We’ve gotten great use out of our Samsonite luggage over the last few years, and while they’re in surprisingly good shape, on a few occasions I’ve wanted something a bit more mobile. Over the past few months I’ve been researching convertible bags, i.e. bags that let you have both backpack straps as well as a wheeled option. This weekend I finally settled on one and we purchased a 22″ Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible pack (reviewed favorably by Outside online among others). I like that the bag has wheels for the airport, backpack straps for moving through rougher environments, and a removable daypack for sidetrips. Plus, as long as the daypack isn’t full, the entire bag is carry-on sized.

On the left you see the main bag with the daypack attached; on the right, the front of the bag with the straps stowed behind the flap. Below you see the main bag separate from the daypack.

Leandra and I have been gradually paring down the amount of stuff we bring on our trips, and my goal is to use this bag exclusively on our 11 day Barcelona trip this summer. Fortunately I’ll have a few chances to try it out on smaller trips before then!

I consider myself an independent. I am fairly moderate when it comes to most things and then I lean more to one side on a handful of issues. I also know that one person is never going to embody all the things I stand for, so my concern lies with finding someone who can actually lead this country.

I was originally registered to vote in my home state of Illinois thanks to my government teacher. I spent the next four years turning down jury duty because I was going to college in a different state. My dad used to say that being tried by a jury of your peers is ridiculous, you’re actually being tried by folks too dumb to get out of jury duty. My dad is an attorney so I just smile and nod. (Hi dad!) Point being, I associated registering to vote with jury duty.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I mentioned to a good friend of mine that if John McCain was chosen as the Republican candidate that I was going to register to vote in NC so I could vote for him. After getting over her initial shock at my lack of voting history, she heard me out. I wanted him to win eight years ago and I want him to win now.

I found this article in Newsweek, A Marine for McCain, to be a great testament to those who support McCain. I know my vote may not make a difference, but at least it will be for someone who could.

For Christmas, we got two sets of these. I originally saw them over here. And all these lovely photos are posted here. :)

Yes, our bedroom walls are bright purple.

If you know us in real life, you also know that we get physically itchy if we aren’t planning a trip somewhere. So, how do we do it?

In terms of ideas on where to go, we are pretty open. We both subscribe to several travel website RSS feeds as well as receive email promotions from American, Delta, and Southwest (the airlines we primarily fly). For example, Delta is running a double miles special right now on numerous European cities via Atlanta and New York. After much searching and planning, we snapped up tickets to Zurich, Switzerland for a long weekend in February for just over $500 each. From Raleigh! Not only will we get to see this beautiful city but we will each be earning almost 20,000 miles which is almost enough for a free roundtrip ticket.

To plan our routes we always start with Kayak.com. Since Kayak searches a number of websites, including many of the airlines, we’ve found it much easier to efficiently search for specific routes, plus it allows you to filter your search details down to the time you leave, maximum layover maximum, as well as stopovers and price. Once we’ve identified a particular ticket we’re linked to the website with the lowest price. It’s brilliant.

After we’ve purchased out tickets it’s time to plan out where to stay. For this stage, we generally use both Tripadvisor and Kayak. I am fully aware that more people tend to take the time to write bad reviews rather than good ones (especially for hotels), but if a place looks nice and 4 people in the last month have posted about the construction noise next door, it’s time to consider another place to stay. It’s still the best place to get a good look at your hotel before you stay there. Kayak is also useful as it allows you to look for hotels within a specified radius on a map of the city, taking into consideration price and star level of your hotel.

A great little site we’ve been using recently is TripIt. You can email your travel confirmation emails directly to the site and it will organize the flights, car rentals, and hotel information for you, all in one place. This aggregated data can be imported directly into a Google calendar – very helpful.

So, what are we going to do once we get there? This is often my favorite part of the planning because there are always so many things to see and do in unchartered territory. At some point along the way, usually after we buy the plane tickets, we start a section on our wiki for the new destination. Here both of us can add ideas and links to activities to build a rough itinerary for our trip.

We also set up a personal Google map of our destination, and collaborate on restaurants to visit, museums, viewpoints, and other attractions. I am a very visual person, so it helps me to study a map of where we are going before we get there. This makes me feel a lot more comfortable getting around in an unfamiliar city.

Although I am a planner at heart (obviously), we also just love the feeling of being in a brand new (to us) place!

Because we visit New York state (specifically Long Island) at least once a year, we often don’t give much though to where we eat. Our trip over the holidays was almost two weeks this time, so we had plenty of time to visit two new places and revisit some others.

Mama’s Restaurant, Oakdale—Often after arriving into Islip we meet Eric’s Aunt Joy for lunch or dinner and this is one of our favorite spots. The pasta and seafood did not disappoint although my dad is convinced that they water down their liquor bottles. Therefore, sticking with wine and skipping martinis would be recommended. Eric ordered his favorite, chicken parm, and I enjoyed a lobster ravioli in pink sauce.

The Jamesport Country Kitchen, Jamesport—We stopped here after a morning of wine tasting for a quick snack. This is a very small, but cheerfully-lit place on the main road. Eric’s omelet was delicious and my tomato basil soup hit the spot. My Dad and Lynn split a flounder sandwich that was very tasty as well. Three of us ordered a Long Island chardonnay with lunch and they certainly don’t skip on the amount of wine.

Jedediah Hawkin’s Inn & Restaurant, Jamesport—This was the first time any of us had been here for dinner and while the service and appetizers were wonderful, the entrées left us disappointed. The setting is an old house, so the dining room is spread out over several rooms, which gives the place a more cozy feel. They had many Long Island wines on the menu, including one we had tried and liked earlier in the day. The oysters and ceviche appetizers were wonderful but my venison was just okay. The meat was perfectly cooked but the sauce was bland and the rice it was served with was an unappetizing shade of gray.

Hi-Life, New York City—One night we met Eric’s brother and his girlfriend in the city for dinner. This restaurant was a quick walk from their place and I think we were all a little surprised that they managed to do so many dishes well. Sushi, mac and cheese, chicken satay, tuna steak, crab cakes, and pasta were all well-done. Their specialty martini (a raspberry tart) was delicious as well.

The Frisky Oyster, Greenport—For New Years eve, the ceiling was completely covered in red and white helium balloons sporting streamers that you had to navigate through to make it to your table. Everything from the drinks to the main course was fantastic. I ordered the heirloom tomato and goat cheese fondue while Eric had the chicken quesadilla appetizer. Three of us got the ribeye steak for dinner and it was blackened nicely and cooked perfectly. We were the second people there for the early seating but the place was completely packed by the time we left. Highly recommended.

We’ve been a bit absent from posting the past two weeks, mostly because we’ve been very busy. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• Leandra has gone “official” with her creative and web design business, having obtained a business license, bank account and business credit card, and is now doing business as LeGa Design Group. More importantly, she’s working on several projects. Plus, she sold a painting (thanks Beverly and Chris!)
• I’m still in the midst of my academic job search. At this point all my applications are submitted, I’ve had several interviews, and I’ve got a few more interviews coming in the near future.
• Planning our travels for 2008—between now and July we’re traveling to Zürich, Switzerland; San Diego, CA; Tampa, FL; Denver, CO; and Barcelona, Spain. We’re very excited :) On the travel note, we definitely want to highlight Kayak.com, our airfare and hotel search tool of choice at the moment.

Eric and I were looking through REI last night for a new backpack to replace one of our rolling carry-ons. While there, we picked up a dogpack for pup.

She was so excited when I put in on her and sat very still for the photos. We plan to use this on long walks and hikes to wear her out a little bit. Plus, she can carry our water, her food, and some doggy bags. :)

I am removing our National Parks Pass usage info from the sidebar, but I thought I would create a post about all the lovely places we saw this year (for free!) thanks to our National Parks Pass gift from my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. What a fantastic gift for outdoorsy people! :)

Shenandoah NP/Skyline Drive

Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Grand Canyon NP, North Rim

Glacier National Park

(Promise you’ll keep it to one, okay? Two did me in… I finally feel human again after an Aleve, a latte, and a shower.)

A few months ago, I had an incredible ginger cocktail at Piedmont in downtown Durham. I also had a variation at 115 Midtowne in September as well. And since I like the occasional martini at home, I set out to find the ingredients to make my own. After a few test runs, I finally discovered the right combination of spicy and sweet.

Leandra’s Ginger Martini

1.5 oz Grey Goose vodka
1.5 oz ginger ale soda
1/2 Tbsp ginger juice
1 tsp granulated sugar

Combine the ginger juice and sugar and stir to make a paste. Combine vodka, ginger ale, and ginger mixture into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake lightly and strain into a chilled martini glass.

So far, we only have one big trip planned for this year, but (of course) that can change at a moment’s notice with us! :)

Eric has a conference in Barcelona in early June, so he came up with the idea for us to try and get tickets for the second week of the French Open, thereby starting our trip in Paris for a few days before heading south to Spain. (We still haven’t decided on train or plane for this portion of the trip, so suggestions/advice are welcome.)

We had to wait a few months before the tickets went on sale, so in November when the process opened, we registered and excitedly filled in the information for our tickets. Four tickets for Suzanne Lenglen on both June 2 and June 3. We plan for Eric’s parents to meet us in France as this is the only way my mom-in-law will get my dad-in-law to take her to Paris, finally. :)

I was surprised to see the following email in my inbox less than 10 minutes later…

“Order processing and allocation of tickets will take place from the end of March 2008. We will contact you again by mail beginning of April to inform you of the result of your request.”

Huh? I have to wait until April to know if I even have tickets?!? Grrr.

As that leaves us less than 60 days before we have to leave for our trip, we may have to approach our travel plans a bit differently. Not that I would mind a few days in Paris, but the main purpose of the trip will be to attend the French Open. The good news is that we got in early in terms of the order request, so I have to believe that we’ll at least get the days we want. The bad news is that I’ve never done this before, so who knows what will actually happen.

Sigh. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Stay tuned!

April 15 update: we got our tickets! :)