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		<title>The List That Inspired The List</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Apr 2013 07:01:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Completed Objectives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts and Feelings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=926</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
&#160;
I was digging around in the basement of my laptop, Charley, the other day and came across a file simply titled, “50things.doc” and you’ll never guess what was inside when I opened it up! Well, unless you guessed 50 things, then…good on you I guess. Have a cookie.
&#160;
Here’s the thing, it didn’t contain the  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I was digging around in the basement of my laptop, Charley, the other day and came across a file simply titled, “50things.doc” and you’ll never guess what was inside when I opened it up! Well, unless you guessed 50 things, then…good on you I guess. Have a cookie.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, it didn’t contain the 50 things from the to do list longtime readers of Amtrekker have come to know and love. It contained the ORIGINAL 50 list! The list that inspired the list! Not just a “simple” list of things that I could do while crisscrossing North America, but a highly comprehensive list. The list of ALL the things I could ever possible want out of life…when I was 24. (Maybe 25.)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Man is it embarrassing.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Regardless, it got me to ruminating on a couple things. Most notably, it’s AMAZING how much priorities can change in seven or eight years. Furthermore, it’s interesting how many of those priorities have changed as a direct result of the Amtrekker adventure itself. Turns out living out of a backpack on stranger’s couches for two years will change you for life.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>But no more messing around. I know what you guys want. Here’s that original list! Not in its original order but categorized for the sake of…something. I don’t know. Cause I felt like categorizing it. Deal with it. (And keep in mind, this entire list was written MONTHS before the idea of Amtrekker was even so much as a glimmer in my eye.)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Pre-Amtrekker: These were crossed off before I left for Amtrekker</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Whitewater rafting – This was the first thing I ever crossed off. One week after I wrote this list. It felt amazing to set a goal and accomplish it. Definitely a high worth chasing.</li>
<li>Live somewhere that doesn’t float. – I had been living on a boat for a year and a half when I wrote this list. Believe it or not, it was starting to get old.</li>
<li>Own a pair of pink bunny slippers – Thanks to a roommate!</li>
<li>Con someone – I actually crossed this one off not too long ago…when I realized I didn’t know what I meant by that and I’ve been conning people my entire life.</li>
</ul>
<p>Cross-over items: These all made the Amtrekker cut or were crossed off during the trip.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Learn to Sail</li>
<li>Hang Glide</li>
<li>Kite Board</li>
<li>Drive a race car</li>
<li>Hitchhike</li>
<li>Race dirt bikes</li>
<li>Visit New York</li>
<li>My autograph should be worth something – I remember crossing this one off after my trip to Huron, SD where I got to drive a race car thanks to Karl and a slew of other amazing people. Man, talk about feeling like a rockstar.</li>
<li>Month long Amtrak trip – HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry. Ha! HAHA!</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Post-Amtrekker:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Write a Comic book – The Provider! <a href="http://lukeryaninsurance.com">http://lukeryaninsurance.com</a> Issue 2 is on its way!</li>
<li>Find someone that cares enough to do my laundry for the rest of my life. – Thanks KatyMoe!</li>
<li>Care about someone again – Hot damn…I must have been feeling pretty emo that day. What a sissy. Regardless, thanks again, Katy!</li>
<li>Have a job that I wake up excited to go to every morning – And thank you The Go Game!</li>
<li>Visit Bryce Canyon – This was an epic trip with friends to rival the Grand Canyon Adventure. I probably should have written about it…</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Still to do: These are the ones that are on the original list that I would still LOVE to accomplish. (Translation…These WILL happen.)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Write a Movie</li>
<li>Write a Book – This one came really close by playing by the rules, but it’s just about time to take my inspiration from Andrew Mayne and create my own game.</li>
<li>Run a 58 sec. 400m – My PR is 55.2, I just want to prove that I’m getting old slower than I could be.</li>
<li>Make a guitar – This is just one of those things that would bring so much joy to someone else that it can’t be passed up. Wait for it, Dad. It’ll be worth it.</li>
<li>Go to Alaska – The ONLY state I haven’t been to. I have no excuse.</li>
<li>Ride a bicycle across country – Your move, The Go Game.</li>
<li>Visit Tivoli gardens in Denmark – Walt’s inspiration for Disneyland!</li>
<li>Visit Tokyo – More Disney nerd stuff.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Sure, why not…maybe: Old me needed these. Slightly newer me just thinks they would be cool.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Learn to fly</li>
<li>Design my own home</li>
<li>Hold a patent</li>
<li>SCUBA in Australia</li>
<li>Snowboard Swiss alps</li>
<li>Learn to speak Mandarin fluently – I got as far as being able to order two beers.</li>
<li>Truant becomes a nationwide household name – This was a company my friends and I started in college. It didn’t do too bad but we all moved on.</li>
<li>Save a life</li>
<li>Change the nation, make it more active – Well, I didn’t get everyone off the couch but I inspired a few folks.</li>
<li>Fill my passport</li>
<li>Build most of my own furniture – In the past I’ve had as many as 3 self-made pieces. Current total? 0.</li>
<li>Go to Yellowstone</li>
<li>Visit Mount Rushmore</li>
<li>Have a month named after me – I get closer every year. You’re going down, March!</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Why in god’s name would I ever want these things?!: Okay, that’s a little strong but seriously, it was a different guy that wanted these things and I’m not even sure I know the dude well enough to introduce you to him. A lot of these items are about ownership or status. I’m not going to pretend I’m above either of those things, if someone handed over any of these I’d gladly accept them and care for them as though they were my own; but stuff like this is just so far down on the list of things I seek out now days that it kind of blows my mind that they would ever make a list of 50 things I want out of life. 50. And these things horded 20% of the spotlight?! Crazy.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Get my MBA – Pfft. Don’t bother Wharton…I’ve got this.</li>
<li>Own a sailboat</li>
<li>Own a motorcycle</li>
<li>Have a golden retriever named Fish – I already have an amazing dog. She’s a mutt. Her name is Arizona.</li>
<li>Own at least two vacation homes, one on a beach, one in the snow</li>
<li>Stop saying yes – What the what?! That’s got to be the one word that’s gotten me farthest in life!!!</li>
<li>Have a home cinema</li>
<li>Jaguar XKR – Still beautiful, but I’m about to sell the one car I do have as it is.</li>
<li>Another Blazer, preferably one that doesn’t spontaneously combust. – I really do miss that beast.</li>
<li>1963 Corvette – Okay, fair enough, new me wouldn’t strive for something like this but that was one sick hunk of iron.</li>
</ul>
<p>You guys have any thoughts on rapidly changing priorities? I’d love to talk about it. It’s about all I’ve been thinking about for the last three days. Let’s chat it out in the comments.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I’m done.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Princess Emily</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:31:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Misc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[**Hey Team! This is a VERY old story. It started in 2002 and was original posted on an old Myspace blog on May 13th, 2006. But it&#8217;s one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me and I wanted to share it without having to link to (shudder) Myspace. So here it  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>**Hey Team! This is a VERY old story. It started in 2002 and was original posted on an old Myspace blog on May 13th, 2006. But it&#8217;s one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me and I wanted to share it without having to link to (shudder) Myspace. So here it is&#8230;unedited.**</em><br />
<br/><br />
Hey Team, I&#8217;ve been pretty busy at Disney these last couple weeks and while I was being thankful for how much more they pay me now that I&#8217;m doing design work I had a flashback to one of those moments that makes working the frontlines in attractions worth the negative paychecks. And since only a handful of you have heard this story&#8230;<br />
<br/><br />
Our adventure begins on my very first day wearing a Disney nametag, circa 2002 Orlando. So the Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah nametag, not the gold one.<br />
<br/><br />
It&#8217;s day two of Florida&#8217;s version of Traditions and we begin our tour of the Magic Kingdom outside the maingate. Ohhh pretty&#8230;there&#8217;s the train station&#8230;blah blah blah&#8230;berm&#8230;blah blah blah, now let&#8217;s go through the gate. Look, Floral Mickey, one of the most photographed locations in Walt Disney World. Fast Forward to our tour guide catching eyes with a little girl in a wheel chair wearing a princess hat and a birthday pin.<br />
<br/><br />
It was Princess Emily&#8217;s 15th birthday, although she looked nearer twelve, the down syndrome had stunted her growth and given her a much more childlike appearance. Her sister, Sarah, afflicted with the same ailment, had also been stunted, but was obviously much more mobile&#8230;she was bouncing all over the place telling everyone how lucky her and Emily were and how Disney World was their favorite place on the planet. After a brief chat it was decided that the entire tour group was going to sing Princess Emily a round of Happy Birthday.<br />
<br/><br />
Randy, I think that was our tour guide&#8217;s name, told Emily to count to three so we would all know when to start singing.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;OneTwoThree,&#8221; she screamed, excited and without pause, almost before he had time to finish his sentence.<br />
<br/><br />
After singing Happy Birthday we all took a moment to personally give Princess Emily our best wishes as her parents looked on with a mixture of one part pride, one part admiration, and one part barely restrained joy. Finally, we took a group picture with Emily and her family, got our hugs goodbye, and moved on to the next part of our tour confident in the knowledge that we had just created an experience that family would never forget.<br />
<br/><br />
Fast forward one more time, now three years later. I&#8217;d just quit working at the ad agency and decided to pick up some extra hours at Disneyland, where I had been working weekends, while I looked for a new design position. Suddenly, I found myself spending a LOT of time at the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh attraction. One night a family came through grinning ear to ear while I stood out in front of the attraction playing greeter. Being a big fan of happy people, not to mention I was being paid to, I said hello.<br />
<br/><br />
Why is that important? Honestly? It&#8217;s really not&#8230;or at least it wouldn&#8217;t be if I hadn&#8217;t taken note of them for being so excited, because then I wouldn&#8217;t have realized it was the same family that came through the ride the next day. Or the day after that. And on the fourth day I was finally in a position where I had a chance to have a short conversation with them before I loaded them onto the ride.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Wow, I can&#8217;t believe you guys are back again! This is awesome!&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;We love this ride!&#8221; exclaimed the smallest of two girls.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;That&#8217;s great! What are your names?&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;I&#8217;m Sarah, and this is my sister Emily!&#8221; the excitable shorter one continued to do all of the talking so I tried to draw out the older looking sister.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Well hello Princess Sarah, Princess Emil&#8230;oh my god!&#8221; I don&#8217;t know what made me call them princess. They weren&#8217;t wearing costumes and that is usually the only time I&#8217;ll call kids princess. But it was definitely saying the name Princess Emily out loud that made me realize what was going on. In fact, even though they had made my day three years earlier and 2200 miles away, I would have been hard pressed to tell you what their names were until that moment. Then it all came back.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;You guys were in Florida&#8230;about three years ago. And Princess Emily here had a whole group of people singing Happy Birthday to her in front of the floral Mickey at the Magic Kingdom! I was in that group! I can&#8217;t believe you guys are here!&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
Jaws dropped all around.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Wow, Emily&#8217;s birthday was just a couple weeks ago. We usually go to Disney World, but with the 50th anniversary going on we wanted to come to Disneyland this year.&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
I put them on the next ride vehicle in complete shock and then sent them through a few more times just because them being there made me so happy. Yeah I was being paid next to nothing, but look what I had done for this family. They were all just as excited as I was (&#8230;maybe more, but that would be tough) when they realized that someone had shared that moment with them. After a few more rides and a couple of hugs from Emily and Sarah they went to go meet up with their mom with the promise of bringing her back for a visit the next day.<br />
<br/><br />
No sooner had I sat down in the office the next afternoon, just before my shift started, when the phone rings.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Hey Brett, there&#8217;s a family out here looking for you.&#8221; a smile quickly cut across my face.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Tell them I&#8217;ll be right there.&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
Sarah saw me first, &#8220;Brett!&#8221; she ran up and threw here arms around my waist hugging me tight. Emily followed close behind and then, after we were done exchanging pleasantries, I got a hug from mom too. Then came the group pictures and the kisses on the cheek&#8230;more hugs&#8230;and finally I had to break away and go do my job. Apparently they expect ride operators to occasionally operate the rides at Disneyland. CDS isn&#8217;t so forgiving on the west coast.<br />
<br/><br />
After signing in for my shift I made my way toward the loading area and as luck would have it Princess Emily and her family we just getting on&#8230;more pictures, more hugs. While they were in the ride I told their story to Erik, that day&#8217;s lead, after which it took no convincing to get him to fill out an NSA (for those non-Disney folk that stands for No Strings Attached, which translates roughly to &#8220;free stuff&#8221;) for two princess crowns. Erik watched my position while I met them at the exit and said my goodbyes, leaving them with the NSA.<br />
<br/><br />
About an hour later Erik saw them near the back entrance to the ride looking for me, he hadn&#8217;t spoken to them yet so he took the opportunity.<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Brett told me all about you guys, what a great story. It&#8217;s such a pleasure to meet you&#8230;&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
&#8220;Where&#8217;s Brett!&#8221;<br />
<br/><br />
Defeated, Erik took over my position again. Emily was back in her wheelchair and Sarah once again met me with a great big hug! They both looked great in the tiaras they had chosen, on Disney&#8217;s tab, and more pictures ensued. Emily&#8217;s mom said she would make me a photo album of their two trips and have a copy sent to Disneyland for me. Unfortunately, such are the mouse&#8217;s policies, I&#8217;ll probably never get to see it.<br />
<br/><br />
And with that, and two more kisses on the cheek from the sister&#8217;s, they left again&#8230;this time probably for the last time. But at least they left me with a couple of days I&#8217;ll never forget. Ever.<br />
<br/></p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.<br />
<br/><br />
Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lux Delux</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:20:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Nevada]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=892</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
**Good news! I&#8217;ve single-handedly discovered the one sure-fire way to ensure you stop blogging completely. Just write a post about how you intend to write more. 
Even better news!  Here&#8217;s a post I told my new friends over at Lux Delux I would write for them&#8230;a month ago. Enjoy.**
First, some background: You know me.  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p><em>**Good news! I&#8217;ve single-handedly discovered the one sure-fire way to ensure you stop blogging completely. Just write a post about how you intend to write more. </em><br/><br/></p>
<p><em>Even better news!  Here&#8217;s a post I told my new friends over at Lux Delux I would write for them&#8230;a month ago. Enjoy.</em>**<br/><br/></p>
<p>First, some background: You know me. You know I spent years wandering around North America living out of a backpack and sleeping on stranger&#8217;s couches. If you know me really well, then you know that for the last year I&#8217;ve been doing basically the same thing (&#8230;except now I get to create big urban adventure games at each destination and more often than not I get to shower).<br/><br/></p>
<p>Bottom line, you can&#8217;t travel that way, that often, without having a couple of close calls. Two in particular always come to mind, and both took place in everyone&#8217;s favorite city of sin. I won&#8217;t go into detail again but one of them involves an old man who walked into a seedy downtown bar with a few too many dollar bills in his hand on dollar shot night (and it almost turned into free black eye night for yours truly) and the second involves a con man, a cab to the airport, David Copperfield tickets and a goat (Okay, there was no goat, but doesn&#8217;t everything sound more exciting when there&#8217;s a goat mysteriously involved).<br/><br/></p>
<p>Take-aways? I travel like a bum and I don&#8217;t have the highest view of Las Vegas.<br/><br/></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/photo2.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-893" style="border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="photo(2)" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/photo2-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>So you&#8217;ll understand that it came as a little bit of a surprise when I was asked to join Lux Delux for a weekend in Las Vegas last month. And an even bigger surprise when I realized they may have altered my views on not just Vegas but travel in general.<br/><br/></p>
<p>Turns out there&#8217;s something to be said for ridiculously comfortable pillows and the occasionally VIP treatment.<br/><br/></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the shtick, Lux Delux is shooting to be that company that everyone thinks of when they hear the words, &#8220;unique experience.&#8221; For now they&#8217;re only providing service in Las Vegas, so they flew out a handful of social media experts and one vagrant (that&#8217;s me) to soak in all they had to offer. This meant steak, lobster and drinks came at us from all directions our very first night there, followed by a backstage tour with the Jabbawockeez dance crew.<br/><br/></p>
<p>Basically, we all got a feel for what it must be like to be an over the hill TV star from the 80s. We were important enough to get the best treatment in every restaurant, bar or club we set foot in, but didn&#8217;t have to be bothered with all that &#8220;being recognized&#8221; stuff.<br/><br/></p>
<p>Other attendees have already done a better job of giving the rundown on the weekend&#8217;s activities, here&#8217;s a post from <a href="http://www.milestostyle.com/?p=2067">Christine Martinez</a> and another from <a href="http://thehopkinsonreport.com/2011/11/20/living-the-lux-life/">Jim Hopkinson</a>, instead I&#8217;ll just hit you with the highlights&#8230;er, actually, there were quite a few highlights. Let&#8217;s take this in another direction:<br/><br/></p>
<p>I saw Elvis&#8217;s GUN!<br/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/photo41.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-908 aligncenter" style="border: 2px solid black; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;" title="photo(4)" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/photo41-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></p>
<p><br/><br />
There we go. A completely random tangent. Home sweet home.</p>
<p>Seriously though, by far one of the coolest bits of the trip was meeting Warwick Stone, the curator of all of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino&#8217;s MASSIVE collections. Show me another guy with one of James Brown&#8217;s crowns, a letter from Kurt Cobain and a plaster cast of Jimi Hendrix&#8217;s man-bits in his office! I dare you.<br/><br/></p>
<p>So yes, I had a great time and made lots of new friends! Do I think that the VIP life and bottle service at the most happening club in Vegas is for me? Not by a long shot. But, here&#8217;s what is going to make Lux Delux killer. How freaking awesome would it be to hit them up for <a href="https://luxdelux.com/products/282">THIS adventure.</a><br/><br/></p>
<p>It&#8217;s not all Grey Goose and Champagne. Sometimes it&#8217;s just about having a badass unique experience.<br/><br/></p>
<p><a href="https://luxdelux.com/users/230032567?rnum=82284&amp;source=email_invite_link">Here&#8217;s a link if it turns out you needed an invite to look at that last one.</a><br/><br/></p>
<p>Don&#8217;t say I never gave you anything. <img src='http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> <br/><br/></p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Now What?</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:13:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Thoughts and Feelings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post for Amtrekker, and what with TBEX going on in Vancouver this weekend I felt forced into evaluating why that might be. The easy answer is, I’m not homeless anymore…but that feels like a cop out. The truth, as usual, is a little more  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post for Amtrekker, and what with TBEX going on in Vancouver this weekend I felt forced into evaluating why that might be. The easy answer is, I’m not homeless anymore…but that feels like a cop out. The truth, as usual, is a little more complicated and a lot sillier. (“Silly” as in “flippant” or “lame.” Do not expect clowns.)</p>
<p>At some point, while I was traveling around North America and living on strangers’ couches, a travel blog was born. And not because I was trying to write a travel blog so much as the concept of travel blogs started to grow up around me. In fact, it wasn’t until the tail end of the adventure, when I started having more and more contact with other travelers who wrote for the web, that I realized travel blogging was even a thing. Up until that point I just thought of blogs as a fairly personal thing and that some folks, like me, happened to be doing a lot of traveling, ergo their writing was largely travel centric.</p>
<p>(That may have been a confusing sentence. But rather than trying to fix my slapdash writing I’m just going to blame the confusion on the use of the word ergo. So, to clear things up, “ergo” is just fancy-talk for “therefore”…which is in turn fancy-talk for “so.” All better?)</p>
<p>Here’s the bottom line. I liked my original view of blogs more. Once I started thinking of Amtrekker as a travel blog and not just a(n extraordinarily narcissistic) peek into my life, it started to feel like if I wasn’t in the middle of a trip then I shouldn’t be writing.</p>
<p>Now this feels like an especially dumb view since, arguably, there are many more personally exciting things going on in my life today than there were back when most days were taken up with trying to figure out where I was going to sleep that night.</p>
<p>That said, let it be known that I’m going to give taking Amtrekker back to its roots a shot. At its heart all I ever wanted it to be was a blog about my experiences (…I just happened to be traveling constantly while creating those experiences). So if you’re wondering what Brett’s up to nowadays, this is the place for you. If you’re interested in reading about some guy’s adventures in trying to publish his first comic book, stick around. If you’d like to know more about the amazing/hilarious/fun world of The Go Game, keep reading. If you’d like to hear about a guy with zero development experience trying to put together an iPhone app, I’ll save a seat for you.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, if you’re looking for stories about my travels…actually, y’know what? There just might be plenty of that too. I’ll be in Seattle this week and Vail the week after. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>Also, this.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/funny-clown.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-883 alignnone" style="margin: 5px; border: 2px solid black;" title="funny-clown" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/funny-clown-221x300.jpg" alt="" width="221" height="300" /></a></p>
<p>I’m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Graycliff Hotel’s Greatest Aminity</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:22:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bahamas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=872</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After narrowly surviving the living nightmare of being trapped in one of those travel mishap laden Romantic Comedies (minus the romance and comedy), courtesy of AmericanAirlines, I finally made it to Nassau a scant half-day late. Even having missed 12 of the 40 hours scheduled in the Bahamian capitol, it was surprisingly action-packed&#8230;so I&#8217;m kind  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861">After narrowly surviving the living nightmare</a> of being trapped in one of those travel mishap laden Romantic Comedies (minus the romance and comedy), courtesy of AmericanAirlines, I finally made it to Nassau a scant half-day late. Even having missed 12 of the 40 hours scheduled in the Bahamian capitol, it was surprisingly action-packed&#8230;so I&#8217;m kind of having a tough time decided what to write about, but I suppose the best place to start is always the beginning.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d love to call where we stayed that first night a hotel, but as the Internet&#8217;s resident hobo, for me the word &#8220;hotel&#8221; usually conjures up images of that one room garbage pit with stained carpet and a lonely Queen-sized bed that I get offered every time a flight gets cancelled. (Thanks again, AA.)</p>
<p><a href="http://graycliff.com">Graycliff</a> was significantly more unique. As sad as I am to constantly have to revert back to Disneyland anytime I want to draw analogs to a unique location&#8230;it really did remind me of New Orleans Square. (For those super Disney nerds out there, it really struck me how similar it looked to Angel Alley, my all-time favorite place to just sit and relax at DL. Bonus points if you know what the hell I&#8217;m talking about right now&#8230;)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0881.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-873" title="Graycliff" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0881-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="649" height="431" /></a></p>
<p>I could totally bore you guys with a description of the grounds but there are plenty of pictures <a href="http://graycliff.com">right here</a>, besides, the aspect of this former pirate mansion (seriously) that really sold me on the place had nothing to do with landscaping and everything to do with one of the most eccentric people I&#8217;ve ever met.</p>
<p>A lazier writer might call Graycliff&#8217;s owner, Enrico Garzaroli, &#8220;colorful,&#8221; but that would be doing such an immeasurable disservice to all the hand gestures, sound effects and mispronounced curse words that for once in my life I will attempt to forgo being that lazier writer&#8230;</p>
<p>This guy was fantastic! I didn&#8217;t get to spend as much time with him as the rest of the group did, but I spent every second he was around soaking up his barely intelligible stories. A man whose every movement belies a life well-lived, he still manages to be surprisingly down to earth (like anyone who has spent the last 40 years in the Bahamas would be, I suppose).</p>
<p>A big guy with a penchant for well-made shirts, fine wines and hand rolled cigars, Enrico owns a room when he walks in&#8230;granted, he very literally owned every room I saw him walk in&#8230;so there&#8217;s that. Other things he owns regardless of whether or not he walks into them: The third largest private wine collection on Earth, an award-winning (and the Bahamas only) cigar factory, my heart.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/gookie.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-874" style="margin: 5px;" title="gookie" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/gookie.jpg" alt="" width="293" height="295" /></a>As usual, I&#8217;m a sucker for stories, and that&#8217;s where he won me over. Each tale of debauchery and excess he tells is punctuated by hand waving, the world&#8217;s most infectious belly laugh and a face/noise that, without fail, would remind me of <a href="http://www.harpomarx.net/gookie.html">Harpo Marx&#8217;s &#8220;Gookie.&#8221;</a> (Of course, the stories were then followed by curious looks around the room as everyone listening attempted to piece together the portions of the story they were able to make out with the bits that other folks understood.)</p>
<p>From what I was able to gather, his father invented seamless pantyhose, he&#8217;s driven just about every sport car imaginable, he loves Iceland and the Bahamas and he once hunted and killed a family of spotted unicorns using nothing but his bare hands and a toaster oven&#8230;again, he was very difficult to understand.</p>
<p>Bottom line: There was a lot of fun to be had in the Bahamas (and a lot more to write about) but the one thing that could get me back to the islands faster than anything else? The promise of getting to sit in the Graycliff lounge listening to Enrico tell an endless array of stories I have no hope of understanding until 3am, one more time.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:59:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncomfortable]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=861</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I think I know where I went wrong. Clearly I&#8217;m not greedy enough. Frankly, it&#8217;s kind of pathetic how little I&#8217;ve learned from Gordon Gecko.
I was on the phone with everyone&#8217;s favorite triathlete, @katymoe, making sure the hatches were all battened down (whatever that means&#8230;) at the homestead when I hear over the LAX PA  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/gordon-gekko.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-865" title="gordon-gekko" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/gordon-gekko-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>I think I know where I went wrong. Clearly I&#8217;m not greedy enough. Frankly, it&#8217;s kind of pathetic how little I&#8217;ve learned from Gordon Gecko.</p>
<p>I was on the phone with everyone&#8217;s favorite triathlete, @katymoe, making sure the hatches were all battened down (whatever that means&#8230;) at the homestead when I hear over the LAX PA system, &#8220;Attention passengers of flight 276. Unfortunately we are overbooked by about five passengers on tonight&#8217;s flight to Miami. If anyone would be willing to take a redeye through Fort Worth tonight, you&#8217;ll leave about two hours later but I&#8217;ll also provide you with a $300 American Airlines flight voucher. If anyone would like to volunteer, please come see me at the service desk.&#8221;</p>
<p>I practically hung up on Katy. I already had a four-hour layover in Miami so I figured if I have to sit around in airports all night anyway I might as well make a couple Benjamin&#8217;s (that&#8217;s what the cool kids call hundred dollar bills) off the deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;Excuse me, what time does this money plane land in Miami?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;9:45. Do you have a connecting flight.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Yeah, but it doesn&#8217;t take off until 10:45.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Let me see your ticket. Ahh&#8230;it starts boarding at 9:45, that&#8217;s cutting it pretty close. Why don&#8217;t we just hold off and see how things go here?&#8221;</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s where I made my fatal error&#8230;</p>
<p>Why, oh why, did I not just insist that I didn&#8217;t mind? I mean, really, who cares if I miss one of the fifteen daily flights to Nassau from Miami?! Come on, Brett! $300!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/American_Airlines.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-864" title="American_Airlines" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/American_Airlines-300x108.png" alt="" width="300" height="108" /></a>Nope, instead, by not being greedy enough, I set into motion a chain reaction resulting in out and out travel rape by none other than the patron saint of travel bungles, AmericanAirlines.</p>
<p>Shortly after the aforementioned PA announcement, a second AmericaAirliner came in over the loud speaker, &#8220;Hello everyone, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it seems there is a mechanical issue with your airplane tonight and it won&#8217;t be able to fly. The good news is we already have another plane gassed and ready to go at gate 48.&#8221;</p>
<p>Cue the mass exodus of 200 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed travelers toward gate 48.</p>
<p>Two minutes later another voice comes over the PA, &#8220;Passengers of flight 276 to Miami, I&#8217;m very sorry but your substitute aircraft is actually waiting at gate 45. (Fun Fact: thanks to some well places shops gates 45 and 48 at LAX are farther away from each other than you&#8217;d think.)</p>
<p>After finally boarding our plane we sat. That&#8217;s all&#8230;just sat.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/Catering.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-866 alignright" style="margin: 5px;" title="Catering" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/Catering-300x222.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="222" /></a>Thirty minutes later we were informed that the reason all we were doing was sitting, was that all of the catering was still on our first plane. Which had now been moved to the hanger. So now it would be 30-40 minutes before they would be able to get the catering from Plane 1 to Plane 2.</p>
<p>Eventually, to the sounds of muffled cheering, we taxied back from the jetway and toward the runway. Where we sat. Another 45 minutes passed before we got word that a fuel pump was out and despite having four of them &#8220;it&#8217;s probably a good idea to head back to the jetway and get this one checked out.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile&#8230;we sat.</p>
<p>An hour later we got the good news, &#8220;Looks like we&#8217;ve got a new fuel pump and the maintenance crew is done. We&#8217;ll just be here another 20-30 minutes to take care of some paperwork before we can take off.&#8221;</p>
<p>The timing couldn&#8217;t have been better, I had just about made it to the end of what had once been a severely backed up RSS feed and was more than happy to drift off into a quiet oblivion once we were in the air&#8230;</p>
<p>&#8230;which made the news that much harder to take when, 40 minutes later, the pilot&#8217;s voice came through the PA one more time, &#8220;I&#8217;m really very sorry, folks. It seems the fuel pump wasn&#8217;t the problem and the maintenance crew is taking another look right now.&#8221;</p>
<p>Cue 200 sighs.</p>
<p>Maybe all these &#8220;30 minute laters&#8221; are getting tough to follow. Here&#8217;s some context. Plane 1 was scheduled to take off at 10:40pm, at 4:00am the pilot finally said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how to tell you guys this, so I&#8217;m just going to say it, there&#8217;s no way this plane is going to leave the ground tonight. The good news is, there&#8217;s a new plane waiting for you at your original gate all gassed up and ready to go (yay!). We just have to move the catering from this plane to that one (boo!).&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite my ridiculously long layover in Miami it was now clear that 1. there was no way I was going to make my connection and 2. I was going to not-make-my-connection without an extra $300 in my pocket. Bummer.</p>
<p>To add to that bummerdom (please get off my back about these made up words already), after gathering our bags and showing up to the new/old gate with all of our things we were greeted with yet another message that finally boiled down to, &#8220;This just ain&#8217;t gonna happen, folks.&#8221; The cockpit crew had reached the point in their shift where, if they hadn&#8217;t already taken off, they weren&#8217;t allowed to begin a new flight.</p>
<p>It was heartbreaking news for more than a few people and I&#8217;d be lying if I didn&#8217;t say there was plenty of yelling going on in that terminal. For me, it meant that I would miss out on a couple of activities and I&#8217;d have to wait another 12 hours to begin my free vacation, but I literally felt sick for those families that had spent a whole year saving up vacation days and money so that they could take this one week off for the adventure of a lifetime. Cruises were canceled, trips to Borneo aborted, some folks just gave up and went home, resigning themselves to spending the remainder of their vacation in quiet repose and/or crying themselves to sleep, curled up in the fetal position in an undusted corner.</p>
<p>On the upside, after a little over 24 hours of travel, I did eventually make it to Nassau and the Bahamas adventure got off to a quick start&#8230;stay tuned. <img src='http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/naptime.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-867" title="naptime" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/naptime.jpg" alt="" width="655" height="368" /></a></p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Crop Circle Video! Finally!!!</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/michigan/818</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/michigan/818#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:58:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Create a crop circle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michigan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
Enjoy the New Year&#8217;s Eve shenanigans! Here&#8217;s my gift to you (inspired by a desire to vindicate myself in the face of that crazy SOB William Shatner).  
&#8220;Amtrekker travels to Beulah, MI to create a crop circle!
Failures and ethnically insensitive impressions ensue.&#8221;

I&#8217;m done.
Brett.
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>Enjoy the New Year&#8217;s Eve shenanigans! Here&#8217;s my gift to you (inspired by a desire to vindicate myself in the face of that crazy SOB William Shatner). <img src='http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>&#8220;Amtrekker travels to Beulah, MI to create a crop circle!</p>
<p>Failures and ethnically insensitive impressions ensue.&#8221;</p>
<p><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oiH8dVymxvA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oiH8dVymxvA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Few Rambling Thoughts on Cruising</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/815</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/815#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:25:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts and Feelings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=815</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
Cruise ships are not a form of transportation. They&#8217;re more like huge freaking hotels that you&#8217;re locked inside of for 16 hours at a time with a few thousand of your closest friends (provided you don&#8217;t have many actual close friends), and when they finally open the gates, you&#8217;ve been mysteriously teleported to yet  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/815" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>Cruise ships are not a form of transportation. They&#8217;re more like huge freaking hotels that you&#8217;re locked inside of for 16 hours at a time with a few thousand of your closest friends (provided you don&#8217;t have many actual close friends), and when they finally open the gates, you&#8217;ve been mysteriously teleported to yet another strange city. I guess teleportation is technically a form of transportation&#8230;but let&#8217;s not dwell. Here&#8217;s my point:</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="Honduras Pier" src="http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs011.snc3/11868_346249370444_20733685444_9908128_5802547_n.jpg" alt="" width="217" height="163" />You can&#8217;t go around comparing cruise ships to airplanes just because it makes your environmental impact argument sound better. Hell yeah it takes less fuel to fly from Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Cayman than it does to take a boat. Know why? Cause you&#8217;re transporting 200 people&#8230;not five THOUSAND people in a huge freaking floating city that allows for more entertainment and adventure in exotic locales than the average working class family would have the opportunity to experience during their one and only week of vacation a year by any other means.</p>
<p>And for those people, cruising is perfect. I can&#8217;t imagine a better way to get a smattering of everything a great vacation has the potential to offer. Not everyone can drop everything and travel for extended periods. (And for that matter it would be kind of a bummer if they could&#8230;who would sell you all the knick-knacks you don&#8217;t need at various ports if everyone were off globetrotting?)</p>
<p>In my case, although I had a great time on the cruise, it&#8217;s tough to get out of the Amtrekking mindset. I probably got just as much out of wandering around Ft. Lauderdale watching passed out drunk people pulled off of buses while I make phone calls trying to figure out where I&#8217;m going to sleep. Once a hobo, always a hobo?</p>
<p>It&#8217;s really tough to explain. I think it comes down to chaos. I crave the unknown and live for those moments when the New Jersey beach patrol skids to a stop on their ATVs to tell me that I need to find a better place to sleep than underneath their pier. I&#8217;m not going to pretend that those are always fun times. In fact, for they most part they REALLY suck. But&#8230;that&#8217;s where the best stories come from.</p>
<p>Enough rambling. In short, are you traveling with friends and/or family just trying to relax and maybe see a few sights with your limited time off? Are you looking for an easy all-in-one solution to getting trashed with friends and not having to drive back to the hotel? Do you love seeing new sights but would like to have your hand held in the process? Take a cruise.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/bum-1.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-816" style="border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="bum-1" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/bum-1.jpg" alt="bum-1" width="216" height="162" /></a>Want to explore the world, learn a little more about humanity and collect stories? Want to contract an especially virulent form of drug resistant tuberculosis? Take a bus.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
<div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/completed-objectives/926"     class="crp_title">The List That Inspired The List</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cruise Overview (in haiku)</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/florida/810</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/florida/810#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poetry]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=810</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey Team,
I&#8217;ve been sitting here staring at this blank page for a little over twenty minutes now trying to decide what I&#8217;d like to write about the Princess Cruise that a handful of twittering travel folk were invited on (and I got to tag along for some reason). I think one of the big problems  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/florida/810" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been sitting here staring at this blank page for a little over twenty minutes now trying to decide what I&#8217;d like to write about the <a href="http://www.princess.com">Princess Cruise</a> that a handful of twittering travel folk were invited on (and I got to tag along <a href="http://www.everything-everywhere.com">for some reason</a>). I think one of the big problems is that I had more fun than I expected. It&#8217;s a tough blow when all of the stupid cruise ship jokes you have prepared don&#8217;t quite fit the situation any more. (Case in point, I didn&#8217;t get to spend all week fighting sunburned, overweight old men for the pole position at the buffet so my Formula-1 joke is out the window.)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/dolphin.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-812" style="border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="dolphin" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/dolphin.jpg" alt="dolphin" width="150" height="113" /></a>Most importantly however, I&#8217;m just not used to writing about great experiences. You guys know better than anyone that 90% of the content on this site is a direct result of me having done something colossally stupid and the mad scramble to either rectify the situation or, barring that, at least come out relatively unscathed. If I have any complaints it&#8217;s that I kind of felt like I had my hand held for a week and I wasn&#8217;t given the opportunity to fall overboard, flounder at sea for a few days and finally get rescued by the Coast Guard just shy of losing my leg (and/or sea mammal virginity) to an over eager Caribbean dolphin.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not that there isn&#8217;t plenty to say about the last week, I just felt like I should probably start with an overview. So here it is:<br />
<a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/PB110109.JPG"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-811" style="border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="Crown Princess" src="http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/PB110109-300x225.jpg" alt="Crown Princess" width="300" height="225" /></a></p>
<p>My Overview (in haiku):</p>
<p>Met some great people<br />
Food, folks, fun and alcohol<br />
&#8230;lots of alcohol</p>
<p>Bahamas were dull<br />
But I won a ping-pong match<br />
Ha! Take that, David</p>
<p>At Cayman Islands<br />
Snorkeling distracted me<br />
From offshore account</p>
<p>Cozumel is home<br />
To some huge Mayan ruins<br />
And the biggest effing mosquitos you&#8217;ve ever seen in your life! (How many syllables was that?)</p>
<p>Roatan has ghosts<br />
I&#8217;m told they steal people&#8217;s pants<br />
For sure the best stop</p>
<p>May have ADD<br />
Beaches get old fast for me<br />
&#8230;what was I saying?</p>
<p>More to come, friends! I&#8217;ll try to write a post for each stop, one for the ship, maybe even one on the environmental impact (if everyone else is doing it then I should probably jump on the bandwagon), AND&#8230;maybe I&#8217;ll get Justin a <a href="http://www.weirdthings.com">weirdthings.com</a> post on those pant&#8217;s stealing ghosts.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>I hate Best Buy</title>
		<link>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/soap-box/798</link>
		<comments>http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/soap-box/798#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soap box]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.amtrekker.com/?p=798</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I could have made this post WAY longer than it would need to be to satisfy everyone&#8217;s curiosity and, as such, it may not make a ton of sense (Let&#8217;s be honest, how many of these do anyway?) but at least it was cathartic. As always, thanks for listening.  
Hey Team,
I hate Best Buy.
I  <a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/soap-box/798" class="more-link">More &#62;</a><div class="crp_related"><h3>Related Posts:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/misc/911"     class="crp_title">Princess Emily</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/k-n/nevada/892"     class="crp_title">Lux Delux</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/california/861"     class="crp_title">Gate 42 to Gate 42: Longest Roundtrip Ever</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/locations/a-i/bahamas/872"     class="crp_title">Graycliff Hotel&#8217;s Greatest Aminity</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amtrekker.com/thoughts-and-feelings/882"     class="crp_title">Now What?</a></li><li>Powered by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="nofollow">Contextual Related Posts</a></li></ul></div>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>I could have made this post WAY longer than it would need to be to satisfy everyone&#8217;s curiosity and, as such, it may not make a ton of sense (Let&#8217;s be honest, how many of these do anyway?) but at least it was cathartic. As always, thanks for listening. <img src='http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </em></p>
<p>Hey Team,</p>
<p>I hate Best Buy.</p>
<p>I know what you&#8217;re saying, &#8220;Brett, you&#8217;re such a nice guy. I can&#8217;t imagine you being judgmental enough to not be willing to walk a mile in their shoes and try to see things from their perspective. Surely, they aren&#8217;t as bad as you would have us believe. In fact, I would venture to say that you are jumping to hasty conclusions and that you&#8217;ve probably had perfectly respectable encounters with Best Buy in the past and somehow you must be letting a single negative experience color your views of a fine upstanding company. Frankly, I expected more empathy from you, Brett.&#8221;</p>
<p>To you, I have only three things to say.</p>
<p>1. You talk too much.</p>
<p>2. You sound pompous.</p>
<p>3. I HATE Best Buy.</p>
<p>You guys already know that I&#8217;m currently somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean thanks to a generous offer from Princess Cruises and Gary at Everything-Everywhere.com. What you may not know is that I was REALLY looking forward to putting some videos together for both the Amtrekker site and Everything-Everywhere.com (and who knows, maybe even WeirdThings.com). It&#8217;s well documented that the video camera that served me so well during my Amtrekker travels met with an untimely demise so I figured now was the time to finally put out the dough and upgrade from a worthless pile of parts to something a little higher end.</p>
<p>Traveling through TSA with electronics is kind of a pain but luckily inspiration struck! I could use Best Buy&#8217;s brilliant buy-it-online-but-pick-it-up-in-store policy and instead of picking it up in California I could just pick it up in Florida and save me an entire trip across the country with a new piece of equipment. Genius!</p>
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<p>Things went wrong pretty much from the beginning. I couldn&#8217;t find my credit card so it seemed like the perfect time to try out Bank of America&#8217;s &#8220;Safe Shop&#8221; service, which generates a one-time use credit card number so you can make &#8220;safe&#8221; purchases online and not have to worry about anyone stealing either you card number or identity.</p>
<p>Sounds great, right? The big problem there is that when you show up at a Best Buy in Florida and give them your credit card (an apparently MANDATORY part of the process) the number wont match. Furthermore, it turns out that arguing with successively more important employees (up to the corporate level) for an hour and a half wont help. Also, opening your computer, going to the Bank of America website and SHOWING them the &#8220;electronic credit card&#8221; (WITH MATCHING NUMBERS!) wont work. Instead you&#8217;ll just get progressively more frustrated as you stare at the video camera you&#8217;re dying to try out that is less than four feet from you and yet, forever out of reach.</p>
<p>Finally, in a fit of impotent frustration I decided that it was a lost cause and I was willing to do whatever it took to get the camera. The only option? Cancel that transaction and repurchase the camera in store. BUT, you know what happens when you cancel a sizable purchase? The authorization stays on your card thereby using up enough available credit to prevent you from running through a second, equally sizable, purchase!</p>
<p>The most mysterious/so-frustrating-I-wanted-to-gouge-out-a-complete-stranger&#8217;s-eyes part? If I wanted to ship it to my home I wouldn&#8217;t have even had to SHOW my card. But I wasn&#8217;t in California. I was in Florida. And jumping on a cruise ship the next day.</p>
<p>I hate Best Buy.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m done.</p>
<p>Brett.</p>
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