Seat of Our Pants » USA

The Mission…

Bacon — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:55:09 +0000

Swinedate: September 29, 2011.

Location: Unknown. Possibly wrapped in a T-shirt.

The Mission: Reviving this blog – because someone’s got to do it!

The tools at hand are few, but many a Swine have succeeded where mankind have failed before. Hooves beat scissors beat bag, y’know. Very soon, I will journey to the city of New York, in America, where I will blog more. Stay tuned.

/Bacon.

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One Year Later

Martin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:08:49 +0000

Today is a good day to remember some of the cool things we did during our trip. Exactly one year ago, we were on our way back from Nagarkot, Nepal. We were pretty roundly hung over, thanks to the scrumptious and thoroughly wet feast our landlord had thrown the night before. All we wanted to do was to get back to our Lazimpat apartment ASAP – a prospect somewhat hindered by the fact that Maoist ex-insurgents had decided to blockade the Kathmandu Valley. The solution was to hang big signs saying ‘TOURIST BUS’ on our vehicles, park our western-looking selves in the front seats and hope that the Maoists were still letting foreigners through. Trying not to look silly by barfing on ourselves was also a priority.

This new year’s celebration is way different. Of course. We live in Mariposa, still figuring out our lives. We are moving towards a more structured life, slowly. What I do think though, and this is perhaps the greatest lesson of our trip — is that we still live our lives the way we did on that day in Nepal. Anything is possible, if we just put your minds to it.

And that’s all the ranting we had for you today. If you’ve missed it, Jaime’s running her own show over at the dailybeeswax.com, while I’m trying to write a book.

Oh and the Maoists did let us back home that day. All it took was bribing a ragtag bunch of 12-year old road-blocking insurgents (at a cost of 3 USD). Good times.

"Anything is possible, Dude!"

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Giving Thanks for Food

Jaime — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 06:40:40 +0000

I’ve started a new side project (btw: this is Jaime). It’s my Daily Beeswax. Check it out…or read my latest post, then check it out:

I’m going out on a limb to call Thanksgiving what it is: a foodie holiday. Sure, it’s a time to remember why you’re thankful. Yes, it’s a nice break from the work-a-day grind and OK, seeing family is pretty great. But let’s call a spade a spade. Thanksgiving is just a big excuse to eat good food.

It’s actually not unlike the original reason for the gathering. Following their first successful corn harvest, the Plymouth colonists grabbed their helpful Native American friends and had a feast – for three days (according to History.com). So when you think about it, what we’re all reenacting each November 25^th is what all good foodies strive for: the most famous dinner party ever thrown.

It is the unapologetic celebration of food that most appeals to me about this holiday. Stop at any grocery store on November 24^th and you’ll find it overflowing with shoppers. People all across the country come together to cook and share a meal that (for most people) have taken an entire day to prepare. In the age of microwavable dinners, meal replacement shakes and fast food, surely we should be thankful that people care to take a full day to cook a meal.

With that in mind, and in the name of all things slow-food, Martin and I cooked a full-blown meal even though it was just the two of us celebrating. This year’s menu was dubbed American-Swede with a dash of Italian:

Starter

Ramos Fizz (on an empty stomach, as every first-drink-of-the-day should be taken)

Appetizers

Smoked Salmon with Swedish Crackers (Rokt Lax pa Knackebrod)

Wine: Hook & Ladder Gewurztraminer 2008

Main

Caramelized Onions (Cipolline Agrodolce)

Char-grilled Vegetable Salad

Swedish Meatballs (Svenska Kottbullar)

Lingonsylt (Swedish berry preserve that taste like cranberries)

Stuffed Cornish Game Hens

Hawaiian Sweet Bread

Wine: Alexander Valley Sangiovese 2006

Dessert

Classic Homemade Pumpkin Pie with Basil Cream

All in all, the meal was a total success. We ate until we rolled off our seats, we drank until we felt sober and we did the dishes before we felt sober – the perfect combo. The night was topped off with a little dancing in the living room to Mom’s old Kenny Loggins’ vinyl and a ridiculous photo shoot – because really, what do you do at 10pm when you live in the country and have no television?

My hope is that all of your Thanksgivings were full of amazing food and people you love – because, really, it’s what the holiday all about.

That and the mystery that is drinking until you feel sober.

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My Dumb Little Protest

Jaime — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:12:14 +0000

If you’d seen me just one minute ago, you would have caught me in a rather telling position. With one hand covering my eyes and one on my keyboard, I was scrolling through our website, peeking through my fingers at our recent posts. How many days have passed since I’ve last made an appearance? My embarrassing results: I posted something in early August and before then it was early July.

Yikes.

Such utter lack of attention to our beloved website begs the question: why have I abandoned writing for this project? My simple answer is also a confession. Not posting anything is my one and only form of protest. We’re not traveling anymore and god dammit I’m bummed about it. There, I said it. Not writing was really all I had to use as a protest. I’m an adult so tantrums were out. I’m a relatively responsible person, so running back into the world with our little re-entry savings is out of the question, too. All that was left to do is go on with life. But I could stop writing for our travel blog! Yes, that’s the ticket. I’ll stop writing and that will make me feel better.

My return to these pages shows you how great a solution that was. The reality is this: I miss travel blogging. I miss the community of fellow travel bloggers. I miss our readers and their comments. Writing for this site was an important part of our life for over a year so why would stopping it suddenly make me feel better? It wouldn’t – it doesn’t – plain as that.

Sweating it out in Jaipur, India

No, I’m no longer struggling in an Indian internet café in 110 degree heat with 1,000% humidity, being swarmed by mosquitoes to get a few line post up. We’re not dealing with that caliber of travel, but the adventure hasn’t necessarily ended. We’re currently living in a trailer in a retirement-age mobile home park (seen in the photo above) an hour outside Yosemite National Park. We have most of next month booked for road trips. I’m working on an independent website project (more to come on that later…) No – I’d say the adventure is far from over.

Consider this post my cure. I’ve stopped my silly no-writing-protest. In its place are plans for future blog posts here at SeatOfOurPants, updates on our twitter account and the occasional tantrum that (fortunately for you all) only Martin will have to deal with.

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Guns ‘n Ammo

Martin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:58:26 +0000

Growing up in Europe, we had all these ideas about America. You know the usual stereotypes: burgers, cowboy hats, endless opportunities and extreme violence fed by a complete lack of gun regulation. This last bit about the violence was no doubt fed by the hours and hours we’d spent watching cop shows such as Kojak, Hill Street Blues and Hunter.

Living in Europe, I never really questioned these misconceptions – not out of ignorance (or arrogance), but rather because I never got around to doing it. Now, living here, I often find myself chuckling at how we used to see this country, and at how people back home still probably see it.

So, back to the guns. Here’s how it’s dealt with here: guns are around, so you might as well enjoy them.

Hence, we took Mom in law to the trap range the other day. We blasted away at clay pigeons and had an outrageous amount of fun.

Guns at their best. Truly.

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A Sure Sign

Martin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:17:49 +0000

If buying two Iphones isn’t a sign of us being back in the 21^st century, I don’t know what is. The other day, Jaime flew up to San Francisco for a bit of business and came back with not one, but two of these bad boys. Needless to say we’ve had our noses pointed into our phones for a couple of days, and I’m just barely beginning to feel that the app feeding frenzy is over. Are 30 apps enough? Am I missing that one vital app that could really change our lives?

Having problems like these is another sign that we’re no longer on the road. This will not remain the case for much longer though – in a couple of days we’ll be making a move again. This time, we’ll exchange sunny Southern California for Mariposa: an old gold mining town nested in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

So, stay tuned for some mountain adventures: hikes, climbs and possibly a Mariposa beer review.

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A Personal Connection to the Smithsonian

Jaime — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:58:53 +0000

Once upon a time my Dad raced airplanes. Yes, you read the right. There is such things as racing airplanes. For those of you who haven’t been to a race, it’s sort of like NASCAR – a fast race ran around a track. But that’s where the similarities end. The machines racing are airplanes, so the race obviously takes place in the air. A second and more important difference is speed. Air racing is the fastest competitive racing out there, with speeds topping 500 mph.

Before his ‘moss’ (his affectionate name for his children) came along, my Dad was into racing aircraft. Really into racing them. But not just any aircraft – only highly modified WWII planes would do. By chopping off a good chunk of wing, adding a bunch of horsepower and fabricating a canopy just about the size of his head, he created a number of devilishly fast, winning aircraft. In fact, the planes he modified were so cool one of them sits proudly in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

My Dad's old race plane

Martin and I dropped by the Smithsonian when we were in DC a few months ago to check it out. We brought along my friend Danette and her cute-as-a-button son Blake. Following a potentially awkward misunderstanding about just who was showing up that day (it was just plain ol’ me and not my Dad, as the curator was lead to believe), we toured the exhibits with a real sense of awe. There are some seriously cool planes there. Does the Spirit of St. Louis, Enola Gay, the Concord and the Wright Flyer ring a bell? Yeah, they’re all there. All packed into a huge, beautiful building and all sharing a place on the floor with my Dad’s race plane. How seriously cool.

Check out the little video we shot that day below.

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The World Cup from Over Here

Martin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:48:19 +0000

I’ve had the privilege of watching the World Cup from a number of different locations. The most memorable one was in a backpacker hostel in Broome, Australia. The place was packed with people from all over the world, and a whole bunch of us decided that it would be a good idea to hole up for a month and watch as many games as we could stomach. Eight years later, I’m still in touch with several of those guys. That’s the power of idle sports watching for ya.

Curious cop catches a bit of the action in NYC

For this cup, we’ve found ourselves touring across the US, staying with friends and squeezing in a game here and there. We were at a sports bar on Manhattan when the home team played England to a draw. We watched Germany cut Australia to shreds together with a Hoboken, NJ family. With sadness, we watched Mexico get outgunned by Argentina at a Mexican restaurant in San Diego’s Old Town.

How does watching the cup in America stack up against other places? Well, the average sports fan in the US is generally more interested and knowledgeable than I would have guessed. Sometimes, you get the odd cheer for something that’s not traditionally cheerable (an offside by the opposing team, or a nice throw by the goaltender), but that’s just charming. People are interested in the game, they like to criticize tactics and applaud great efforts.

This is a contrast to many other places – in some locations Football has been the one true source of entertainment for generations – like the other day at the Mexican cantina. People were so fired up that they roared with nervous excitement every time their team took ball possession. It’d be tempting to chalk that up to their passionate Latin heritage, but no. I’ve seen similar behavior in Sweden and Germany.

Looking forward to 2014

As for the rest of the cup, well, my team didn’t even make it, and Jaime’s has been eliminated for a week now. Still, the World Cup is just fantastic entertainment. We can’t wait to see the last games. It will be four long years before it comes along again.

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Bacon Puts his Hoof Down!

Martin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:25:23 +0000

Since no one else is stepping up to the plate, Bacon asked if he could put a post together for the betterment of this blog. Unfortunately, his paws are not fit to type on a keyboard, so I’ve volunteered to help the little oinker out.

First of all, Bacon thinks we’re doing a lousy job at blogging these days. I concur. We’ve been busy. Busy celebrating our re-entry to the US, busy overcoming the hangovers from celebrating our re-entry into the US, dealing with immigration paperwork, smogging the car, watching True Blood on HBO, picking up work, doing laundry, joining a gym, chewing gum, making DMV appointments and so on. You know – all that stuff people have to do after a thirteen month trip around the world.

At this point, Bacon says “I want posts, not excuses!”. He also snarls like only a 5 ounce cloth pig with no mouth can snarl. I guess we have to bow to his wishes. To tell the truth, we’ve missed our blogging habits a lot – not only the practice of daily writing, but also the interaction with you guys, our readers.

Expect the blog posts to resume at regular intervals from now on. We have lots of stuff to tell you about, and we have a lot of fun adventures to look forward to in the near future.

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Jersey Shore: Living Up To The Hype

Jaime — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:12:34 +0000

The ladies are burned to a bronzed crisp. The men’s hairdos are greased into stiff perfection. The sun is shining and tanned skin is as abundant as bad taste.

This is the Jersey Shore, a surreal strip of boardwalk that has been featured in a number of popular reality television shows recently. We were in the area and decided to stop by for an afternoon to see what the hype was about.

The boardwalk itself surprised me. It has a classic old fashioned vibe. Pastel colors abound, as do fun games and the usual bad souvenir shops. The beachfront has calm water (it’s the Atlantic ocean, after all) and white sand. It’s paradise – in theory.

The reality is this: the Jersey Shore isn’t about the waves or the sand (you have to pay to access the beach anyway). It’s all about the people watching. Yes, you could make the argument that all boardwalks are about people watching and I’d have to agree with you. But this one takes the cake. It’s, well, it’s just plain ridiculous.

Most striking, in my opinion, are the extreme measures the kids (most of the people strolling the boardwalk were high school age) took their bodies to. The boys were heaving around overworked upper bodies on little chicken legs. The ladies looked like they had just rolled out of a tanning bed because, you know, you have to tan before you go to the beach to tan.

The food was terrible, as Martin describes here, but the people were unlike any we’ve ever seen. And coming from two people that just spent 14 months traveling the world, that’s saying something. If you’re in the New York area and have a half day to kill, head on over to the Shore. Pack a lunch, plenty of sunscreen and at least $7 to get to the beach. Otherwise you might have to spend your day in the shade of the carnival games, vying for one of these fabulous prizes.

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