This one? Polaroid photography.

Polaroid discontinued printing their film at the beginning of 2009. Luckily, I already had a few packages, but I snatched up a few more in the middle of last year. I’ve got two Polaroid cameras, but only one that accepts the film I’ve got.

Over the past two years, I’ve taken several handfuls of Polaroids. You may remember seeing some of them on my Twitter background. Every now and then, I’ll try and give you story behind the photo. This week: the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

Okay, so first, a moderately known fact: I’m actually from Texas. Sure, I live in Boston now, but I basically grew up in Texas for all of my formative years. Being a Texan expat, I like to go back and see my friends every now and then. In March 2009, my friend Liz and I went down to Austin to visit our good buddy Valeah.

We had a lot of fun with the Polaroid camera, but I also wanted a couple shots of recognizable attractions in the city. This one is the Texas State Capitol building.

The State Capitol hasn’t been without controversy. In 2005, there was a Supreme Court ruling concerning a monument of the Ten Commandments on the Capitol grounds. In my opinion, Texas politics is always in the news. Especially this week with the recent Texas Board of Education’s changes to curriculum.

That’s the extent of my Texas trivia for this week! If you’re interested in Polaroid news, check out SavePolaroid.com.

——
If you liked this post or want to find out more about my Polaroid photos, please subscribe to my feed.

Norway

Perfect for a rainy day, don’t you think? This band always makes the cut on my winter-themed playlists.

Australia

No joke: I listened to this one song on repeat during my 14-hour flight from Sydney to Honolulu. Of course, I think I was asleep most of that flight (there was no time for sleep while I was in Australia—only beer, sun & fun). I think this song got a little cliche once it made the cut onto the TV series The O.C., but whatever, I still like it.

Sweden

If this song doesn’t make you melt, then you’ve got a problem. Plus, it’s paired with one of my all-time favorite TV commercials. The images & the sounds just work perfectly together.

Why did we go? Well, my friend Kristiann is trying to get to all 50 states before she turns 25. Way more ambitious than my list of 25 Things to do Before Turning 25.

Regardless, for being FREE, the tour (and road trip, in general) was kinda fun. More photos & info after the jump. We were lucky that the day we chose for my friend’s trip into Vermont coincided with the Ben & Jerry’s Winter Festival. That meant the factory tour was free (a savings of $3 – yeah, I was excited about those $3).

On the tour, you get a sneak peak into their actual factory (photography not permitted because of corporate espionage—they honestly seemed pretty serious about this). Of course, much of the tour was geared for small children (children under 12 can tour for free), but it was still interesting to learn about the ice cream making process. They make two flavors a day in the Vermont factory. Can you guess Ben & Jerry’s #1 selling flavor?

We were lucky to get a beautiful day for the festival. Because it was an outdoor festival, there were all sorts of fun things going on, including:

Maple Syrup Snow Cones

Thankfully the “snow” didn’t come from the ground. If you haven’t poured maple syrup over ice, I’d suggest it. Also, you could add a pickle. Again: FREE

Free Ice Cream Samples

I forgot what we got to try as far as new Ben & Jerry’s flavors, but it was delicious. There were also lots of free Cabot cheeses (their factory is down the street) and free flat-bread pizza slices. Hard to argue with any of that.

Snowshoe Tours (not free)

Okay, so the snowshoe tour wasn’t free ($15), but it was still kinda cool. If only for the novelty. There wasn’t even much snow on the ground, but we learned a little bit about Vermont’s countryside: bears, ponds & human-attacking grouse.

More photos on my Flickr site:

Also, don’t forget Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day is March 23. (details)

Leading up to my birthday, I went back and forth on whether or not I was excited or terrified (see: 25 Things to do Before Turning 25). In the end, I ultimately decided this year is going to be awesome, so there’s nothing to be worried about. Plus, I can now pay $40 and get a large, mechanical object which I can then plow through the countryside at faster-than-human speeds!

It's missing a hubcap. That wasn't me. Also, there was a warning light on the entire day. Never figured out why. I love rentals!

Renting a car is surprisingly easy, I learned. We didn’t even bother to make the reservation until about 14 hours before we needed it. And I wouldn’t have even gotten that far if it weren’t for my friend who did all the research.

For $38.96, I was handed over the keys to this gem of a car: 3 hubcaps, a blinking warning light on the dashboard, and a smokey smell on the interior. Whatever.

I should mention that I haven’t even driven a car in months. God, I miss driving! What a rush!

So, with the car in drive, my friends and I set out for the Vermont interior. Again, we wouldn’t have gotten far if it weren’t for my friend who astutely wrote down the directions to our destination before we left. If it were me, I probably could have  gotten us to a beach in New Hampshire, but we were headed for ice cream in Vermont. Same difference, really.

Yeah, I know. Ice cream doesn’t make much more sense in March than a beach trip. But we were on our way to the Ben & Jerry’s Winter Festival. Free tours & free ice cream? Yes, please.

This post is just about my first rental car, so you’ll have to wait for more of the juicy details on the Ben & Jerry’s tour. If you work for Häagen-Dazs, get in touch so I can share all the trade secrets I learned. (Kidding. All I learned is that ice cream is delicious.)

Seriously, how could you go wrong with the beautiful imagery?

But that’s not the point of this post. There was a line in the movie that really struck me. From what I remember (and several Google searches semi-confirming), the quotation is unique to this movie—not the book. If anyone knows the exact line, please let me know, but this was the general gist:

[Alice is about to leave Wonderland]

Mad Hatter: You could stay here, you know.

Alice: I wish I could. But there are questions I have to answer. [Pause] And things I’m late for doing.

My memory is terrible, but that sentiment sums up some of the reasons I’ve already said are my reasons for leaving. I think Alice in Wonderland generally has some good travel cred, and the screenplay by Linda Woolverton didn’t necessarily disappoint.

Oh, and as a bonus—here’s a Craigslist personal ad that came up when I was searching for the screenplay:

Looking for... someone to enjoy a Sunday roast with?

In case you hadn’t noticed, Australia has been on my mind. The guy above is a real live wombat. Isn’t he adorable? (Not as adorable as Mr Wombat, but you know, still adorable.)

This photo is from when I visited Featherdale outside of Sydney. It was nice there but not as cool as Taronga Zoo.

___
Hey readers! I’ve set up a mailing list to keep you updated on my future travel plans & whatever becomes of this site. Also, you’ll then have a direct line of access to me if you want to keep in touch! Sign up here and you’ll get my FREE eBook 5 Simple Life Lessons (with photos!). Let me know what you think of my first eBook. I had fun with it.

Iceland

Iceland is an eerie place. Anil wrote recently about the infamous IcelandAir stopover on foXnoMad, and Steph has covered it pretty extensively on her site as well with some amazing photos. I’m sure the amazing scenery & unique culture makes for a creativity-inducing environment. That’s why there’s a lot of great bands that come out of such a small country (population: 316,960).

And no I’m talking about more than Björk here.

There’s Emiliana Torrini (I’ve written about her before), The Sugarcubes, and my personal favorite: Sigur Rós.

“Gósóli,” Sigur Rós:

Sigur Rós is perfect for listening to when you don’t want to hear words but need to visualize something beautiful.

Australia

I’ve got a ton of interesting Australian indie rock bands to share, but for now, I’ll just mention Xavier Rudd.

“Better People,” Xavier Rudd:

If you visit his web site & sign up for his mailing list, you’ll get a free download of his newest single.

France

Alright, this indie band has made it pretty big recently. You’ve probably heard part of this song on the Cadillac commercials that have been on U.S. television for several months now. Regardless, Phoenix is one of my all-time favorites, and their song “1901″ really makes me happy.

“1901,” Phoenix:

“Past and present, they don’t matter, now the future’s sorted out.” Uh-huh.

Australia has been on my mind for the past few weeks. Probably something to do with the fact that I’ve got a friend who is leaving for her RTW trip in just a handful of days. She’ll end up in Australia where I’ll be meeting her.

I had the good fortune to study abroad in Sydney in 2006. It was probably hands-down the best decision of my college life. I was lucky (the beginning of a trend?) to get an internship for a major book publisher. I met most of my current best friends on the program. I learned how to live independently.

That’s why Australia is such a big part of my plan for my pending BIG trip. In my mind, it pretty much marks the beginning of my transition to real adulthood. Not that crap I thought I had when I graduated high school. Or when I moved to Boston away from my friends and most of my family for college.

Australia and Adam just go together in my mind. So, we’ll see what happens.

Mr. Wombat had the lucky pleasure of going out on his first solo trip a few years ago (with a friend’s supervision, of course). First stop: the bar.

Bad wombat!

This trip took him on a whirlwind tour of Buffalo, NY, Niagara Falls & Canada. Starting a week-long trip at a local bar is likely to lead to a downward spiral of photos. So, readers, you’ve got many interesting photos to look forward to!

I just got back from New York City. First time in a while I didn’t make it to Brooklyn. I miss the hipsters.