Does DC count as travel?

Katie here- So it's fairly safe to say that no one is reading this blog any more, seeing as I haven't even looked at it in months, but I thought I'd toss something out there as a little tribute. Because in a roundabout way, this whole last week was linked to our travels, because Johnnie Finn, an Irishman we met in New Zealand, continued his tour of foreign locales by visiting Richmond!

We brought him first to DC, where he tested his strength:


After that warmup, we had him lift GIGANTIC beers:




We then introduced Johnnie to a creepy, possibly haunted, pumpkin patch to find pumpkins to carve and try not to get killed by some child of the corn. For some reason, in the middle of some hay maze designed for midgets, there were a group of goats hanging out by a couch that when looking at Johnnie would scream "BLAHHHHHHGH":



The price was $20 for as many pumpkins as you could carry for 3 feet:


Is that a gourd in your pocket or are you happy to see me?


So for halloween, we came up with what might have been the stupidest and least functional idea ever, but it did get better once I figured out how to get a straw through the screen for easier drinking. Along the trend of all the "sexy cats" and "sexy nurses" and whatever, we decided that lobsters and bulls were extremely underrepresented in the "sexy animal" genre (Tracy was the bull, I was the lobster, and Johnnie was inexplicably a large horse):



(The cameraperson told us to "be sad"- Wes took Johhnie's horse head):


And then, Johnnie got to witness THE BEST DAY EVER IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY, November 4th. To quote Wes, we partied like it was 19 fuckin 99. Uh, yeah Johnnie...sorry about making you fly with a hangover! GOBAMA!

We're in the big time now!

Okay, since Tracy is clearly far too humble to brag, I thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention. Finally, after months of praying and hoping, our dreams finally came true- we were publishedin one of the most celebrated newspapers of our time, The Chester Village News.

Now, try not to get too jealous- you, too, can achieve international fame to this level, if only you have travel "seeping in my veins" like Tracy does. (Really, Tracy? Seeping?)

Obviously, this is an internationally distributed newspaper, but in case you didn't get your copy today, this is the front page:


Global Trekker: Chester native drops everything to travel the world.
By Elyse Reel
Jul 30, 2008


Among Waugh's overseas experiences was glacier hiking in New Zealand.

Perhaps one of the most tempting dreams on record is that of dropping everything and just going – quitting your job and taking time to jet around the world.

That’s exactly what former Chester resident Tracy Waugh did last December. Fed up with her high-pressure job in New York, she and a friend submitted their resignations and hopped a plane to Thailand.

As her father, Miles, is Scottish, Waugh is no stranger to overseas travel; she’s traveled with the family to visit Scotland nearly every year since her birth, and last year, she visited Thailand and Cambodia. But that has never abated her intense fear of flying.

“I’m horrifically afraid of flying,” she admits. “You have to strap me in and practically give me drugs! But I have to travel. It’s seeping in my veins, and it’s something I have to do.”
In the end, Waugh’s love of travel won out over her fear of flying. By the end of her four-month travels, she’d made stops in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, New Zealand, England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Beginning her journey in Thailand was a natural step for Waugh, as her brother and sister-in-law, Iain and Jennifer Waugh, teach in Chanthivurri. “Iain speaks fluent, amazing Thai, and he took us everywhere,” Waugh says. “We even got to be in a commercial!” The segment, for which Waugh received 12,000 baht (equivalent to 50 American dollars) for twelve hours of work, was to promote the Thai equivalent of Red Bull.

“The title translates to ‘bird spit,’” says Waugh. “They extract the fluids from birds’ nests. It’s supposed to make you youthful and happy. It tastes like candy, actually!”

Such surreal experiences weren’t limited to Thailand. In Laos, Waugh and her friend Katie discovered just how much the international community cared about American politics. After a two-day trek through the jungle, they attended a tribal ceremony where village elders tied bracelets to their wrists. “We’re sitting and sweating like crazy, and one of the elders is tying on a bracelet and chanting,” Waugh recalls, “when he suddenly says to me, ‘Do you like Bush or do you like Obama?’”

American culture, Waugh discovered, had permeated nearly every country she visited. “I learned so much about other people and the way they view America,” she says. “Sometimes it’s really good; sometimes it’s really bad. But the undertone of everyone I spoke to was that America is awesome. Even with something negative, there’s respect underneath it – except Bush. Everyone hates Bush.”

On some occasions, Waugh was even able to change others’ perceptions. “We came across so many people, especially Irish and English, who would hang out with Katie and me for a day, and they would say, ‘We thought all Americans were loud and had a “we own the world” attitude, but you guys are really cool, and you’ve changed our perceptions on America.'”

As she traveled, Waugh found herself changing, too. “I was sad and pathetic in New York – working all the time, on my BlackBerry all the time, and I didn’t realize what I was missing,” she explains. “Even in the beginning, when I began traveling, I was worried and nervous about flying and the money. But when I arrived in Thailand, I just thought, ‘This is awesome; I have to keep doing this.’ It made me look at things in a whole new way.”

Now back in the States, living in Richmond’s Fan District and working in Chester, Waugh doesn’t see her travels coming to an end any time soon. “I’ll be going back to New Zealand and Ireland,” she promises. “Every year, I hope to go somewhere. Right now, my friends and I are trying to plan a South American trip. We’re a little nervous, but we’d still like to try that in the next two years.”

Now a seasoned traveler, Waugh encourages others to try it, too. “Everyone that I’ve ever met – even if you’re deadly afraid of flying – should do this,” she says. “Ireland’s so close, and so is Scotland.” Not only is a ticket to Ireland relatively inexpensive for international travel ($500), she notes, but “it’s really easy to get around, and the people are incredibly helpful.”

There’s even a chance for intercoastal romance: “In Ireland, I met about seven of my girlfriends,” Waugh says. “We got so many proposals from drunken Irishmen!”

ereel@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421


© Copyright by Village Publishing

Top of Page Comment on This Article

2 parts alcohol, 2 parts white trash and all parts fun

Okay, quick pre-note from Katie: Tracy clearly wrote the beginning of this post, and while I am damn proud of my pink flower crocs and old lady Walmart visor, I'm not exactly wanting to advertise my pantlessness so I only did a little revising.

And now, to Tracy's part of the post:
Our first camping trip of the season could not have gone better.

A little unknown fact that Atlantic City has a plethora of campgrounds and it is our mission to destroy everyone of them.

After making the hellish drive to Delaware to meet up with Katie we headed the rest of the way there. Katie is a born navigator, I am a born driver. However, after the 7+ hours it took me to get to the horrible horrible town of Newark where she is training, I could no longer stand getting behind the wheel.

PS- never ever let me navigate. i. suck.

We had a great time with the NYC group, basically acting like idiots as per usual but this time it was our pleasure to hang with the most entertaining WT's ever.

Pics...

gross


grosser


group


lance dance


And Lance wasn't alone- (hi, Katie here again)- Claire, Suzy and I rocked the macarena:


And there was some sort of square dancing going on:


I think everyone can agree, however, that the highlight of the entire weekend was at the very end. After the Jimmy Buffet lookalike concert, the macarena, the square dancing and the limbo stick, the DJ called everyone into a circle for their summer tradition. We had had one too many beers to be skeptical, so we joined the circle, held hands with those next to us, and joined everyone in singing "Proud to be an American" as two girls stood in the middle waving small sparklers:



Oh, and in regards to why Tracy claims I lost 35 friend points in the period of 4 hours...pretty sure it has nothing to do with my lack of fashion, since it's not like she has any more shame than I do, and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with my dancing, since I'm AWESOME. So I have to guess that it's because on the drive back, when I was navigating, I managed to miss the exit by about 30 miles...so before continuing her drive to Virginia, I made Tracy turn around to go an hour out of her way to drive me back to Delaware. oops.

dear katie- i cannot believe you erased your pantsless picture. you are dead to me. it. is. over.
-tracy

thesbians

As most of you are aware(especially if you are a lesbian in Richmond) I have been hanging out with a lot of lesbians since I moved back to VA. And by a lot, I mean a lot.

Yes they try to recruit me, yes they hit on me, yes they are loud, yes they are butchy, yes they are crazy, no I'm not a lesbian, yes, I, like, commas.

I guess my only point here is that they are super fun. For example:

jelly balls

smith mt lake

Because my life is ever so hard, I had a week long vacation at Smith Mt. Lake after my week long vacation in Nags Head. Seriously, I'm waiting for the lightening to strike me down cause it really shouldnt be this good.

Side note: much of my days in Nags Head were spent running around the porch with my laptop trying to get a signal so I could work, talking on the cell phone with clients while my drunk friends were loud drunk dancing in the living room. It was super easy to manage.

Please enjoy the pics from the lake. We had an awesome time boating, swimming, jet skiing, fishing, eating, drinking and generally and consistenly laughing. (That is of course until the last day while packing up my nephews locked my brothers keys in the car. We had locked the lake house up with its keys also inside. So we were bascially refugees with no food or water in the hot drive way for 3 hours waiting for retardo AAA guy who apparently was driving from 2 states away to help. Fun and funny way to end the trip. not.)


Boat ride!


Dad and Tony on noodles


We wont even mention that I caught more fish than Steve, the avid fisherman with a freaking pond in his won back yard. Oh wait, did I just mention that I caught more fish? Yes I did. Ha.


Tony and G-Ma in the water


so.cute.


Tony is an awesome helper


Dancing to Frank Sinatra on the dock at night= awesome



Cameron doing what he does best


Watch out Steve, you're next!


As per usual, I was of course the kitchen slave. Tea on a plate anyone?


ummmmm...

3rd time's the...Drunk

So a week ago I traveled (without Tracy, if you can believe it) to New York for the 3rd year in a row at Brooklyn Brewery's Pigfest (all you can eat, all you can drink). Although thunderstorms were predicted for the entire day, and Lisa, Ann, Laura and I were all coming off of a wine tour of Long Island the day before, we somehow got our asses out to Brooklyn right at the start.

We lucked out, the rain stopped almost immediately, and we got started on our day. While Lisa and I stockpiled beer, Laura began practicing her flip cup skills:


Earlier than normal, a flip cup table to end all flip cup tables started up near to us, so we of course jumped in and dominated- I believe there were approximately 30 people per side, so you sometimes couldn't even tell when each round had started:



Jacob, of course, made the mistake of playing for the opposite team, and received the full brunt of my scathing shit-talk:

We somehow made it back to Manhattan in one piece after a very cozy cab ride (do I recall correctly, and did our driver ask me to sit on his lap?), and I had to say another farewell on Monday to Manhattan.

Now I'm in Delaware (Hi, I'm in Delaware) for training at my new job, just got back from a weekend in Nags Head, but I'll let Tracy tell you about that since she was the one to take all the pictures (and if she posts any of me in my bathing suit, I'll delete them in .5 seconds). My date for the weekend was a 4-year old with a love of danger (and kicking, but you take the good with the bad).

This unemployment thing is really hard

So unlike Tracy, I decided to go and get myself a real job, so my early retirement is soon to come to an end. But they've granted me 2 more weeks, so until June 2nd I continue to be a gypsy. Drink up!

Last week, on a slight scholarship from my sister (I bartered for partial sponsorship in exchange for some babysitting), I went to St Maarten in the Caribbean with her (Teresa), her husband Craig and their adorable 15-month baby Zoe.

So St Maarten, if you can imagine, is friggin GORGEOUS:





We spent most of our week being entertained by Zoe, whose favorite pasttimes were eating sand, discovering new noises she could make, and staying really, really, really pale:




I lucked out, and again got to compete in the Best Birthday Ever contest, and celebrated my 27th on May 7th. The night before, Craig took over babysitting to let Teresa and I out on a sunset Booze Cruise (which didn't provide near the alcohol of the Booze Cruise Tracy and I took in Thailand, so Teresa and I went straight from the boat to the bar on the water to find ourselves some fruity frozen beverages):



The day of my birthday, we chose to relax on the beach enjoying our new best friend, Cruzan Black Cherry rum (if anyone can find where this exists in Richmond, please tell me...it honestly mixes well with everything), eating a seafood feast (Tracy, I know how jealous that makes you- I had seafood stuffed with seafood, Craig had seafood with a side of seafood, and Teresa had a seafood sandwich...yummy), drinking more black cherry rum, eating pancakes and ribs for dinner, playing cards and, inevitably, this results in making tiger faces for the camera:




One of our favorite activities in St. Maarten, however, is not something you typically do for fun, especially not with a whole crowd of people. We watched planes land. Now, these pictures will almost seem doctored, because it seems SO unsafe, but somehow it fits within the legal guidelines of a landing strip. And while putting a public beach at the end of this strip that is barely long enough to land a plane may be "legal", I'm not quite sure it was the wisest choice. Makes for some interesting photos, though.

(sign reads: "Danger: Jet blast of departing and arriving aircraft can cause severe physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and/or death" with a lovely graphic of a man falling backwards behind a plane- again, who put the public beach at the end of the runway, with restaurants on either side of the flight path?)



And if you still think they're doctored, check out the video I caught:


And just in case standing next to a flight path to watch a plane land wasn't stupid enough, Craig and I decided to get right underneath one landing, I guess, for one of those "just to say I did it" moments? Whatever, seemed like a good idea at the time, even if it means I destroyed yet another camera (oops, sorry Craig!):


So that's what the underbelly of a plane looks like- I know you were wondering.

-Posted by Katie