Holy cow… I haven’t seen her in… well, since before COVID, at least! Her and her friend were in town exploring the Pacific Northwest, doing the tourism and seeing the sights – an amazing opportunity for me to not only get to see her, but to take the excuse to actually see some of the tourist sights that Portland has to offer!
It’s the strange rule about living somewhere – The longer you habitate, the less likely you are to do the stereotypical fun tourist things. In this case – a tour of the Portland Underground, complete with a history lesson about some of Portland’s less savory history. Specifically, the act of “shanghaing”, or crimping, or kidnapping men to crew ships sailing out from Portland. Very similar to the underground tour that my Mom, Steve, and myself did back in Seattle!
The tour itself was… fun? The guide was super great, and the details were definitely interesting, but unfortunately the Portland Underground has long since been filled in and blocked off… all that remains are effectively the basements of various buildings with some remaining walls. Enough to make a cool tour… but not quite a “tour of the tunnels”, so to speak.
It was great, though, and the tour guide was endlessly entertaining – and I got to catch up with someone I hadn’t seen in way too long, so I considered the evening an absolute excellent evening.
Wow… How long has it been since I’ve done an international trip? How much longer since I’ve gone international solo?
Let’s see. The last international trip was to Scotland, right before the Pandemic hit. When I had that really bad flu… right before the Pandemic. With COVID. That presents sort of like a flu. That I’ve somehow avoided getting, as if I’d already gotten it and gained an immunity… Okay we’re not going down that road the last time I went abroad was January 2020. Three years and change.
The last time I went on a solo international trip? Well, that’d be New Zealand, back in 2012. 11 years.
It’s high time I explored.
I got accepted to Trinity College’s MBA program back in November, and accepted the offer that same month… though I delayed admission until 2024, to give me some time to finish up in Oregon and save up a bit more money. While talking to the admissions officer though, I learned about a Business forum put on by Trinity in March – a perfect opportunity for me to stretch my international adventure legs and see if Dublin would make a good home for a year or three!
I planned, I packed, and I set off on my first solo international trip in over 10 years…
(Please note that these are my raw notes from the trip. I’m proofreading them for obvious mistakes… but they’re still short-hand. Because life is busy, and blogs don’t need to be perfectly edited.)
Monday, 13-Mar-2023
My last day in Dublin lasted a bit longer than I’d expected, thanks to an early morning text I got from the airline, informing me that my flight would be delayed leaving Ireland by two hours or so.
Not a bad thing, in my mind – I’d expected this, so had quite a bit of time set aside as a layover in Atlanta, and wasn’t in any danger of missing any connecting flights. Instead, it meant that I could make myself a quick breakfast of my remaining leftovers, instead of tossing them out, and have a lovely relaxed morning just… kind of laying about.
As always, I loved laying about later into the morning.
Soon enough, of course, I did have to leave for real. I gave myself some extra time, and was able to hail a cab basically right outside my apartment. We chatted as he drove, and I learned a few more bits about Dublin, the housing market in the area, and his (very strong) opinions about US politics. I’m never sure if it’s nice that we’re so “well observed” outside the States, or if it’s frustrating that everyone seems to only get the extreme parody version of reality…
Either way, I was through security before I could blink, and onward and upward back to the states before I could grab one last Guinness. I had a layover in Atlanta, which was somehow still surprisingly long even after the previously delayed flight… but soon enough my boots were walking the now-familiar carpet of PDX.
I found my car, I drove home, and I plopped into bed.
Wow… How long has it been since I’ve done an international trip? How much longer since I’ve gone international solo?
Let’s see. The last international trip was to Scotland, right before the Pandemic hit. When I had that really bad flu… right before the Pandemic. With COVID. That presents sort of like a flu. That I’ve somehow avoided getting, as if I’d already gotten it and gained an immunity… Okay we’re not going down that road the last time I went abroad was January 2020. Three years and change.
The last time I went on a solo international trip? Well, that’d be New Zealand, back in 2012. 11 years.
It’s high time I explored.
I got accepted to Trinity College’s MBA program back in November, and accepted the offer that same month… though I delayed admission until 2024, to give me some time to finish up in Oregon and save up a bit more money. While talking to the admissions officer though, I learned about a Business forum put on by Trinity in March – a perfect opportunity for me to stretch my international adventure legs and see if Dublin would make a good home for a year or three!
I planned, I packed, and I set off on my first solo international trip in over 10 years…
(Please note that these are my raw notes from the trip. I’m proofreading them for obvious mistakes… but they’re still short-hand. Because life is busy, and blogs don’t need to be perfectly edited.)
Saturday and Sunday, 04-March-2023 & 05-March-2023
Get up fairly early, lock down the house, and head into the city. Pine State Biscuits for breakfast, then hop on the plane! Note the different philosophies of travel clothing… some people dress down, completely comfortably in sweats, whereas others dress up, stylish, in glorious suits like they’re going to the theater. Interesting.
Flight to Seattle, super quick and easy. Barely worth mentioning.
Seattle = quick chicken fingers and relax, then on the plane!
Flight to Paris = long, but I sleep pretty well thankfully. Blankets, pillows… it’s not bad. Read a ton of my book, and enjoy the easy overnight. Helps that there’s an empty seat next to me!
Paris = surprisingly quick, just through a second security that takes ~5min, then wander a bit and grab some lunch… quiche and gnocchi bolognaise!
Flight to Dublin = quick, though full… so not as much room. Try not to sleep too much, to help set my internal clock to Dublin time. Soon enough, we’re landed.
Dublin = Land, super easy, customs doesn’t include a bag search and takes ~5min. Easy peasy. Grab a cab, get to the apartment… and check-in goes just as quickly.
Settle in for a bit, then go out for a wander. Walk around the North Side, then through Temple Bar. Find a small restaurant attached to a hotel and grab a very mild and stereotypical Guinness stew with a good red ale. Wander around Temple Bar, and appreciate the memories of similar college party streets from when I was at Northeastern. Then head home, quick shower, and sleep surprisingly well!
First Impressions on the city: – Can’t tell if its because I’m in a party area, but I feel like people dress up more here… I’ve noticed this in other European cities before too. – It’s small… no particularly tall buildings, and not even Trinity has anything over what looks like 5 stories. The tallest building in Dublin is 22 stories, whereas Portland is 40, and Boston is 60.
