Monthly Archives: August 2015

Getting Fishy

Posted in Not Traveling by

I love bread.

One of the best things about learning German was that I got to go to Germany where they love bread. In German Cooking, by Marianna Olszeweska Heberle, she writes:

A woman is leaning over her backyard fence, discussing her son’s career choice with a neighbor. “Well,” she says, “Manfred just couldn’t pass his baker’s exams, so he’s taking up brain surgery.”

While she admits it’s a bit of an exaggeration, it’s still true that Germans love bread.

https://i0.wp.com/blog.besserhaushalten.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Brotberg.jpg

It’s so obvious I’m German.

And so obvious that Wisconsin is peopled with expat Germans. In my 3 1/2 years there, I got to the point when some sort of bread was the focus of every meal. Bread, crackers, Panera Rapid Pick-Up, pasta, desserts—you name it, I probably craved it. And consequently overate it.

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Fit to Travel

Posted in Not Traveling by

Almost four years ago I moved to Madison, Wisconsin, a healthy, fit 135#, and started a full-time desk job. Each year of that job, I gained ten pounds, and so now, I’m officially That Fat American—a stereotype I definitely want to crush before returning to Europe.

https://d1aviatl7dpuhg.cloudfront.net/image/mode/crop/q/90/w/500/h/282/url/64/aHR0cDovL3BpeGNtc2FkbWluLnBpeGFibGUuY29tL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy8yMDE1LzA2L2hpcHMuZ2lm
from the German segment of Watch People From All Over the World Describe How to Spot an American (click image to view)

Part of it is that I have a wardrobe of cute clothes that don’t fit me right now, and I’m too cheap to buy new ones in my new size. Part of is that I don’t want to confirm negative stereotypes of my own country. But most of it is just that I feel better when I’m a healthy weight, and that I love-love-love walking and biking when I’m in Europe, activities that I can’t see myself doing well if I’m in my current state of overweight. (Besides, you can fit more clothes in a suitcase when the clothes are smaller!)

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That Single Step

Posted in Getting Started by

The old saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This is my single step.

I’ve blogged for years—starting with Xanga and LiveJournal to just throw my life on the internet, and then getting more focused with Backyards and Bluejays in grad school—but only occasionally has my blog touched on what I really want to spend my time doing: travel.

But now it will. Welcome to my blog about traveling, preparing to travel, recovering from travel, thinking about travel, remembering past travels, and what I’m doing when I’m not traveling. (Hint: Right now, it’s starting a blog.)

Thanks for visiting. Come back again for more.

Becca