Stories for the road:

Over the past couple of weeks I've taken advantage of my ample free time to do a lot of reading.  One of the most rewarding aspects of finally being done (for now) with my formal education is the great freedom it affords me to read and learn as I wish.  With that in mind, I have been both adding to and chipping away at a long list of books I have been meaning to read for some time now.  I've checked a couple of big ones off the list, but as many others have discovered, the more one reads, the more there is to be read.

Anyhow, both because I still have several large piles of library books and because I'll probably have significant chunks of unscheduled time while on the road, I'm bringing a bunch with me.  And although they are mostly a collection of randomly accumulated books from my bedside table, together they comprise a quintessential road reader -- perfectly curated for a few weeks kicking around the American continent:

You Can't Go Home Again - Thomas Wolfe

More or less self-explanatory.

A Time of Gifts - Patrick Leigh Fermor

About the author's months-long trek through Europe -- on foot.  Although my journey is both shorter and less compelling than his, perhaps I will be inspired to parlay my travels into a much longer adventure.

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

Although I'll be staying off the high seas, I suppose I am searching for something.  At the very least, it is one of the great American novels.

The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey

Should I feel compelled to engage in any vandalism / beautification of the American Southwest.

Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville

To discover, as many have, that so many of de Tocqueville's insights still hold true.


These should make for some good reading on the road.  We'll see how many I'm actually able to get through, as I always seem to imagine I'll have far more free time than I actually do.  Regardless, I'll get through a few of them, and perhaps if we're lucky these works of great stature will seep through my fingertips out onto the digital pages of this blog, for all to read.  A hopeful sentiment at best.

More fun things:

Perhaps I'm getting a little overzealous in posting again so soon, but for a quick taste (unfortunately not literally) of what I did this summer, check this stuff out:

I spent the beginning of this summer working as an intern for WhistlePig Whiskey, a new whiskey company based in Shoreham, Vermont.  My main duties were to handle Twitter, blogging, etc. (which explains the sparse postings on the WhistlePig blog, given the sorry state of this electronic travelogue...), but I also was able to have a hand in some of the more business-minded aspects of launching the company, from arranging shipments down to bottling the whiskey.  An additional perk was, of course, the opportunity to sample the product early and often.  It's delicious, perhaps-even-nutritious, and it retails for around $70 a bottle, so it was a great privilege to have such unlimited access.

One of the coolest projects I ended up working on for WhistlePig was a mood video we created (I use "we" very loosely here, as I had little to do with the creative process behind the film) to tell the story of the brand.  The brainchild of my friends Evan and Ian, and shot by Nick Stefani, it came out great.  Check it out below.

Whistle Pig Promo from Nick Stefani on Vimeo.

More recently, Ian also compiled a bunch of his random footage from the summer into an awesome 60-second montage.  Check it out -- I've probably watched it twenty times by now.

Rock And Roll Summer from ian durkin on Vimeo.

I can never really tell whether I think these things are so great because I know the vast majority of the people and places in them, or because they just are.  Hopefully it's the latter.

And yet:

Ahh, and then to look at what one has written nearly nine months previous, only to see that little has changed.  In retrospect (well, I probably thought it at the time, too) it was folly to think that I could keep up a regular writing schedule while closing out my college career, so I'll make no apologies about my lack of posts.  I'm sure none of my nonexistent regular readers noticed anything -- in fact, at this point I think the only hits on this blog are the occasional people who get routed here through some errant Google search, only to discover that they stumbled upon one of the least-compelling corners of the internet.  To these, I apologize.  To anyone reading this intentionally, you have no one but yourself to blame.  I accept no responsibility.  But alas:

Now I do actually have something to write about, as starting tomorrow, I'll be embarking on a one-month journey around these United States, visiting friends, touring new cities, and putting off the job search for a couple more carefree weeks.

About two weeks ago I was lucky enough to purchase JetBlue's All You Can Jet Pass, which entitles the holder to unlimited travel on any and all JetBlue routes between the dates of September 7th and October 6th.  At $499 for the five-day version (I can't fly on Fridays or Sundays) it was a stunningly good deal, and with the open social calendar that only perpetual unemployment can provide, it seemed the perfect chance to explore the good old US of A and make up for some of the travel I had planned but put off this summer.

As I only have to book my tickets three days in advance, most of my itinerary is still developing, but I do have a decent idea of where I'm headed.  For starters:

Tomorrow I will be taking a BoltBus down to New York City, where I'll spend two nights with friends before flying out Tuesday morning, the official first day of the pass.  From there I'll fly in to DC for about two days, staying with another friend (I luckily have couches to crash on in the vast majority of my destinations) before flying out on Thursday afternoon to Phoenix, AZ.

"Phoenix?" you say?

Yes, I understand, there is no real reason to go there.  But as the primary JetBlue destination in the American Southwest, it's really my only choice.  To make matters worse, the few moments (literally) that I will spend in Phoenix look to be the most hectic of the trip.  I land at 10:35 PM, have to get to the Greyhound station just outside the airport in time for an 11:30 PM departure, and will then take a bus to Flagstaff, AZ, getting in at 2:15 AM.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Flagstaff?"

Yes, and I have even less reason to go there.  In fact, my sole reason for passing through this (probably perfectly pleasant) desert city is to hop an Amtrak train at 5:21 AM.  It's going to make for a fun night on the road.

Anyway, assuming it all comes together properly, I'll be riding the Southwest Chief into Albuquerque, New Mexico, finally reaching my destination just after noon.  To put any idle speculation to rest, I do actually have a friend in Albuquerque, with whom I'll be staying until early Monday morning.

That's enough of my itinerary for now; I do actually know a few steps beyond that, but the writer in me is telling me that there will be way more suspense if I leave it unsaid -- for now.

To be continued...