Life on the Road...

I moved away from home to start a new job in Ohio five months ago.  Things are going well, and I'm finally starting to get to the point where I feel like I know what I'm doing most of the time.  I travel pretty much every week to random locations all over the place, and so far I'm loving it.  Truth be told, I look forward to my weekends ending because driving/flying somewhere new and unexplored is a lot more interesting than sitting around my empty apartment by myself all day, even if I have to go to work.

I make a point to go out in the evenings when I'm done with work and see cool stuff or at least try local restaurants because 1) I think it would be a waste of an opportunity to not do that and 2) I know I'd get burnt out on the travel really quickly if I just sat around in a hotel room watching tv every night.

I've gotten to do some pretty fun stuff so far and I've tried some ridiculous food along the way.  Grilled peanut butter bacon sandwich, anyone?  I figure that since I'm out on the road, I might as well chronicle my various wanderings.  I started keeping a travel journal again, but I've quickly realized that writing every night is hard to maintain.  And also that 80% of what I wrote was about the food I'd eaten during the day.  Hopefully reviving this blog will yield better results.

So far I've learned a lot of travel tips and tricks.  Here's a sample:

• If you find yourself attempting to eat leftovers in a hotel room with no silverware, the plastic cups they give you in the bathroom can be cracked into strips that can be used as a mini shovel to transport your stir fry to your mouth.
• Next time, try tossing a plastic fork in your suitcase.
• The Philly airport is terrible.
• There are no airports in Delaware.
• Farmers in Delaware sometimes buy used school buses and cut their tops off so that they can fill them with watermelons.  (Not a travel tip per se, but definitely worth knowing.)
• Holiday Inns give goodie bags to rewards club members.
• Every once in a while, it might be a good idea to figure out how your fleet/rental car's cruise control, windshield wipers, and radio work BEFORE you get on the highway.
• Yelp can be your best friend in a new city.
• Sometimes, you'll find yourself in a little diner where old people are playing a keyboard and singing terrible songs karaoke style.  Go with it.  Just appreciate the moment.
• Don't be afraid to jog through an airport while shoveling food in your mouth if you're trying to make a connection.  It's probably the most efficient way of burning off those calories.
• Just about every city, no matter how boring, has something worth exploring/trying.  Find it.  I suggest using the internet.  It's pretty helpful sometimes.
• If someone is judging you for eating dinner alone in a restaurant, feel free to judge them right back.  They started it.

One of these days, I'll get around to posting some pictures.