jbel2879's VirtualTourist Home Page

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my favorite travel partner - my husband, Chris

About me

I'm a doctoral student in American history and I am fascinated by my country. I'm fiercely loyal to the northeast but love seeing new places and meeting other Americans - places and people that are so different, yet connected by something, some feeling that I have not yet been able to nail down in my 28 years of living so far.

I love visiting Europe because I'm American and I study my country's history for a living basically, and old to me most days is 1610. So when I go to places in Europe it doesn't even feel like history anymore. It feels like myth.

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I LOVE the ocean - my girlfriends and me on L.I.

Destination: Home

My husband and I got married in June. After all those months of anticipation, the great celebrations, the wonderful family and friends, and of course, the detailed minutae of planning a wedding, we've been doing our best to enjoy New York City. It's not too hard, since we live there!

Ph.D. students in American history don't make massive sums of money, so in my spare time, I also lead historical walking tours of the most fabulous city on earth. It's one of the highlights of my life, I have to say. No matter where you visit, walking tours are a great way for anyone to learn about the layers upon layers of a city's fascinating, little-known, and sometimes bizarre history.

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We take pics of our feet wherever we travel

The scatterbrained historian

A few things about my travel pages: I am terrible with names, so forgive me. I will describe to you in detail how to get to some places without ever looking at the sign at the destination. Isn't that part of the fun of it? You know what, I'm editing to say, no, Julie, that's not fun. So I just apologize. Bad with names. No excuses.

More often than not I will recommend a historical book to go along with my suggestions. I swear to you that I would not send you off reading something boring, or something about the Market Revolution, for example. The books I suggest are ones that have changed my life and really made a difference in my understanding of history, especially American history. They've also affected my views on the present, and the way that we can never really let go of our historical baggage. Most importantly, I think they really enhance the experience of traveling someplace new.