A Thing I Decided I Want You To Know

I'm pretty gay.

I know. You're all shocked. NO ONE guessed this. I'll give you a moment to recover.

This is something I just never thought I would really address on Stranger because I never felt like I needed to.

But several things have changed for me. The most important one is the mounting internal pressure to be more open about this because being open about being gay can literally save lives. It opens dialogue, and it helps people who feel alone feel less alone. Honestly, in recent years a part of me has felt a little selfish for not being open.

Coming out as gay to anyone is kind of a scary thing. Even in 2018. It took me many many many many years to come out to the people I'm closest to. Like, 29 or so years. A lot of this was because I didn't exactly grow up in a community that has a great track record when it comes to treatment of The Gays.

Flashback to a very gay boy in the 90s sitting in many lessons at church in which the teacher explained that no one is born gay but the wicked choose to be gay and for that reason their souls are lost.

Pictures from my Phone & Weekly Distractions

I've been listening to Hamilton non-stop for 72 hours and now all of my thoughts are happening in rap. But then when I try to talk it just comes out sounding like a bad Yoda impression. But OMG, y'all. I freaking love Hamilton. I want to have all of Broadway's babies right now. AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I'M READY TO BE A PARENT.

Also, not that we know what rap is, Cathie! We only listen to Christian rock!

And now, your Pictures & Distractions:

I helped the Pantses move last weekend. Matt Pants hit 300 things with that truck.

10 Tips for Traveling on a Budget

Over the last few years I've received a lot of emails from people asking how I have been able to travel as much as I have and whether I have any tips for traveling on a budget. I decided finally to post on this topic and share with you ten tricks I use for traveling abroad as inexpensively as possible.

Throughout my 20s I was able to see a lot of the world. This was not because I had a lot of money. I was able to do this, in part, because rather than buy things I bought experiences. I never had nice stuff and usually lived pretty basically. I also worked a lot while going to school and every time I could scrape together some money, I would do what I could to see how far it could take me in the world, which got me to be pretty creative in my traveling.

Now that I'm no longer a poor college student, my lifestyle has changed, but I still generally travel on a pretty tight budget. Because CHEAP. Below are the main ways I save big bucks while out and about:

Emergency Bosnian Stop

She was so polite when she asked for it.

"Can you please pass me a tissue?"

It came from four-year-old Liv's mouth from the back seat--the bench seat on which I was also sitting in the European-style minivan.

Liv is a character. Sassy at all the right times. Brighter than most four-year-olds. More imaginative than any person I've ever met. She collects every receipt, every bottle cap, every piece of "trash" any of us encounter and demands that these objects not be thrown away. When we ask her what she wants them for, she tells us that she needs them for her "creations."

She calls her parents by their first names. Kimberly asked her once why she doesn't call them "mom and dad." Liv responded, innocently, "why don't you call me 'daughter?'"

Shabesaur

This trip was sort of a spur of the moment deal for me. Well, only sort of. I ran into Kimberly and Tyler a few weeks ago after having not seen them in over a year. They told me they were going to Eastern Europe soon and invited me to join them.

This was probably one of those things where they were just being enthusiastic and polite but I took them seriously, marked my calendar, and bought a plane ticket that night during a stress work session. And then I texted them a picture of the Travelocity confirmation page with an excessive amount of emoticons.

I met Kimberly exactly six years ago. We lived in Moscow at the same time and worked down the hall from one another. We instantly became best friends. The kind of best friends who make terrible decisions together and almost get one another killed on a daily basis. Because of Kimberly, I climbed into many unmarked vehicles, followed strangers down dark alleys, and got stuck more than once in incredibly dangerous neighborhoods at 3:00 in the morning without a way to get home. Also, I think she's responsible for my parasite, Lohan, that I picked up that year.

Massaging For Good

About 12 seconds after crossing the finish line of the Half Ironman, Rebecca and I frantically raced the four hours to Salt Lake City so I could pack my things and make it to the airport for my 24 hours of scheduled flying.

As it turned out, all four legs of my travel were delayed substantially and by the time I made it to my final destination, and including the drive from St. George to Salt Lake City, I had been on the move for nearly 48 hours. Add to that that I didn't get a wink of sleep anywhere during those 48 hours because I WAS SCREAMING THROUGH THE AIR IN A METAL TUBE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT OVER THE SAME OCEAN THAT SUNK THE TITANIC.

You guys. I don't have a problem. People who can sleep on planes have the problem.

I rolled into Dubrovnik Croatia in the middle of the night on . . . Monday? Tuesday? February 2070? I'm not totally sure what time or day it is anymore. All I know is that every time I get near wifi I have 2,000 new emails from people at work that start with "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" So I think that means it's a week day right now.