I know most of my readers come here for information about Japan (the stats tell me that) and this blog was started to chronicle my travels. I’ve been posting a lot about my feelings lately, but fear not! There are more travel plans on the horizon!
I’ll start teaching in public schools this fall, which means I’ll get school holidays off. That’s not why I became a teacher, but it is definitely a perk. After viewing the 2014-2015 school calendar, my mind couldn’t stop wandering and here’s where it wandered off to….
Fall Break: The nerdtastic literary road trip of my dreams
The Literary Road Trip
STOP ONE: Monticello – Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia plantation
I’ve had an affection for our third president since learning about him in Elementary school. I still have a model of the Jefferson Memorial that I made for a class project back then. About five years ago, I got to see the Jefferson Memorial in person and was emotionally overwhelmed. Jefferson had the elusive “poet’s soul”–my favorite trait in any human being. His writing is just as important and compelling as it was 200 years ago. His words perfectly captured what it means to be “American.”
A picture from my visit to the Jefferson Memorial in 2009.
STOP TWO: Camden, NJ – Walt Whitman’s grave
Have I mentioned how much I love Walt Whitman? Because I LOVE HIM. Like, deliriously so. I keep a worn, marked-up copy of Leaves of Grass at my bedside at all times. His words have spoken to me like no one else’s. After reading, “When I Heard The Learned Astronomer” in 10th grade English class, I knew it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair. I’ve memorized countless poems and lines of poems since then, just so they will be accessible to my heart whenever I need them. Anyway, I will go to his grave with wildflowers and CRY.
My Walt
STOP THREE: Long Island, NY – Walt Whitman’s birthplace.
(Insert continued gushing about favorite author here.)
STOP FOUR: Concord, MA – Thoreau’s Walden Pond
No lover of the transcendentalist literary movement would miss Walden Pond! If you’re unfamiliar with Thoreau’s book, Walden, I’ll give you a brief overview. He lived in a cabin in the woods for about two years as a part of a personal and spiritual quest. He wrote about topics such as ants, his bean field, cleaning his cabin, and sounds he heard in the woods. It’s beautiful. I want to walk the trails and kayak out onto the still water to see if I can see what he saw.
Walden
STOP FIVE: Baltimore, MD – My Wifey’s Wedding
My beloved college roommate is getting married near the end of my Fall break, so I will be ending my trip by wishing her a life of happiness with her new husband. I am sad that another person will be able to claim her as “wifey,” but I will survive.
Impersonating ourselves
…This trip is feasible in a week’s time, right???
The Adventures of Punkrockpaco 