Blog du Wren

Hawaiian Vacation Overview

How do you summarize a trip where you didn't really do anything? I can't say "we went to a luau, surfed, and ate fresh coconut every day" because we didn't. But that doesn't mean we didn't have a great time, because we did. And I suppose it would be a bit of a stretch to say we did nothing. While most of our time was spent or meandering around Lahaina, we had a few noteworthy experiences.

We saw many breaches of the humpback whales (often right from the beach at our campsite), ate some of the local , hitchhiked*, hiked to get a geocache, saw the largest in the U.S., were warm, reveled in fun yet insignificant , and just enjoyed hanging out together.

And in terms of bang for our buck, I think we did pretty dang well. The whole concept behind the trip was let's go hang out somewhere warm and not spend oodles of money (hence the camping, hitching, spam, etc.) And while the final receipts haven't come in yet, I know we did amazingly well.

Yep, Hawaii ain't such a bad place to hang out for a week. In fact, I might just have to do it again next year.

Saturday March 2 2013

File under: travel, hawaii

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Hawaii Mini-Post

It turns out that 1) Hawaii is pretty dang neat 2) keeping current with blog posts is hard when you are camping and 3) sno-cones are delicious. I'll get some better posts up soon.

Wednesday February 27 2013

File under: travel, Hawaii

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Upcoming Travel

The last year and a half have been the least travelly of my adult life. Besides a few short domestic trips (Maine, Las Vegas), two stints with the circus (Alasqua, Oregon), and a handful of trips to Portland, I've mostly been hanging out in good old Northwest Washington. While it's been nice to see what the sedentary life is all about*, the travel urge has been growing. I happy to announce that plans are in the works!

Firstly, Della and I are headed to Hawaii at the end of February, with the current plan being Maui for 5ish days and Oahu for 4ish days. Besides a frisbee tournament on Maui and visiting some friends on Oahu, we don't have any huge agenda. Also, that means we are open to suggestion (including, but not limited to, friend-of-a-friend hookups! Otherwise the plan is to camp on the beach eat sand flies.)

Secondly, and [I can't help but saying] way more excitingly, is that we are going on a cruise!!!(!!!) Of all the ways I picture myself travelling, a cruise is probably towards the bottom of the list*. But an opportunistic traveller takes what he can get. It turns out that if you keep your eyes open, you can get ridiculously good cruise deals.

Our cruise goes from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Lisbon, Portugal, with stops on St. Thomas and Sint Maartin. It's 10 days with [all-you-can-eat] food and room included*. And what was the price? $299pp! Of course with taxes and mandatory gratuity, that price jumps to more like $470pp and you have to get yourself to Puerto Rico and back from Portugal, but still! I'm stoked.

It's my hope, that since I'm already in Europe, I will putz around there a bit afterwards, but that's all yet to be decided. April/May of 2013 is going to be a heck of a ride!

Just the thought of getting back on the road has me more excited than I can convey. Hopefully, besides a healthy tan, some awesome new experiences, and a few more places to add to my "been there" list, I'll also get a few fun blog posts out of it. So stay tuned!

Thursday January 31 2013

File under: travel

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Sleeping Around 2011-2012

Overall Stats
Nights At Home	101 (27.5%)
Nights Housesitting	112 (31%)
Nights of Travel	153 (42%)

One of the things I most look forward to on this blog is the collating of my year of sleeping around. It, better than possibly anything else, encapsulates what my year was like. And, since it is so nice and quantifiable, it serves as a great comparison to previous years. Did my housesitting business go up or down?* Did I travel more or less than last year?* The fun I have with looking through these numbers is really quite ridiculous.

Today represents the end of the fourth year of data, 1461 days of logging where I slept. I've presented this year's data in various ways here, some specifically for consistency with previous years for comparison. To see a breakdown, check out the calendar

What, in my eyes, is notable? Travel is WAY down, esp. international travel which is down from an average of 65 nights to just 4. Nights at home is higher than normal, partly due to [happily] playing live-in nurse for Ma when she got a new hip. Nights in a car is up, which is what happens when one's girlfriend lives* [by choice] in a car.

I very much like the transient nature of my life, at least for the time being. And I like numbers and data. So I trust this über-nerdy habit of tracking and analyzing will go continue for years to come, possibly to the point of it being the only post per year on the ever waning* Blog du Wren.

Previous years' posts can be found here: 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011.

Travel Breakdown
In-state	91 (59%)
Domestic	58 (38%)
# of states (other than WA)	5
International	4 (2.6%)
# of countries (other than US)	1

Additional Stats
Nights in a Car	37
Nights in a Tent	39
Nights in a Boat	0
Nights in a Hotel	9
Longest stretch at home	7

Wednesday August 1 2012

File under: stats, travel

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Chautauqua Goes to Jail

It's not often that I get to go to jail*. Well, chalk up another life experience to running away with the circus!

On Chautauqua tour, we do a combination of big shows in local theaters and smaller shows in community spaces (assisted living facilities, children's groups, and jails). My first three tours, we never made it to a jail show, for whatever reason. This year, however, we have 2! Let me tell you, they are awesome!

At the first [minimum security] facility, we had no stage, no lights, and no microphones. The audience sat in the grass or stood. Backstage was behind a tree. But despite all that, it was easily the best show I've been involved in. The inmates really really appreciated it. They clapped, hooted, and laughed when appropriate and were nothing but the best audience one could hope for. The audience participation bits were even more hilarious than usual because everyone knew everyone else. So much of a show is in the enthusiasm of the audience. This enthusiasm was off the charts.

While the scene and stage was very different at the second [medium/maximum] facility (we performed indoor in the chapel with the audience neatly seated in chairs], the enthusiasm, behavior, and appreciation of the audience was just the same. There was a lot of laughing, smiling, and cheering going on. Afterwards, we all formed a line to accept their hearty handshakes, joke about the show, and mingle. It was great.

Yeah, going to jail is pretty awesome. Here's hoping it becomes a part of every Chautauqua tour!

(To read more about this year's Chautauqua's tour, check out our official blog here)

Monday July 2 2012

File under: circus, travel

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10-Year College Reunion

I had originally hoped, when composing a blog post about my 10-year college reunion, to be writing about how comforting it is to see those with whom I've shared a significant experiences (like college) and be reminded of how friendship can effortlessly pick right back up, to relive old stories and perhaps even create a few new ones. Unfortunately, however, I can't. Not because it was discomforting to see old friends or because my ideal of friendship was disproved but because all my friends chose to skip out due to complexities of life, travel, and memories. While a bit of a bummer to not get to catch up with folks who I seem to see less and less, it turned out to be a fun weekend nonetheless.

is down right beautiful. Bates goes all out spiffing up the place and putting on a show for the attendees. And to frolic about a place I used to live after having been away for so long was a wonderful dose of nostalgia*. And while none of my '02 friends made the trek north, I ran into an old juggling buddy with whom I spent a fair number of pleasant practice hours*. So the weekend was not without the requisite "where are you what are you doing?" conversations.

We mostly spent the reunion simply just enjoying the place. We wandered around, being so kind to let me tell her stories. We took a few , in the new dining hall*, and noticed around campus. I ate a * and we toured a friend's brewery.

No, my 10-year college reunion wasn't I was hoping. I imagine my 20-year won't be either. But however it goes down, I'm sure it will be great, just like this one.

Wednesday June 13 2012

File under: travel

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Swing Tour Oregon 2012

I now feel like I know what it would be like to be a traveling salesman. I just spent 2 days on the road from dawn til dusk, covering 900 miles and meeting with 10+ people in 5 town in Eastern Oregon in preparation for this year's Chautauqua tour. From navigating in new places to eating fast food on the go to living out of a rental car, I felt the experience was just a motel away from the epitome of traveling salesman*.

The upshots: seeing beautiful countryside*, meeting with our partners in great communities, getting back on the road*, and feeling more prepared for tour this year.

The downsides: go go and then go some more, way too much time in a car, not any time to keep up on normal life, and, well, the loneliness.

All in all, a great trip and super helpful to the cause. But next time, I'm taking someone with me and going about half as fast!

Wednesday June 6 2012

File under: travel, USA

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Silliness in Vegas

Combine traveling with a super fun gal, needing to test out my new not-a-phone camera, and, well, Vegas, and some fun pictures come out of it all.

Wednesday November 23 2011

File under: travel, Vegas

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On Being a VIP

I've been in Vegas now for 4 days and have seen 4 amazing shows. From medieval jousting to hypnotism, burlesque to magic. And as if that wasn't enough, we've gotten to go to all those shows as VIPs for free! What does being a VIP mean? Well, it means no waiting in line, great seats, free drinks, and pretty dang special treatment. It's really quite amazing.

But in addition to being amazing, it has been so interesting to see how this side of showbiz works. "Just ask for Zack" is all the direction we're given before heading off to the show. And sure enough, we prance* right up to the door, ask for Zack, and we're marched down to the front row. No fuss, no muss. All because we know a guy who knows a guy. And the guy we know knows lots, from the dirt about a performer's off-stage personality to the lowdown on the pyrotechnics because he built them.

In life, it is good to sometimes take a step back and realize when a situation is so spectacular, it probably won't happen again. This is one of those times. Lord knows I ain't no VIP on my own. So while it lasts, bring on the red carpet, drink tickets, and free shows! Thanks be to Vegas!

Saturday November 19 2011

File under: travel, Vegas

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Punked in Vegas

Yippee! I find myself in Las Vegas and it's, as it always seems to be, awesome. Our host/client/friend down here is a well-connected fella (as well as generous to beat the band) and has lined up night after night of shows for us to see. Last night, it was Tournament of Kings at Excalibur*.

The show was pretty rad—eating food with your hands, horses and jousting, and lots of awesome pyrotechnics. The extra addition to the night, however, was the mighty prank he played on us.

He told Merlin, who was working the crowd before hand, lots about us who then played it all off as magic. Minor. Pretty amusing in fact.
We got called out as the "these guys aren't cheering properly so now they have to do the cheer in front of all 600 people alone". Embarassing*, but not really that bad.
Before the show, when the announcer is calling out all the birthdays, anniversaries, etc., a special congratulations to the newlyweds was included. For the rest of the evening, people were coming up to congratulate us.*. This got us good. Our faces were red but at that point, we just had to roll with it.

Yep, it was a great night. After the show, we strolled the Strip in the perfect weather and took it all in. I like Vegas and look forward to a fun rest of my visit!!

Thursday November 17 2011

File under: travel, Vegas

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