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Oct. 24th, 2022 04:19 amDuring my trip to Arizona, I inadvertantly learned how to fly on SouthWest Airlines and not suffer any more than necessary. The trick is to minimize the carry-on as much as possible. SouthWest doesn't do assigned seats, you just get a seat where you find one. If you go on with a standard carry-on suitcase, you'll have to go all the way to the back of the plane if you want any chance of having a place to put the thing, or pay for early boarding. Fortunately for me, my carry-on was a small duffel bag with my laptop, phone charger, headphones, ipod, and other small items. It fit easily under the seat, so I didn't have to rely on the overhead bins. Which meant I could get a seat wherever. Which meant getting one near the front of the plane, which made it faster to exit to get to a connecting flight. Meanwhile other people were trying to put steamer trunks into the overhead bins, only to find they had to gate-check that shit after all.
Japan has officially fully reopened to tourists! Yay! I'm not going until next year. I also have to renew my Global Entry membership. Hopefully when I do go, the dollar/yen exchange rate will at least hold where it is now. A dollar buys a lot of yen right now. Even though I'm not going any time soon, I am at least excited on behalf of some of my friends who go to Japan often (multiple times per year).
You've heard of liminal spaces by now, I'm sure. I have found there are different kinds of liminal spaces. For example, airport terminals are super-liminal spaces. So is Iowa80, the world's largest truck stop. They're large, well-known, well-populated, yet retain their core purpose of enabling people to go somewhere else. They're not meant to be stayed at for extended periods of time. They exist to be part of a larger journey, not as a destination.
I've never been to a Buc-ee's yet. I need to fix that. The nearest one to me is... a 7 hour drive away, in South Carolina. Ok that can wait. But they are creeping east and north, much like how Sheetz is creeping west and south. Soon their territories will collide.
Someone pointed out that as we get older, one of the things we increasingly look forward to with travel is eating at new and different places. I feel that. I understand it. My road trip this summer and the trip to Phoenix are testament to that. On one hand it's comforting to have something familiar, on the other hand there's nothing like new experiences. Do I remember the names of all of the restaurants I ate at in Wyoming and Montana? Not off the top of my head. But that's not what matters.
Phoenix:
-Whataburger lives up to the hype. Would definitely eat there again. Same with ChuckBox in Tempe.
-Ojos Locos, aka "Mexican Hooters". Much like Hooters, you don't go there for the food.
-Mexican food in Arizona hits different from Mexican food in the NorthEast.
2022 Road Trip:
-Culver's. I had been to this before in 2019, and it was good enough to visit again.
-Lots of BBQ places out west, many of them offering bison burgers.
-Also lots of truck stop diner food. Nothing really out of the ordinary for those, it's just that sometimes the basics are what's needed.
It is not lost on me that there are plenty of restaurants and other eateries that are much more local that remain unvisited. It's easy to say "oh, those are nearby, I can go to them any time". Until I can't because they close. Then the only thing on the menu is regret.
This post is making me hungry.
Japan has officially fully reopened to tourists! Yay! I'm not going until next year. I also have to renew my Global Entry membership. Hopefully when I do go, the dollar/yen exchange rate will at least hold where it is now. A dollar buys a lot of yen right now. Even though I'm not going any time soon, I am at least excited on behalf of some of my friends who go to Japan often (multiple times per year).
You've heard of liminal spaces by now, I'm sure. I have found there are different kinds of liminal spaces. For example, airport terminals are super-liminal spaces. So is Iowa80, the world's largest truck stop. They're large, well-known, well-populated, yet retain their core purpose of enabling people to go somewhere else. They're not meant to be stayed at for extended periods of time. They exist to be part of a larger journey, not as a destination.
I've never been to a Buc-ee's yet. I need to fix that. The nearest one to me is... a 7 hour drive away, in South Carolina. Ok that can wait. But they are creeping east and north, much like how Sheetz is creeping west and south. Soon their territories will collide.
Someone pointed out that as we get older, one of the things we increasingly look forward to with travel is eating at new and different places. I feel that. I understand it. My road trip this summer and the trip to Phoenix are testament to that. On one hand it's comforting to have something familiar, on the other hand there's nothing like new experiences. Do I remember the names of all of the restaurants I ate at in Wyoming and Montana? Not off the top of my head. But that's not what matters.
Phoenix:
-Whataburger lives up to the hype. Would definitely eat there again. Same with ChuckBox in Tempe.
-Ojos Locos, aka "Mexican Hooters". Much like Hooters, you don't go there for the food.
-Mexican food in Arizona hits different from Mexican food in the NorthEast.
2022 Road Trip:
-Culver's. I had been to this before in 2019, and it was good enough to visit again.
-Lots of BBQ places out west, many of them offering bison burgers.
-Also lots of truck stop diner food. Nothing really out of the ordinary for those, it's just that sometimes the basics are what's needed.
It is not lost on me that there are plenty of restaurants and other eateries that are much more local that remain unvisited. It's easy to say "oh, those are nearby, I can go to them any time". Until I can't because they close. Then the only thing on the menu is regret.
This post is making me hungry.
