Tag Archives: travel

Day 182: Katie

Posted on July 1, 2015 | Leave a comment

Katie is a friend and former colleague of mine. I’ve been living vicariously through her this past year as she is attending the London School of Economics and traveling to fun places throughout Europe.

Day 182

I added some washi tape to the top of this paper as well as to the back of the envelope to dress it up a bit. Also, another recycled envelope liner that I made from a Paper Source bag.

Katie,

I hope my letter finds you well. And who knows when you’ll get this because you seem to be quite the traveller (see I used the British spelling for you!) these days. I’ve followed your jaunts around London, your travelling adventures to Italy (I also loved Cinque Terre…and a charming little town called San Gimignano, I don’t think you went there), Portugal, Spain…you do such a wonderful job of sharing interesting images and story – it’s almost as if you bring us along with you.

While you’re on your fantastic year-long tour of Europe, I hope that on occasion you find the time to discover an absolutely splendid place called the London School of Economics – I hear it is a remarkable institution. Seriously, I hope you are enjoying this experience. I know it wasn’t an easy decision to quit your job and take this giant leap of faith across the ocean, but I doubt that you question it one bit now as you look back. We often overestimate what we have and underestimate what we can gain by trying something new. I’ve lived I’ve lived abroad in three different countries and loved each experience.

I look forward to getting together sometime when you are back on this side of the pond. Until then, enjoy the rest of your time in Europe!

Reed

P.S. I saw that you were selected to run in the NYC Marathon – that’s awesome!

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Day 181: 2nd anonymous letter left at Penn State’s Berkey Creamery

Posted on June 30, 2015 | Leave a comment
Day 181-3

More awesome stationery from 1canoe2!

I woke up this morning in State College, PA. One of my favorite places to visit while I am there is the Berkey Creamery – you may recall I left another anonymous letter there on Day 84.

I was a bit disappointed because my schedule wasn’t going to allow me to stop in and have some of their delicious ice cream since I had to get on the road early this morning. But on a whim I visited their website to see what time they opened although I realized it would probably be noon or maybe 11am if I was lucky. Well, what do you know? They open at 7:00am! YES!!!

Ok, there weren't a lot of other people there eating ice cream. So what?

Ok, there weren’t a lot of other people there eating ice cream. So what?

I figured I had to have breakfast anyway, so I might as well stop by. I mean I was going to have cereal and ice cream’s main ingredient is also milk, so what’s the big difference?

I ordered my favorite: Cookies N Cream. Good old-fashioned Oreo cookie chunks smothered in rich vanilla ice cream. Most people were buttering their bagels or eating egg sandwiches, but there was one table, a family of four, who also enjoying some Berkey nirvana. I’m not going to lie. I was feeling pretty amazing with my choice. So good that I wanted to share that euphoria with someone else. So I left my letter there, but this time I decided to mix it up a bit and add some Alexander Hamilton love while he’s still on the tenner.

And thanks again to 1canoe2 for hooking me up with some new stationery!

Day 181-2

What’s better than having Berkey’s delicious ice cream for breakfast? You guessed it, nothing. Well, maybe finding an envelope with money inside while you’re eating your ice cream…yeah, I’m pretty sure that tops it.

Enjoy and share the love!
Reed

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Day 176: Aunt Sue

Posted on June 25, 2015 | Leave a comment

I’ve written Aunt Sue a few times this year. She has lived at an assisted living center for nearly 18 months. She’s sad and bitter that her freedom has been stripped away. She no longer drives, cooks or calls people. I try to call her regularly, write her notes and make the eight-hour journey to visit her whenever I can.

Day 176-2

Aunt Sue,

I thought I would drop you a note to say hello. I talked to Ryan today and he said that he bought his airfare to come visit. I don’t think Jacqueline will be going with him in the end. I know you were looking forward to seeing her. I am checking with my work commitments to see if I might be able to join him for part or all of the time.
I love you and think about you often.
Looking forward to seeing you soon,
YKW (short for You Know Who – that’s how she used to sign her letters to me.)

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Day 146: Dad

Posted on May 26, 2015 | Leave a comment

Day 146

Dad,

When I look back at the letters that I have from you and Mom growing up, the majority were sent while I was spending time away from home at camp, as an exchange student, at college, etc. I’ve kept those letters, I treasure them. They bring back beautiful memories when I hold them in my hand and read the words that you wrote by hand.

As you spend time at the cabin, I thought you could use some mail. It was great to see you this past weekend – I really enjoyed the time we got to spend together.

DadJason

With Dad at a Nationals game a few years ago.

I wonder if you saw the Nats yesterday – close game, they beat the cubs 2-1, Ramos hit the game winning home run. You should google Michael Taylor’s catch if you didn’t see it already, beautiful!

Things here are going fine. I got your check for the Street Sense event on June 2nd. Thank you, that was very generous of you. Put Oct. 1st on your calendar – the 2015 Street Sense Gala. It’s shaping up to be a really cool event.

I’m going over to Ryan’s tonight to babysit Jacqueline and Mackenzie – Ryan and Mandy are going to see comedienne Amy Schumer.

We need to talk about our trip to Europe – we put it on hold as I recall when you had your knee surgery, but that’s been four years now and we still haven’t made plans for the trip.

I’m not sure how long you’re planning on staying up there, but maybe I will try to come visit. And I hope you know that you are always welcome here – I really enjoy when you visit. Maybe we can find time for you to come when we can get to a couple of Nationals games. That would be fun.

I know you have things you want to get done up there, but I hope you take some time to relax and enjoy yourself too.

I love you very much,
Jason

Day 146-2

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Day 142: Jon

Posted on May 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

I spent a good portion of Wednesday with Jon – a colleague who is an expert on conservation in the Eastern Himalayas. He gave a talk that evening that was excellent – Jon is talented at using storytelling to effectively engage his audience. He spoke passionately about the region – especially Nepal, a country that has suffered such terrible loss over the last month.

Jon lives in New Jersey and spends a great deal of time in Asia – so this doesn’t happen that often. I was very thankful to have the time with him and learn more about the projects that he is managing.

Day 142-2

Jon,

What a pleasure it was to spend time with you in Boston this week. Your talk was excellent and the feedback I heard from others echoed my praise. Your knowledge, passion and thoughtfulness touched all of us. I look forward to working with you more in the future.

Best wishes for a safe and productive trip to Mongolia and Bhutan.

Reed

P.S. I ordered a copy of Spillover – thanks for the recommendation.

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Posted in Thank-yous

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