Norway in a Nutshell

Deepest winter, which we are currently very much in the midst of, puts a limit on the amount of Norway’s great outdoors the casual tourist can reasonably engage with. The days are short, the roads are snowy, and all the country’s most popular fjord-based attractions are coated in several inches of solid ice. We kind of knew this when we booked our tickets, but we weren’t very … Continue reading Norway in a Nutshell

A Hot Second in St. Louis

I’m nearing the end of my 54 weeks in Chicago and there’s somewhere on my Midwest Hotspots list I haven’t yet been. If i’m honest, I think I’ve been pretty good at scouting out the surrounding area. I’ve checked out multiple locations in Wisconsin, explored the tantalising Gary, Indiana not once, but twice, and been to more Chicago suburbs than you can shake a stick at. But one place managed to elude … Continue reading A Hot Second in St. Louis

Indiana Dreaming

If you just want to read about my recent trip to Gary, Indiana, please scroll down to Part 2. If you want to know about the origins of my pseudo-obsession with the city, please start with Part 1. If you do nothing else, please check out the galleries towards the end for some great scenes of general abandonment and dereliction. Part One: Genesis Everybody knows … Continue reading Indiana Dreaming

To the Summit

I’ve been working in Chicago for almost two months, and I just had the pleasure of attending my first fancy conference. Go me. Let’s set the scene. I actually don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but I work for this super feisty non-profit called the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic (LTFHC). Like the name would suggest, they are, in fact, building a floating hospital on … Continue reading To the Summit