Guess who’s back—back again

Yes, I know, it’s been a while. And what a welcome-home party! The blog is back with a brand-spanking new look, everything short of a fresh blog scent widget. New logo, new layout, new name.

You read that last part right. We upgraded to “Where in the World are Karmen & Ayk.” Translation: you’ll be living vicariously through our chianti-sipping and schnitzel-nomming adventures, because we broadened our horizons to international travel. Woo hoo!

So, why restart (again) now? I’m working on my resolutions. “Resolutions a month before the ball drops?” you ask incredulously. Yes, now. That’s because it knocks out two resolutions: Posting on the blog once a week and busting my procrastination. What better way to fix the later than starting on my goals a month early? Boom.

 And hang tight, because a fresh post is going up today…

We're baaack!

Long time, no blog, right? I bet you’re wondering why I’m restarting it after such a lengthy hiatus. First, Ayk and I have done a lot of traveling since our big road trip. It’d be a shame not to share those stories. Second, it’s been roughly two years to the date since Ayk and I went on this trip. (January 20, 2011, to be precise.) I’m a sucker for anniversaries. Finally, let’s face it: I love writing, and you love wasting time at work. It’s a match made in heaven. 

Let’s catch you up to speed. I got a job at Girls’ Life magazine as an online editor in March 2011. There I send out e-newsletters, write fashion articles, and answer guy problems for our tweener audience. It’s a fun job, except for those fleeting moments when you relive those awkward middle-school years. Ah, who am I kidding? I’m still awkward, but I’d like to think I’ve upgraded to “quirky.”

Two months after I got my gig, Ayk got a job geeking out as a certification engineer in Arlington. Poor guy commuted from Baltimore to Arlington—that’s an hour and a half each way, every day—for a year and a half. Oouf. No wonder he wanted to move to DC.

This past weekend Ayk and I left our beloved Baltimore, rather begrudgingly so, might I add, and moved to Washington, DC. Yup, the weekend when the Ravens triumphantly secured a spot to the Super Bowl. There couldn’t be a worse time to move. Charm City is purple all over, from the lit up buildings to the riled up fans. We felt homesick the minute we got on 95 South. Don’t worry—we’ll be sporting Ravens gear in Skins Nation.

But back to what you’re really here for: traveling. Initially our lack of jobs inspired us to travel. Now it’s Ayk’s current job that gives us an excuse to travel. (Man, oh man, did he luck out when he got laid off.) And while the work trips are by no means a one-month, wind-at-your-back, Jack Kerouac-worthy excursion, there have been stellar moments. So, join us (again) as we relive our favorite travels together since our big road trip.

Updates

I realize posting has been slow lately.  Truth be told, even though I love writing for the blog, I'd rather spend time enjoying this trip.  And unless I'm getting paid for this, I don't see the need to rush to give you haphazardly written posts just to maintain a non-existent deadline.

Don't you worry - there will be oodles of posts next week. Saturday (that's tomorrow) we'll be returning to Baltimore late in the evening.  Yes, our journey is almost over.  It's pretty depressing.  Even one of Hemingway's cats seems upset about it:

 Noo!!  I can haz 2-month long vaycayshun?

More posts will come once we get back.  You can trust me on that one since we don't have full-time jobs yet.  We'll need something to do when we need a break from sending resumes.

Updates

I realize I’ve been slacking with the posts, but writing on the road is has been on the back-burner since there are so many pretty sites to see.  Hopefully I’ll catch up soon.  And we love reading the comments and it would be awesome to respond to them, but once again, pretty roadside attractions are distracting.  To compensate, here’s a cat for your amusement:

It's no lolcat, but it should do.

Onto the Salt Lake City (SLC) visit.  Doing things a little differently with the next few posts.  Rather than divide posts by days, I’m doing the Salt Lake City visit by themes: Family, skiing, saltiness (that’ll make sense later, trust me), and farewell.  If you don’t like the set-up, I'll sweeten the deal with this picture of a dog: