In recent Natalie news:

• I graduated college. Yay!
• I still haven’t left the country. Booooo.
• I will be moving to Orlando, FL in mid-August to work at Disney World for 5 months. YAY!

For more info on that Disney biz, check out yet another of my blogs HERE!

As far as travel related stuff goes, I haven’t been up to too too much. But I did go to Philadelphia for the first time! And I absolutely loved it.

I really didn’t know what to expect from Philly, so I was going in pretty blind. (I was also going in for the sole purpose of Wizard World Comic Con because, in case you didn’t know, I’m a GIANT nerd.)

Philly was lovely. Full of life, history and AMAZING food. Philly Cheese Steaks are my new thing.

Reading Terminal Market is an absolute godsend, and it was right next to the convention center. Bonus! While there I sampled the cheese steaks (obvi) and a delicious caramel apple crepe. Heavenly on both accounts.

My family and I made a quick stop in Old Town. If it hadn’t been so darn hot and we hadn’t walked all the way there from the convention center, I might have liked it more. It was gorgeous and very neat, but rather underwhelming. Maybe I need to go for the sole purpose of seeing the historic sites and take in a tour or something. I mean, the Liberty Bell was cool…for about a second.

Still, I had an insanely good time in Philly. Go there if you haven’t been, because it is worth your time.

Oh! And I rode my first train! All cities should have trains. They’re magical. (Except if you get stuck riding backwards. Nausea-city.)

Enjoy some pictures, my lovelies. Please do come back soon!

Guys….if you don’t know what this internship is, visit www.worldtravelerintern.com for more info. This is my second year applying and I’m a lot more confident that I could actually win. This is SO SO SO important to me. Your vote will be greatly appreciated.

I wish I could write more, but I’m currently on Spring Break, attempting to make it to NYC soon. My computer battery is about to die.

I promise to come back soon and tell how about my trip!

Even the cemetery was packed to the brim. The gravestones were piled so high and placed so tightly it looked like its own little skyline.

Even so, it was still amazing. I’m still reeling from all the wonderful things I saw and did. We went at the busiest time of year, for sure. I could barely make my way out of 30 Rockefeller Plaza…everyone was way too excited about ice skating.

Times Square was the most stimulating place I’ve ever been in my life. How sad is it that my immediate thought upon seeing it was “Wow, I wish I could see how Tokyo stacks up.” Argh, that’s me, always wishing I was somewhere else. Despite my wanderlusting self, I was still incredibly happy to be in that city.

One of the more exciting things I did while there was tour Food Network Studios. It was incredible! I got to see absolutely everything: The control room, a set, a taping, the Food Network kitchens (it smelled SO good), the catwalk above the set, and an editing room with two very nice editors. I’d love to work at FN someday. I’d never be hungry!

I’ll end my ramblings about NYC here and leave you with some more pictures.

I’ll be back soon with all the fun details!

Let’s start with Bourdain, though. 

OH MY GOD, SEEING HIM LIVE WAS THE MOST FREAKING COOL THING I’VE DONE IN MY ENTIRE YOUNG LIFE.

Ahem.

Yes. I saw Anthony Bourdain speak at the Idea Festival in Louisville, KY about a week ago. He covered the basic topics: food, travel, and why they fit so nicely together. Everything he said resonated with me in a very profound way…oh, and he also made me laugh a whole freaking lot. That man can say something so incredibly poignant and follow it with a joke about diarrhea caused by street food and make it seem perfectly natural and on purpose. 

If I didn’t admire the man before, I certainly do now. I just wish I had gotten the chance to meet him. My boss did…but we’re not going to talk about that.

Sadly, no photos were allowed in the theater, so all I have to remember him by are some crudely over-lit cellphone pictures. He DID have lunch in the same restaurant I had dinner in that night…kinda cool…I guess.

Oh, and I got quoted in an article in the local paper about his talk: Probably the lamest quote ever to be published in the Courier. Ever.

Anyway, onto the alcohol thing!

I turned 21 this past Monday. Oh, what a wonderful event. Nothing special though. Just me getting older, having sushi with my friends, getting a Lite-Bright, and then going to a bar later in the evening. (The Lite-Bright was a gift from one of my younger friends. I’m not sure if he’s telling me to remember my youth, or trying to remind me just how old I’m getting. Hmm…) But it was a good time. 

In ONE WEEK I will be leaving for New York City. When I think about it, my brain gets all fuzzy and my legs bounce involuntarily. I think it’s going to be an amazing trip. I’m still not sure what time my flight is…my friend has the tickets. For someone like me who likes to have things at least semi-planned out far in advance, this is a weird feeling for me. But maybe it’s a good lesson in spontaneity and what not. 

I suppose I should apologize for the large gap in my posting. You see, I’m back in school now. And I’m a senior. So I have a lot on my plate. I know, I know, lame excuse…but it’s totally true. I’ve have two internships, a leadership position on the radio station, and two classes that require a lot of out of class work, as well as my other classes. 

Goodness. I’m such a whiner. 

You know what’ll be a good break though?

NYC!

Ahhh, can’t wait. 

Take care all, and I hope to come back to you soon with more exciting travel stuff to talk about.

Sad to think that summer is just about over…and I haven’t even left the state! Ugh. I’m itching to cross state lines (or leave the continent…whatever). I thought I would take a moment to catch you all up on what is happening in travel-plan-land AKA my life.

-My trip to New York City is on the move! Tickets are booked for mid-October. The next step will be to book the hotel and to, well…save all the money I can. I’d really rather not spend crazy amounts of money. My friend and travel pal, Sarah, and I have already gotten discount tickets, and we’re going to book a budget hotel…so I kind of want to keep the theme going. There’s plenty to do in the city for free, most of it being visiting rather iconic locales. To just walk around in Times Square or Central Park would be plenty for me….and plenty free! So, we’ll see if I can stick to an NYC budget.

-Louisville, KY is host to a very cool event every Fall called the Idea Festival. Brilliant minds and speakers come together and share ideas and what not. Pretty darn cool, you say? Well, it’s even cooler this year because Anthony Bourdain is a featured speaker! And yours truly got a tiiicketttt. I’m pretty stoked. (And I don’t use “stoked” lightly.) But really, I admire Bourdain and what he’s done for travel/The Travel Channel. He’s a brilliant, funny guy who just tells it like it is, and really wants travelers to experience more than a luxury hotel. I’m so glad I get to see him! And, bonus, it’s mere days before my birthday! Pretty sweet deal.

-You all NEED to check out STA’s World Traveler Interns. Their trip is almost over, and it seems like they’ve had an amazing time. Lindsay Clark, one half of the WTI duo, is keeping up with her personal blog [Nomadderwhere] as well, so please check it out. Good stuff, people. Good stuff.

That’s it for now. Hope you all have had a wonderful summer. Make the most of the last few weeks! The next trip I’ll be taking is back home for a week to spend some down time with my family.

Happy trails.

A couple weeks ago I was part of the worldwide event called the 48-hour Film Festival. I participated in the Louisville weekend, obviously, and it was such a blast. I had a great team to work with, and we had a lot of fun.

Our mission was to create a 4-7 minute video in 48 hours. Write, Cast, Film, Edit and everything in between.

Everyone who made a film had a few required elements: A genre randomly selected (we pulled Comedy), a prop (3-ring binder) a character (Bert/Bertha George the gardener) and a line of dialouge (“Just tell them Joe sent you”).

And without further ado, here is the film!

A friend and I have just purchased tickets to NYC for a mid-October trip!  This friend of mine is a regular New York trip taker, whereas I have never ventured father north than Ohio. So this will be exciting on many levels: My first trip to one of the best cities in the world, AND I won’t get lost!

I’m already making intense sightseeing plans. My list is going to be hard to accomplish seeing as we’ll only be in the city for three days. The main things I want to hit?

-Times Square (duh)

-Tiffany’s (even only for a minute. I need to have an Audrey moment)

-Central Park/Bryant Park

-An art museum. I think we’ll go to the MoMA. Maybe Guggenheim.

-Little Italy/Chinatown

There are a lot of other things I want to do, but with limited time I have to pick and choose. Or just not sleep, which we all know is possible in NYC.

Any sight suggestions? Favorite restaurants? Do tell…I have a few months to plan, and believe me, it’s all I’m going to be thinking about!