Five Questions

1. What is something that you consider yourself to be passionate about? Explain why.

Funny you should ask, because I was trying to answer this question for myself a few nights ago. The things that I've done in my life so far that have excited and engaged me the most all involve travel. Going to new countries. Going to new states and cities. Meeting new people. Seeing new things. Everytime I've looked at someone and thought "I'd really love to do their job," it has involved travel. Running a tour company. Running a hostel or a B&B. Every major trip I've taken, I've gone by myself. I wanted to go and no one could come with me, so I went anyway. I've mentioned it here a few times.

2. What is your favorite snack food?

I'm not really much of a snacker. I graze. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, I know. I eat a lot of microwave popcorn. I particularly enjoy hommous and bread from La Shish.

3. You've travelled and lived in many places, what was your favorite place and why?

Out of the places I've lived (which is only 2 different metropolitan areas), I like the Twin Cities far and away better than Detroit. The young, hip, urban stuff is more concentrated and more accessible. I'm not really outdoorsy but the easy access to trails and lakes and the constant outdoor activity makes it hard not to want to be outside. I like the dichotomy of Minneapolis vs. St. Paul. I like that the 2 cities make for a good-sized metropolitan area without having a ginormous out-of-control mega-downtown. I like that the sun shines in the winter. The only major strikes against it are that Madison is the only fun place within reasonable driving distance, it's equally expensive to fly anywhere, and it's quite lacking in the ethnic diversity category.

While I will always love Detroit because it's my Home, it's just not that fun. It's way too spread out. There's not anywhere downtown where you can hop out and have a wide selection of bars, restaurants, and clubs to choose from. You have mini-versions of this in a few suburbs, but they're very suburban. Ann Arbor is too damn small and boring. There's nothing urban about it at all. I need some hustle and bustle.

Of the places that I've visited, the handful that I think I would most enjoy living in are San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, and San Diego. I felt a connection to each of them for a different reason. But they all have that hustle and bustle factor. I need to get out of the middle of the continent. I also particularly enjoyed New Zealand and Puerto Rico. Auckland is a great city. The rest of the New Zealand has gorgeous and varied scenery which is easy to access from Auckland. Someday I will have a spare condo or something in Puerto Rico. The weather's great, the people are friendly, the food is great, and hello, Bacardi.

4. If you could go back and change the outcome of one thing in your life, would you change anything and if so, what would it be?

The only thing in life I would do differently is I would have packed up and moved out of here 6 months ago.

5. Complete this sentence: Today Erica is _______.

Today Erica is needing to shave her ankles.