A Roadtrip in Ireland is a Must
In 2015, my family visited Ireland for Easter. We rented an embarrassingly large van that my dad insisted on driving down narrow pedestrian streets in Dublin, but it got us through the hilly one-lane dirt roads throughout Ireland. Don’t just visit Dublin when you’re in Ireland, a roadtrip to the West Coast is unbelievably beautiful. We were also lucky to visit some family who still live in a small town in County Clare, and saw the graves of our ancestors on the windy Atlantic coast.
What we did: Dublin ➡️ Killalou ➡️ Cork ➡️ Killrush ➡️ Galway ➡️ Dublin ❌ Entire family somehow missed our 11am flight back to U.S.A. to stayed in Dublin an extra night ➡️ Chicago.
Greece is more than the islands
In May 2012, amidst all the craziness of the spiralling Greek economy, my business school sent a group of us over to learn about business culture in Greece, and present a social media strategy to the executive group of a natural Greece cosmetic company, Apivita. My professor Tatiana is a total boss, and being from Athens herself, we got a super localized view of the country, and met some interesting people thanks to Tatiana’s connections and insider knowledge.
Luckily she organized a roadtrip up to the mountains in the Northern part of Greece. You can even ski there in the winter. Absolutely beautiful.
Athens is massively populated. Since their economy was in the toilet, it was sad to see a lot of abandoned pet dogs laying around everywhere. Not supposed to pet them but got a pic… But the city is SOOOO cool/interesting/beautiful, I can’t wait to go back.
At a rally to get Greece’s hopes up about the economy
The owners of Apivita invited us to their beautiful home in the countryside to see where their products come from, and have a nice lunch. This is where my love for Greek yogurt and honey came from. Although nothing beats how fluffy it and fresh the Greek yogurt actually is in Greece.
Spent some time at Aegina Island, where we visited the owners of a Pistachio farm (commenced love of Pistachios here). We had a wild seafood lunch. Tatiana taught me how to dive for sea urchins like she did as a kid. Super cool!
I went to Spain before I understood social media
During the summer of 2009, my soccer club was fortunate enough to send a team to an international futbol tournament in Barcelona, Spain. It was such a cool experience playing teams from all over the world and learning about their cultures and playing style. The tournament had both a guys and girls division so we got to know some other teams (particularly the Greek boys ?).
Our American team was definitely a favorite. The Swedish girls were definitely the prettiest but I believe we provided a nice combo of decent enough looks and soccer skills, plus personality. ?? We had three boys teams loudly cheering for us by the end…I forget which countries but this was a good stroke of ego as I entered my senior year of high school.
Anyways, soccer. We placed 3rd in the tournament, but I placed last for documentation with any decent photos. I must have relied on my mother for all the good ones. Or I just wasn’t that cute in high school (still got dates to prom tho). But here are the few from my first trip to Europe:
The fields were in the hilly Spanish countryside. Some fields were so close to the edge of a hill (the field would practically be walled-in by the hills), so that made some throw-ins difficult. 
Opening ceremonies, everyone reppin their country 
Visited Barcelona’s primary place of worship – the FC Barcelona stadium. More than a club.. 
With my legendary soccer coach. Look at that baby high-school-ness
We were randomly there for the Tour de France during one of their first times in years doing part of the race through Barcelona, so we watched it from outside Barcelona in the country so we were literally standing on the road for it and they blazed past.
young girls with young boys ? 
The Greek boys ?
Typography Served Cold: Salt & Straw
After graduation, I took at trip to Portland, Oregon, and WOW hipsters know how to do food. We enjoyed a variety of dishes and desserts with fresh, local and powerful ingredients. Plus, all the shops and restaurants around had the best typography! My friends kept making fun of my because I’d exclaim “THE FONTS!!” like every other block.
This is the new Salt & Straw storefront in LA. Photo is from LAWonders.net
One of the must-do’s in Portland is to wait in line for some Salt & Straw ice cream. It’s worth the wait. One bite and you’re like 😮 jaw-dropped. They have really unique flavors like Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache or Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper or Pear & Blue Cheese (like wut). But I swear it’s actually really good, and I’m not one to venture outside of chocolate-based flavors.
But anyways, it warms my heart to see custom storefront signs with beautiful artistic typogrpahy. This is what inspires me to take hand-lettering classes myself. A lot of logo projects for my clients incorporate custom lettering, and this just serves as another tasty bit of designspiration.
I need to get back to Portland. I can only imagine even more great food places popped up.
Photo in thumbnail is from sprudge.com