north american travel log

Where I’ve been, in alphabetical order. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Canada

Niagara Falls

Visit: 2012

I know, it doesn’t really count.

Mexico

Naco

Visit: 2016

I was there while doing work with the Naco-Bisnee Mural Project and Naco Wellness Initiative.

United States

States visited: 30/51 (that is, actually visited, including DC - driving through and airports do not count)

National parks visited: 10/63

The Adirondacks

Includes: Minerva, Lake Placid

Visits: 2020, 2021

Minerva is a super cute little town, and a great place to stay when visiting during the fall.

Fun activities:

• climbing Mount Marcy and exploring the High Peaks Wilderness
• hanging out at the lakes, kayaking, swimming, etc.
• xc skiing and snow-shoeing
• walking out oon Mirror Lake

Albuquerque

Visit: 2022

Fun activities:

• ride a hot air balloon
• hike to see petroglyphs
• get food at the grocery coop

Asheville

Visit: 2021, 2022

Includes: Brevard

Cool spots:

• Biscuit Head
• Quatations (chill coffeeshop in Brevard)

Fun activities:

• hiking!
• Moog Museum
• kayaking the French Broad - more like a lazy river than anything
• waking up early to watch the sun rise over the Blue Ridge mountains

Austin

Visit: 2021

Quick notes: Like Lexington, but if they turned everything way up to 11 and didn’t make any changes to the underlying infrastructure. I stayed in South Austin, which was nice, but due to my lack of a car, it might have been better to stay closer to the city center and north of the river.

Cool spots:

• Looking down Congress Ave to see the pink limestone state capitol building, even though they pass tons of awful laws there
• Electric Church (rad psych rock indoor/outdoor venue I heard about from my Lyft driver) + De Nada Cantina (a nearby spot with excellent chips ‘n queso)
• BBQ outside of town

Bisbee

Visit: 2016

A cute little artist town, down by the border. It has a nice little main street, where I purchased some Buddha-shaped candles. I was there to participate in a binational art project called the Naco-Bisbee Mural Project.

Chicago

Visits: twice in 2021, thrice in 2016, and once in 2014

In 2021, time I went to Pitchfork and saw two bands I was looking forward to. Animal Collective kind-of stunk, but Yaeji ttotally blew me away. I also got to see the Cubs, which was a lot of fun.

A lot of good stuff is on the Blue line. Good food, good music, good times.

Cincinnati

Visits: 2016, 2018, 2021

Things to do:

• King’s Island
• Findlay Market

Denver

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Evergreen
• Red Rocks
• Davies’ Check Wagon Diner
• City, ‘O City’
• Domo
• Meow Wolf

East Bay

Includes: Berkeley, Casto Valley, Oakland

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Chapel of the Chimes (Oakland)
• Urban Ore (Berkeley)
• Burma Superstar (Oakland)
• Golden Tee Golfland (Castro Valley)

Florida Keys

Visit: 2021

Mostly a tourist trap, but there are some good restaurants on the non-Key West islands. Also, make sure to check out the natural beaches on the State Park key.

Grand Rapids

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Redux Books (and Argos nextdoor)
• Bitter End (coffee shop w/ great vibe)
• Fulton Street Bar and Grill (try their vegan breakfast sandy at Sunday brunch)
• The weird fictional historcal signage

Hudson Valley

Includes: Beacon, Cold Springs, Poughkeepsie Visits: numerous from 2018-2021

More soon.

Indianapolis

Includes: Carmel, Fishers

Under construction.

Lexington

Residence: 2012-2017

Visits: 2018, 2021

Plenty of stuff missing, but…

Cool spots:

• Bourbon & Toulouse
• Sav’s
• Stella’s
• Magee’s
• WRFL
• CD Central
• Institute 193
• Plenty of cool venues

Los Angeles

Visits: 2010, 2016, 2022

TBD

Louisville

Residence: 2017-2018

Visits: 2014, 2015, 2020

Mackinac Island

Visit: 2021

Pronounced “mackinaw.”

Quick notes: I went with my friend on a cold, rainy day in the off-season. We were pretty much soaked through, but we had the island pretty much to ourselves.

After trying to avoid the horse sh*t and brownish, melting ice-slush, we went up to see Arch Rock, Fort Holmes, and Skull Cave. Then we tried to dry off a bit at the Mustang Lounge before taking the noon-thirty ferry back to the mainland, where we then drove home through a blizzard. Good times.

Miami

Visit: 2021

TBD

Minneapolis

Visits: 2016, 2021

The endless hallways of the Minneapolis skyway system feel like an open world video game. There should be an action movie filmedin them, if there isn’t one already.

Cool spots:

• Flour Tower @ Mill City Museum
• Walker Art Center
• Mercado Central
• Mall of America (for the rides)

Monterey

Visit: 2021

Incredible weather, beautiful beaches. No wonder all the rich people live there. Felt less like Big Little Lies than I expected.

Cool spots:

• Moondog
• 17-Mile Drive
• the beach!

New York City

Residence: 2018-2021, 2022-present

Visits: 2017, 2021

see New York City

Philadelphia

Visits: 2016, 2022

Cool spots:

• Japanese garden
• Making Worlds bookstore
• Mutter Museum
• Barnes Foundation
• PhilaMOCA
• Raxx Vintage

Portland, OR

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Japanese Garden
• this one place that sells artisal teas

Salem, MA

Visit: 2021

An amazing place to be on Halloween.

San Francisco

Visit: 2021

The Mission was cool.

Cool spots:

• The Knockout
• The botanical and Japanese gardens

Seattle

Visits: 2015, 2021

The (Great) Smoky Mountains

Many many visits. More info to come someday when I have a chance.

Includes: Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Great Smokey Mountains National Park

Sonoma

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Point Reyes National Seashore

Fun experiences:

• Wine
• Got to see Thundercat and Herbie Hancock live in Napa Valley. It was an outdoor concert and we couldn’t believe they turned Herbie down at 10pm sharp.

St. Louis

Visits: 2013, 2014

Cool spots:

• City Museum
• botanical gardens

Traverse City

Visit: 2021

Cool spots:

• Sleeping Bear Dunes
• free samples at Cherry Republic
• xc skiing at Hickory Hills
• Slabtown Burgers
• J&S diner brunch
• 7 Monks

Silly memories:

• eating premade frosty the snowman sugar cookies while watching the GBBO holiday special

Vermont

Includes: Burlington, Montpelier, Waterbury Visit: 2019

Washington, D.C.

Visits: 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021

Cool spots:

• OKPB
• Suns Cinema

Yosemite

Visit: 2021

I wish I could have spent more time here! But I greatly enjoyed exploring the valley and hiking up to the top of Half Dome.