Recap on my year in travel

Lately, my girlfriends and I have been discussing what trips we want to take over the next year. India was mentioned, as well as Croatia, Greece, the Midwestern United States, and Canada. Sometimes I find myself so overwhelmed by how many places I want to see before I'm married and have babies dangling from each arm that I feel that I'll never get it all done on time.

I get so overwhelmed that I forget about how many cool places I've gotten to see over the past couple years of my life. I was at a dinner party a few weeks back and my friend said to me, "For a while I wasn't sure if you were working or not because of how many vacations you took".  I'm blessed to have a job that allows these type of vacations and days off.

This year alone I went to: The Dominican Republic, Miami, DC, NYC, Amsterdam, Florence, Siena, Las Vegas, Jackson Hole, and Cape Cod. This also doesn't count my various trips to mountains to ski or my traverses to outdoor venues to hear awesome concerts like Avett Brothers in Vermont and Phish in Watkins Glen. I assure you I do have a job. In fact the Jackson Hole trip was for work!

Pictures for your viewing pleasure (or really for mine): 

Las Terranas, DR

Santo Domingo, DR

DC, my old home

Old Friends in Amsterdam

Jessica and Jessica in Amsterdam

How you get around the Netherlands

Beautiful other Jessica in Italy

The Arno River

Ponte Vecchio

Vegas by night

Vegas by day

Avett Brothers in Vermont

Mighty Tetons

Wild Horses in Wyoming

Phish in Watkins Glen

Dunes of the Cape

Life is Good

It looks like I'll be ending this year, at the very place I started the last one... in NYC. This year I'll be at Madison Square Garden attending the Phish New Years Eve concert.  Hopefully 2012 will be as good as 2011 or better.

New Year's 2011, NYC skyline

A Russian Vegas: Viva Las Siberia?

Las Vegas the land of casinos, strippers, and gateway drugs... People often flock to Las Vegas like they do to Disney World or Six Flags, you're not there for the scenery you're there for the theme park, the people dressed in costumes, and the overpriced cuisine that comes with a free drag show.


Las Vegas, Nevada in all actuality is a solemn, tumbleweed blowing in the wind, nothing for miles desert.


Tourism has managed to turn:

into:

Here is the fun news, RUSSIA has decided, "wow if you can make las vegas nevada that cool looking, why not pop-up some casinos and wedding chapels in Siberia, da?"

 (picture from business week)

Because if we've learned anything from America, it's that bright lights and buildings shaped like Eiffel towers will draw millions of tourists who want to experience Las Siberia.


"Hey Svetlana, where are you having your bachelorette party before you merry Alexzander?"


"Siberia. We're going to dress up in our parkas and mukluks and gamble some rubles before we hit the Stalin drag show to see the Soviet strippers in ushankas sing 'Back in the USSR'..."


I'd go... wouldn't you?