Dirty Old Town

The last time I was in Ireland was December 1999 at the end of my study abroad, around my 22nd birthday.  I’ve written a lot (maybe too much) about my time in Ireland, but now I get to go back for the time in nineteen years!

Working at Automattic, we gather with our teammates on a trip or two each year.  Being a distributed company, my particular team has members in Australia, New York, and South Africa.  We’ve decided on London for meetup this year and I’ll extend my trip for a few days in Dublin.

I’ll fly into Dublin on a Wednesday night and sleep in a hotel near the airport.  In the morning I’ll make my way into the city and do some exploring.  Afterwards I’ll stay with a college friend and her husband about 40 minutes south of Dublin.  We’ll spend Friday hiking and exploring Glendalough or other areas nearby.

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That leaves a little time left on Saturday before I fly out that afternoon.

While not exactly the trip I’d envisioned for my return, my hope is that’ll recharge my Ireland batteries for a bit.  Here’s to making it back before another 19 years pass!

I’ve Been Everywhere

Everywhere is a bit of a stretch, but it turns out I’ve been able to travel a lot in the last few years because of work.  A friend I hadn’t seen for some time reminded me that when we first met my response to “hey, have you been to X place?” was inevitably “no.”  And that wasn’t an exaggeration in my early twenties. Other than a few places in my home State of Maine, I’d been to New Hampshire, Boston, New Jersey, Florida, and Washington D.C..  Thankfully, that’s slowly been changing over the last few years.

  • Canada
    • Atlantic Canada (2002?): 2500 miles in a Ford Focus through…
      • New Brunswick
      • Cape Breton
      • Nova Scotia
      • Prince Edward Island
    • Other Canada
      • Campobello, New Brunswick (2016)
      • Montreal, Quebec (2015)
      • Whistler, British Columbia (2017)
  • Europe
    • Ireland (1999):
      • Cork
      • Dublin
      • Doolin
      • Connemara
      • Clifden
    • England
      • London (1999/2015/2018)
    • Czech Republic
      • Prague (2017)
    • France
      • Paris (2017)
  • US Travel (outside of New England)
    • San Francisco, California (2016)
    • Colorado (2012)
      • Boulder
      • Colorado Springs
      • Pueblo
      • Denver
    • New Mexico
      • Albuquerque
      • Santa Fe
    • New Jersey (1987)
    • New York (2008)
      • Manhattan/Brooklyn (2000, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017)
    • Pennsylvania (2015/206)
      • Lancaster (2004)
      • Gettysburg (2004)
      • Philadelphia (2015/16)
    • Texas
      • Austin (2016)
    • Utah (2015/2016)
    • Virginia (1992)
  • Other
    • Aruba

Bonus Canadian version:

Montreal: Show Me the Place

I’m going to be traveling to Montreal for the first time!  My only other trip to Canada was 1600 miles through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton.

I’ll mostly be there for work, but I’ll have some meals free and a little time to explore.  What should I not miss?  Is there anything tourists do that I don’t need to see?

Song referenced: Leonard Cohen Show Me the Place