I have been fortunate enough to spend this fall in the United States for the first time in 5 years. On October 8, I arrived in my home state of New Hampshire just in time to do some leaf-peeping and marvel at the fall foliage before heading west to California and setting off on a transcontinental adventure.
This trip home, I was able to visit some cities in the US that I had never seen before. After my friends’ wedding outside Santa Cruz, I popped up to San Francisco (where I left my heart) and then down to Los Angeles, City of Light, for the first time before heading to New Orleans for another first look and another wedding. No trip to the US is complete without a stop-off in NYC and a moment to relax in tropical Florida, where I celebrated the life of a truly dignified world traveler: my grandmother. Now, I am back in the Northeast where I’ll celebrate my favorite American holiday, Halloween.
Last fall, I was in Rome but felt like I was at home as I wrote the introduction to The Trip Magazine’s Fall 2013 issue featuring the United States of America. As my article reveals and this recent trip home confirms, I can’t help but long for my home country at times. There may be other countries that are more beautiful, but there is no place on earth with more heart and more drive than the good ol’ US of A. To quote a brilliant satire by Trey Parker & Matt Stone, “America, f*ck yeah!”
Pen In Rome 