Travels of Adam – Hipster travel around the world

On part of my hometown tour of Grapevine, I visited the Gaylord Texan—a resort and convention center. I remember when the huge building complex was built a few years ago because everyone in town was talking about it. It’s your typical conference center except that it’s in Texas—which means it is even bigger. There’s a water park, a sports bar with a 52-foot screen TV and, during the winter holidays, an ICE festival featuring themed sculptures.

This year’s theme for the Gaylord Texan ICE festival was based on Shrek—one of my favorite kid’s movies. While it may seem absurd to have an ICE festival in Texas during December (when temperatures average above freezing), many people living in Texas don’t necessarily get the chance to experience cold weather.

So the Gaylord Texan brings winter to them in a tent set up outside the convention center. The tent is constantly cooled to remain well below freezing. (At a huge expense to the environment? Probably.) When I visited on a Friday morning, our guide informed us the temperature was a balmy 9 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s a -12 degrees Celsius)…with a wind chill. While, just outside the tent, the temperature was in the 50s (that’s 10 degrees Celsius).

Anyways, the sculptures were pretty cool (no pun intended). That’s probably because they were designed by some of the same skilled artisans from Harbin, China in the northeastern part of the country. If you haven’t heard of Harbin, I highly recommend you read a little bit about it’s amazing Ice & Sculpture festival held each year. Read more about the Harbin festival here.

Now for the good stuff: photos from Gaylord Texan’s ICE! “Shrek the Halls” festival. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m currently sitting in the Madrid airport (which is beautiful, by the way) waiting for my connecting flight back to Berlin. I spent the last two weeks in and around Dallas, Texas. It felt really good to be home and to see my family. Plus, I had a nice little tour of my old hometown—Grapevine, Texas (more on that later).

When I left America on my RTW trip last year, I flew from Dallas to Madrid. Little did I know that exactly 19 months later I’d be taking the same flight (AA36). Though this time, instead of embarking on a trip, it feels a lot more like traveling to a home. Is Berlin my new home? Don’t know yet. (waiting to find out about my visa…) Read the rest of this entry »

Just four points for being "back in the United States"?? Cm'on 4sq! It's been 18 MONTHS!

I left Berlin about 10 days ago and have been home in America since then. The photo above is from my FourSquare check-in at the DFW airport—the first time my feet were on American soil in over 18 months. It felt pretty special.

Anyways, I’ve been here in Texas for a few days now. Got to spend Thanksgiving with my family and was able to take a short trip up to Ohio to visit my adorable niece. (Also managed to fit in a quick coffee break with Jeremy from a favorite backpacking blog.) This weekend I’ll be visiting Grapevine, Texas to check out some of the newest tourist sights in my old ‘hood. With all these meetups and reunions, I’ve somehow managed to escape reflecting upon being abroad for so long and coming home for the first time. Until now. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, after over 18 months travelling around the world, I’m finally returning to America. It’s a big f*cking step. Oh, correction there, I mean to say “USA” not America.

Anyways, my flight leaves for Dallas, Texas from Berlin, Germany in less than 6 hours. My backpack that I’ve taken with me around the world is empty – some clothes strewn about on the floor. My laptop, obviously, is on my desk and instead of filling my backpack I’m writing a blog post. Read the rest of this entry »

Don't ask. This is me at the Berlin Beer Festival over the summer.

I’m about to fly back to America for the Thanksgiving holiday so thought I’d share some of the funny things I’ve noticed while living in Berlin as an “expat” (but please don’t call me that in public!):

Apartments without numbers

I don’t fully understand why but apartments in Berlin (and Germany, too, I believe) aren’t numbered. Instead, apartments are recognized by their owners’ name. While I can’t tell my friends to just ring the buzzer for Apartment #3, they’ve got to know my name (or the name of whose apartment I’m subletting). It’s much more personal but a lot less useful in my opinion. Still, I kind of like it. Read the rest of this entry »