emoja's VirtualTourist Home Page

i'm an IT Support Specialist in minneapolis, minnesota.

next trip - somewhere family friendly! my first child, a boy, is due in june 2008!

well, i haven't done too much yet - but i'm working on it! my first overseas trip was to Amsterdam in spring of 2003.

in spring of 2004, i caught a flight into frankfurt, germany. the next morning i caught a train and headed to prague. i did that whole trip alone - which was great, because i could do my own thing. BUT, i was also lonely as all get out. especially in prague - it's such a romantic place!

in march of 2005, my best friend and I went to seoul, south korea. after a few days exploring that city (i thought of it as a smaller, shorter version of new york city), we went to beijing, china. i fell in love with beijing - even though i unfortunately didn't care much for the food.

in june of 2005, i traveled with my best friend to madrid, spain. he works for the airline, so we were able to make just a quick one-day trip for a seriously discounted price. i was so exhausted when i got back, but i'd definitely do it again.

in march of 2006, my boyfriend and i went to egypt. we spent in cairo, and caught a train to luxor as well for a few days. this was my boyfriend's first overseas trip for pleasure, and when people asked him: "why egypt?" he responded with, "if i'm going to see the world, i might as well start at the beginning!" how beautiful is that.

november 2006 - i went to prague again - but this time with my man! so i wasn't so lonely this time around :) we also went to vienna for a couple of days (hey, i had to get at least ONE new country on my Visited List).

november 2007 - my boyfriend and i went to turkey, travelling through istanbul, selcuk/ephesus and the cappadocia region. it was absolutely gorgeous.

i'm from des moines, the depressed, gloomy capital of iowa. i go back every few months to see my family, although they've since moved about twenty minutes further south of des moines to a very small town called prole (population 20-something).

prole is actually quite nice - it's really just a dirt road, some houses, and lots of open fields. horses and farming dominate the landscape. it's beautiful in the summertime.

my grandmother is a cowboy/ appalachian mountains/ trailer-park type (bless her heart, i adore her), and as i was growing up she used to take me around to all these small iowa towns. today, i still love truck stop diners with their greasy people and greasier food.

i've always dreamed of big cities, but i have an appreciation for the ebbs and flows of country life... iced tea brewed in sunlight, wild dandelions that grow taller than a 6-year old, relaxing away a sunday afternoon on the porch and waving to the neighbors as they go past...

funny, but the thing i miss most living in the city is the sound of crickets. i believe it was erykah badu who did a song on her last album with the music of crickets in the background. it immediately conjures up a landscape peppered with trees instead of skyscrapers. sometimes i do miss that.

for more pics of small town Iowa and Missouri, take a look at my Mississippi River Tour
page.

i didn't start seeing the rest of the country until i was in my 20s. the last seven years of my life have taught me that travel is the only thing that makes working bearable ...

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my pops lives in seattle, so i make it out there every so often -

i've been to kansas city, missouri a few times, when my best friend lived there -

i spent a week in NYC, so far my favorite city on earth -

a weekend in los angeles, clubbing in hollywood -

lots of weekends in chicago and one great big party -

lots of weekends in detroit with my boyfriend's family -

and several days in las vegas.

i've loved it all. the only area left that i want to explore are the southern states - especially new orleans and black, rural towns.

After Turkey in November 2007, I'm considering India, Ethiopia, Ghana or Peru!