Post Introduction Back-Story

So a little backstory, first.

My wife, Heather, and I enjoy traveling. We've been to San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, NYC, various Texas cities, and so on and so forth. The problem is that we have different ideas of "a fun time" when it comes to traveling. Heather likes the city, but also likes a bit of nature. I would go so far as to say I "hate" nature, but I'd like to do some evil things to it (not really). Suffice to say, I like the city. I'm a city boy (sort of...I grew up in the suburbs like so many of you). I'm also a people watcher, so any big interesting city is pretty much bliss for me. For Heather, not so much. She's more of the vacationer that likes to relax...I like to explore (and when I say explore, I mean walking 6-7 miles a day, and taking public transit all over the city). So, at some point last year (2006), we decided that maybe it was better for me to make solo trips to the cities I really want to explore. I'm happy because I get to fulfill my need to people watch and see some of the most interesting cities (well, in North America...for now).

In August of last year, I went to San Francisco by myself (I'll probably go back and recount that trip at some point). It was one of the best trips of my life and I can't even explain why I loved it so much. One part of it was the freedom to go and do what I wanted. It was also great to feel free to talk to people you've never met before. Typically when I'm with someone, I'm less likely to strike up a conversation with a random stranger. Maybe its the safety of already having someone I know and can talk to, or maybe it's because it'd be rude to your friend to strike up a conversation that is not them. Whatever the case, I felt freer to engage people in conversation and add an additional dynamic to my trip- the people. I'm sure there are many other reasons I enjoy traveling solo, but for the time being, this will have to be sufficient for the 3 people out there still reading this (does that make me vain to think that 3 people would actually still be reading this?)