Growing up in Hawaii it is expensive to travel far. I give my mom a lot of credit for taking us on family trips. Mostly along West Coast, I haven’t seen a whole lot more of the United States. After living on the East Coast and visiting a few places in between, one of my goals is to explore more of the United States. Bigger goals include international travel, but for now I’ll take what I can get.

I’m going to work backwards a little bit to fill in the blanks of what happened to me in the last two months of 2016.  In December 2016, I took a quick trip to Las Vegas to crash a convention and on the way there I settled in the window seat. If I was traveling alone I would have had a different attitude about this, but with two friends? Zero problem.

Driving to Vegas you see a whole lot of nothing, but flying is a completely different experience. I was awake more most of the flight, staring into the horizon. I saw cities, mountains and most of all felt like I was in a completely different world. This was only an hour flight but the landscapes changed quickly and greatly. I felt so small traveling a very short distance. I know there is more out there and I can’t wait to see it. The window seat does not suck, it gives you perspective and a lot of good photos.

From age 10-25 these guys (and a bunch of other guys too) have been around for me. A bunch of us gathered in Austin, Texas in October for #bigDs25 birthday celebration. Not sure how he got seven friends, from five different states to fly in for one weekend, but it happened. Being away from my life-long friends for so long, I realized how some things never change–and that is a good thing. We get back together after being apart for months, even years for some and nothing is different. We are back in 7th grade making jokes, rolling our eyes, and pushing each other to our limits. But hey, what are friends for. These guys pulled me through a lot of good and changing times. They are the constant to the equation and I am so thankful for them. We may not all talk that often or get to be in each other’s presence long, but they are home. We have a special group of friends going and I’m not sure how they feel about me, but I’ll be there for them and with them, till the end.

As an Ohio newbie I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, after the very short weekend I did gain a new perspective on many things—people, places and patents. An open mind can take you far but acting on it might take you farther.

Vegas, where you can travel around the world while never leaving one city.