Will's Travels

Quebec Winter Carnival

Montreal in Winter

When I was a Senior in High School, I had the opportunity to spend a 12 day mini-exchange in a small town in the provence of Quebec, Canada in the middle of winter. I must say that those were the best 12 days of my life! It was the first (and only) time I have ever been out of the United States, and the furthest from any family members I had ever been. That meant a great deal of freedom for me to experience life on my own; and boy did I ever! I attempted skiing for the first time and, though I did actually successfully teach myself to ski, I ended up straining myself in the process, so had to spend the remainder of the day in the lodge. I also experienced a 'neverending' mall. One of the days we were in Montreal, towards the end of the trip, a friend and I decided to attempt to see how long the mall truly ran. Connected through underground tunnels, we must have walked at least a mile throught nothing but malls before we had to turn back... and we still hadn't run out of mall!

Masthead figure from the Black Pearl Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland

Another of my most memorable trips was over my birthday, 2003. In that trip, the whole family went to Disneyland, and it just so happened that during our stay, the Park was playing host to the Hollywood Premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Though we were unable to stay in the park for the premier itself, it was quite an interesting experience to be able to see all of the goings on associated with the event, including the red carpet entrances. Also, during the same trip, we made the trek to Hollywood proper to see the LA production of The Producers on stage, which was yet another very interesting experience. The play was awesome, but that wasn't what caught my eye the most; what did was how old and run down Sunset Blvd. appears on the outside, but on the inside of the theatre, the use of the Art Decco style was absolutely sublime. I had a hard time deciding whether to pay more attention to the play or the building that day.

Fireworks over Cinderella's Castle

Expedition Everest

Finally, this December, I will, for the first time in my life, be going to Walt Disney World in Florida. As often as I have been to Disneyland in California, it's somewhat surprising to me that I have never been able to make my way across the country to see it's 'big cousin.' Nevertheless, it's a trip I desperately need and eagerly await. The two places at that massive resort I'm looking forward to seeing most are EPCOT, with it's high-tech and world culture zones, and Animal Kingdom, in particular the animal safari and the new Expedition Everest roller coaster. That should be a fun trip.