Ketchup

I sit here in Austria Haus decompressing from one of the most amazing ski days I have ever experienced. Since I have been in Vail we have had over 9 inches of snow accumulation!! POW POW - the lightest snow on earth. Since I have been here it hasn't gotten much above 10 degrees, but since it has been snowing a great deal we haven't had ice (ideal). Living the dream out here. I cannot thank my Aunt and Uncle enough for including me in this trip and giving me the true Vail experience.

To go along with the title of this post "ketchup" I plan to fill in the blank spots in my journey. I believe I left off sitting at Lake Anna drinking PBRs.

The night at the lake was nothing less than expected. Wow am I a lucky guy, I have some awesome friends! We got things going with taco/fajita night, which was AAAmazing! We had some great planners in our group, everyone brought a couple items for the weekend and then it was all fair game while you were there. Knowing me I probably had more than my fair share:). We reminisced, we drank, we made a bon fire and had a dance off! For it being 8 degrees outside with snow on the ground I don't know if we could have done much more. There may have been some donuts done in the culdesac as well....All in all I spent the night drinking beers with my best friends.

The next morning was a relatively early one 9AM or so. I had a lot on the agenda for that day. Friends getting ready for a nice day of day drinking needed a ride to the liquor store. Unexpected, but I was more than happy to make the trip. I wish I could have stayed for that night as well, but had to get back to DC. I got in the car to head back to Northern Virginia around 1130AM. Made good time, dropped a friend at her car and I was off to Willie's. A ski store in Fairfax, I had dropped off my board and skies to get tuned up earlier in the week. Fun fact; I used to work at Willie's in high school, my first experience in sales, selling skies and snowboards. After picking up my skies and snowboard I was off to my parents house to reorganize my belongings and get ready for my trip to Vail.

WHAT AN ORDEAL!

OK so as you know by now I am currently unemployed and have zero income. I am trying to pinch pennies wherever I can. I understand a vacation to Vail is not exactly how you pinch pennies, but it was an opportunity I could not pass up. May not get another chance.

So here is the ordeal; I have a pair of skies  poles, ski boots, a snowboard, snowboard boots, and a helmet.  Not to mention all of the clothes needed to survive. All of which I wanted to bring with me on my adventure. Feeling a little overwhelmed earlier in the day I called Frontier Airlines and talked to a baggage representative. I needed confirmation on what I had read previously on the website. I was glad to find out that skies, poles and boots count as one carry on!! THANK YOU FRONTIER! Same with the board, and boots. With the ticket I bought, my first two checked bags were $20 the third was $50! I knew I had to find a way to consolidate everything else into a carry on. I have a snowboard bag that can fit my snowboard boots, helmet and board. I was not worried about the board. My dilemma came when I thought about how I was going to travel with my skies. Not be as avid of a skier, I did not have a ski bag or a boot bag. Both of which I looked at when I was at Willie's earlier. Figure $150 for the ski bag and $120 for a boot bag. Money which I did not want to spend so I thought I would get creative. I also learned from my baggage representative a ski bag is not required!, saran wrap would do, but I may need to sign a waiver (no worries there). I picked up a couple rolls of saran wrap on my way to the house. I wish I took a picture, but to attempt to give you a visual a wrapped a hoodie around the bindings, laid the poles against the skies and started wrapping. At the end it looked like my skies were spun up in some sort of web, similar to how a spider would wrap his prey. The boots were still an issue I needed a bag, a medium size bag of which I could not find. A sleeping bag caught my eye in the basement. I was only interested in the bag, after eyeballing it I though "no way," but sure enough my boots fit perfectly not one inch to spare. Ghetto, but I was ready! I packed the survival essentials in a small carry on. My mother was a flight attendant for a lot of years so we have a few of the standard issue carry on bags laying around. Nice thing about not having a lot of stuff, packing was easy, I put ALL of my warm clothes in the bag.

Next, I had to check into the Sheraton at Pentagon City. I had a black tie corporate social club event that I may or may not have been technically allowed to be at (being unemployed and all, but the hotel was right next to DCA so I was in. My flight was at 845AM. Still trying to pinch pennies, I needed to find out what to do with my car, the hotel charged $22 a day and the airport wasn't much less. If I was only going for a day or two NBD, but I was going for a week! I needed a plan. I called a close golf team buddy who lives in Arlington, just down the road. He said it was no problem to leave my car at his place for the week! What an awesome dude. I drove over there dropped off the keys and took a cab back to the hotel, twenty minutes tops.

Thought I was good to go...of course not... remember the event was a black tie event. Well I believe "cocktail attire" is what was on the invitation, but after seeing some people arrive. I saw nothing other than black tie. Yes, I was in trouble I had packed nothing, but thermals and underarmor. All of my formal attire is already in Perth! I had sent it all with my parents not thinking that I would need it on my travels. I shot off a few texts and called a previous coworker who I knew was coming, but had not left yet. My savior, he brought me a shirt and tie, he even brought me options! White or blue and ties. Wow am I spoiled, I have some great friends. If you have read this far know I would do the same for you. The event was a huge success! It was great to say a final good by to my coworkers outside of the office environment. The party was by no means for me, but it sure felt like it:) My highlight may have been talking with my senior VP and having a chance to explain the reasons I was doing what I was doing and the plan after. She took it well, was very excited for me, and wished me the best of luck. I will say resigning for a "life experience" is the way to go. I did not resign from my job for another company, for more money or a higher position. I resigned because I would be kicking myself if I didn't. Leaving for a life experience, you do not burn any bridges, everyone wishes you the best, wouldn't want to do it any different.

Well after seeing a guest puke all over the hotel lobby (open bar), I was off to bed. I needed at least a few hours before I had to get up and get to the airport. I was so excited during that night I woke up every hour almost on the hour. It was hopeless, I ended up taking a shower and getting on the airport shuttle an hour before my alarm was due to go off. I woke up expecting the worst, my luck had to run out sometime. I figured I would have to pay for third bag or I would find out that I do in fact need a ski bag to check my skies. But the day went off with out a hitch. I arrived at the airport two hrs before my flight, checked my bags no problems, not even a laugh or a funny look. Guess saran wrapping skies is normal or people are just not surprised by anything anymore. I grabbed breakfast, sat in the corner, charged all of my devices and read a book. Next stop VAIL!!!

I have to break now for dinner, but I will be back with my adventure to Vail and more!

I know it's long, but thank you for reading.

POW POW

Vail!

I know I am a little behind on my postings, there just has not been enough time in the day. Between the travel, the snowboarding, and catching up on sleep. I havent been able to sit down and share my journey. I will when I get some time in front of the computer. Currently, the ski conditions are too good to sit and type so I must make my way to the mountain! Vail got around 4 inches yesterday. Just need to rally the Aunt and Uncle and to the top we go. Friday I will post pictures.. Let me know if their are any must see in Vail type things, Im here all week. Bolwing tonight!

Richmond!

I do not believe I have ever had a bad time in Richmond and last night was no exception. I had a great time reminiscing with old friends. For this blog I will refrain from using actual names. Just know every person I talk about on here I hold near and dear. Last night started at a friends who had just recently purchased a house in the Richmond area. One of my first friends to make the move/commitment. It is a great three bedroom, single family home. The backyard is what makes it. Next we made moves into the city and met at a Home Team bar for the VCU vs. Richmond and the VT vs Virginia (I don't want to talk about it). Exchanged epic stories and past disasters..haha. I met a lot of amazing people while I was at CNU, despite transferring to Virginia Tech after two years, I remain very close my CNU classmates. We ended up at a bar that appeared to only serve the "Peoples Beer of Richmond" (PBR). A bar that I had been to once before.

I ended the night in a BED at the house of one of the most amazing couples I know. Two people that could not compliment each other better. So great to see your close friends doing so well. Just before leaving their lovely home I looked out the window and realized that it was snowing, a white out as far as Richmond is concerned. I didn't look, but I am sure all the schools in the area were closed. Nonetheless I pointed my car west and made my way to Lake Anna where I currently sit typing away. I will leave it here, but do not worry I am SURE that I will have much to talk about tomorrow. This is a birthday celebration!

Feeling very lucky.

Till next time

Malcolm

Day 2 of Unemployment

Well it is starting to set in now. Day two of unemployment is much more real than day one. Can't say I did nothing today, but I can say I didn't make any money. I did a lot of the little things today, booked a hotel room close to DCA for Saturday night, to make an early Vail departure Sunday morning. I also booked a spot in a van from Denver to Vail when I get there. Laundry, blogging and bill paying fit in around there as well.

Now, I need to pack a bag and head south to Richmond! Going to have a wild night with some old CNU golf teammates and fellow VT grads that I do not get to see nearly enough. It did snow a few inches last night/this morning, but I have ventured out this morning and the roads look safe, even for the Jetta.

Life is a crazy thing. If you don't know what you want to do, travel!

Still working on getting pictures up on this blog, I now have picasa, but haven't learned all the ins and outs yet. When I have some more time I will flood this thing:)

The Explanation

My blog is entitled "Quarter Century" because I have recently turned 25 years old. I thought about calling it "My Quarter Century Mid life Crisis," but what I am doing hardly qualifies.

What is the reason for the blog?

Well.. I have recently resigned from my job as an IT consultant at CGI Federal. I was not fired or asked to leave, I resigned for "personal" reasons. Personal reasons? Yes, personal reasons, I need a lifestyle change. I have been living in Northern VA for almost 9 years now and I am ready to experience another part of the world. My plan is spend some time traveling across the United States, what some may call the Great American road trip (a bucket list item for myself). I will be traveling from Fairfax, Virginia to Newport Beach, California, from the east coast to the west coast. I will be taking the southern route, first through Atlanta, GA and New Orleans then West to the Pacific. Once I have made it safely to Newport Beach I will reorganize, collect myself, and purchase a one way ticket down under! Perth to be exact, my parents currently live there and have been there for a little over a year and a half. I plan to move down under with nothing more than two bags and a set of golf clubs. I plan to keep updating this blog every day from today, my first day of unemployment to my first day at my new job in Australia.

In short, I will be keeping this blog for friends and family, who are curious about my crazy "Quarter Century - Mid Life Crisis."

I am new to blogging and will need some time to get acclimated. I will try to keep the stories and photos coming. Its not like I will have much else to do, every one I know works all day!