The Summer of 2019 was one for the books. It was the end of my year off and I spent it exactly how I wanted to: with my friends and family. I did a lot of reflecting on what I learned over what ended up being 15 months of not working. I made the decision to go back to work at The New York Times. And I set the aim for the next few years of my life - my Early 30s.
It was the perfect ending to a very meaningful chapter in my life.
After exploring down US-191 on my first day in Moab, I took another road trip. This time I drove up SR-128, which follows the Colorado River as it winds down from Colorado through valleys and BLM land and passes by Arches National Park. The whole drive was full of magnificant scenery.
I was first surrounded by towering plateaus 800+ feet high. Then the landscape opened up as I entered Castle Valley and the road meandered away from the Colorado River. Towards the north end of the valley the road met back up with the river and I drove through a few small farms and a winery, eventually making it to Dewey Suspension Bridge.
I began my year off by spending a few months at my family's lake house. It was a busy summer but I was able to unwind and settle into my new not working reality. I did a lot of travel planning and reading and spending time with family and friends.
Marrakech was the final stop on my four month trip through Europe (which ended in Africa, obviously).
I arrived by train from Casablanca. In contrast to Casablanca, which is a huge and insanely busy city, Marrakech is smaller and a bit more calm. Except for the medina, where you could be sharing a narrow ‘street’ with any number of mopeds, donkey-pulled carts, and motorcycles, not to mention the locals and tourists and street vendors.
When we arrived we initially went to the wrong riad, going so far as to checking in before we realized our mistake. We got hassled by some kids for a couple of dirham - they claimed they helped us find our way there (a common situation you'd be warned about before going to Marrakech).
The rainy, chilly weather was left behind in Spain and I was welcomed with sunny skies and temps in the 70s. I had a good few days, and was completely in a different world living and adventuring around the medina. Somehow I deleted some pictures from one of the days I was there, but this is still a good set.
Seville, Spain is a beautifully colorful city. I arrived there by train from Madrid. The chilly, rainy autumn weather tradition continued, but I enjoyed walking around for a couple of days.
I spent a few days in Madrid after leaving Barcelona. At this point I was catching up to Autumn so the weather was chilly and rainy, and the leaves were changing colors and falling.
In April of this year I went on a road trip with my brother-in-law, John. Our ultimate destination was Moab, Utah.
While John was in a class all week I went exploring. The first day we were there I drove south along US-191 and flew my drone to get some pictures and videos of the wild-looking rock formations.
In April of this year I went on a road trip with my brother-in-law, John. Our ultimate destination was Moab, Utah.
After exploring Route 66 we left Albequerque, New Mexico and drove north towards Moab. We passed through some stunning and varied landscapes on the way.
After taking a ferry across the Gibraltar Strait from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco, we rode a train down to Casablanca. The city is large and bustling, and traffic laws are more like sugguestions. We took a few adrenaline-pumping taxi rides, visited the Hassan II Mosque and the Morocco Mall, walked around a street market, and walked through downtown at night to find a restaurant.
In April of this year I went on a road trip with my brother-in-law, John. Our ultimate destination was Moab, Utah.
I left from South Florida and stopped in Tallahassee, FL and Lake Charles, LA before picking up John in Dallas, TX. We drove to Amarillo, TX, then followed Route 66 to Albequerque, NM. It was a bit of a gloomy day, but we had a lot of time so we stopped along the way to see sights of a time past.