some rural and offbeat locations, in Wisconsin, southern Illinois, and the Jersey shore, and I voraciously toured as much as I could of those areas too.

My work in technology publishing has taken me to Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Orlando, Miami, New York, Denver, Toronto, Seattle and other tech capitals. On an expense account that allowed great hotels and fine dining, I made the most of my visits to these and other places, often by adding an extra day or two for personal time. I’d rent a car and scope out the lay of the land. I’ve been to the top of the Space Needle, eaten Italian in South Boston, and heard some of the best music of my life at live venues in Nashville and New Orleans.