Day 123: The Aran Islands

In general, I’m not a huge fan of guided tours because I would rather explore on my own.  But some guided tours just make sense because the ease of travel makes for a much more enjoyable day.  We took our one (and only) guided tour of the vacation on day three – a day trip [...]

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Day 122: Galway City and the Claddagh

Our second day in Ireland wasn’t as laid back as our first.  We woke up early and headed to the airport to pick up our rental car.  Renting a car and deciding to drive around Ireland wasn’t a decision I arrived at easily.  But everyone we spoke with who had been to Ireland encouraged us [...]

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Day 121: Dublin City Centre, Temple Bar and First Pints

We landed on the morning of Saturday, May 1 after an uncomfortable red-eye flight on Continental Airlines.  Our flight arrived at around 9:30am and we were through customs and had our baggage rather quickly.  The next step was to find transportation to our Hilton hotel in Kilmainham, a suburb of Dublin south of the River [...]

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Day 120: Destination Dublin!

Courtney and I share a passion for travelling.  There’s a good chance that the shared passion is a direct result of the circumstances under which we met back in 2002 – as college students during a semester abroad at Middlesex University in London, England.  We had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Europe that semester, [...]

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Day 119: Don’t Honk – $350 Penalty

Driving in New York City can be very intimidating and a task that very few people are willing to tackle.  I was 16 the first time I drove in the city and found it to be somewhat invigorating.  I saw it as a challenge and have never really had any hesitation about driving in this [...]

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Day 118: New Jersey Fuel

People tend to be very critical of the state of New Jersey.  I’ve never had any real issues other than the foul smell that everyone describes as they drive through the greater-Newark area and the eyesore that is the city of Paterson. The Garden State, despite the shenanigans portrayed in MTV’s hit show Jersey Shore, [...]

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Day 117: Giants Merchandise

The off-season can be a great time to stock up on sports merchandise.  The New York Giants online pro shop had a fire sale recently and I took full advantage.  They reduced their entire store inventory by over 50%, with some items discounted in excessive of 85%.  The reason for this massive liquidation was that [...]

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Day 116: Fare Increase

Word began circulating that the New Jersey Transit was going to increase ticket prices in May to help close a $300 million budget hole for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.  I’ve been riding the NJT trains since I moved back to New York and began commuting to New York City.  The monthly [...]

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Day 115: Wedding Anniversary

April 25 – Day 115 of the Challenge – marked the end of an era.  Apparently, my wife Courtney and I are no longer newlyweds, a term that is only used for couples that have been married for under two years (or so I’ve been told). I always find it curious that the clock starts [...]

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Day 114: SUNY New Paltz Alumni Soccer Game

I attended the Annual SUNY New Paltz Women’s Soccer Alumni Game on day 114.  My wife Courtney played four years of soccer at the D3 school, serving as team captain her junior and senior years.  The annual game is played on the campus of the state school, which is located in New Paltz, NY – [...]

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