Wherever you go, there you are

(NOTE: This was written Christmas night, around 5 p.m.)

(TYBEE ISLAND, Ga.) — Before I write anything else (this post gets painful for a tiny bit), let me say this. Merry Christmas. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, happy belated Hanukkah or happy holidays. I hope that whoever you are, wherever you are, that your late [...]

They call it Charm City? You don’t say.

(WILMINGTON, N.C.) — My friend, Erik, and I have a thing for quirky towns and cities that others might overlook. The places we like are the ones that, if they were kids in middle school, would get beat up by bigger, glitzier locales like New York, Toronto and London. I’m talking about El Paso, Texas [...]

Watch me

(PORTLAND, Maine) — Thank you, Sam Roberts.

That’s the most honest lead sentence I can conjure, and I don’t believe, even with time to reflect, that I will come up with one much better. I’m currently in quaint, seaside Portland, Maine, and I saw the Sam Roberts Band live at the Port City Music Hall soon [...]

Québec, je t’aime

(VERCHERES, Québec) — I like today’s morning chilliness and blowing rain along the small-town banks of the St. Lawrence River. On an unrelated note, I’m scared.

My amazing host, Françoise, watching ships as they power by her home on the St. Lawrence River.

I’m actually surprised how long it took to get here, to the frightened [...]

That’s one big city you got there

CARP, Ont. — The fact that sometimes things actually do change for good fills me with hope.

My most recent example is the difference between my first and second trip to Toronto. During my introduction, nearly a month ago, it scared me. It was a surreal scene to begin with, as I was one of many [...]