About the Site

Hello and welcome!
On this site, you’ll find a collection of photographs, essays, reviews, and other items–it’s a proper hodgepodge. Initially, I started this project as a blog. I posted erratically. I had no aim, no goal. Ten years later, it’s gradually shaping itself into something because of COVID19 and, well, 2020-to-the-present in general.

I was supposed to visit Europe last year.  I had saved my wages from adjunct teaching, arranged shared lodgings, and settled train reservations. I am a cheap traveler (I can’t afford not to be). Because of the pandemic, those plans have been postponed indefinitely. Since I couldn’t visit Europe, I decided to share my past experiences. Although sometimes I might splurge on a drink in a tourist hot spot like Piazza del Duomo, you won’t find recommendations for fine dining or hotels here. I don’t stay in or eat at those places. Most of the material I’ll share will include the really inexpensive or free stuff that I do. A primary focus will be walks—some random, some with themes related to books, writers, or films—around various European cities and villages.  I guess the message is that anyone who wishes to travel can do so—it may not be in the immediate future, but with saving and planning, who knows where you will be next year.

How did all of this come about? This post might answer that question. Otherwise, I’m an adjunct instructor with a Ph.D. in literature. The literary essays I’ve included here represent my scholarly interests. I’m a lover of books, podcasts (I have about 15 history pods on the go right now), art, films, and other things I tend to post about on my Twitter feed. I also photos from my walks to Instagram. Come follow me!

Please look around and feel free to leave a comment–I’ll reply (possibly late, but I will reply).

Best, aye.