imisstony.com

World travel videos, photos, and blog.


Come Fly with Me


I was chatting with my brother as I walked along the lawn at Capitol Hill yesterday when I just sort of looked around and said, "Dude, I hella travel." Walking through my sixth airport in four days, I thought about all of these crazy flights over the last year. I counted 72 flights since last spring. I always love to list these things, just to boggle my own tired little brain:
Tijuana to Guadalajara
Guadalajara to Mexico City
Mexico City to Havana
Havana to Mexico City
Mexico City to Tijuana
San Francisco to Frankfurt
Frankfurt to Paris
Paris to London
London to Edinburgh
Edinburgh to Dublin
Dublin to Krakow
Prague to Amsterdam
Rotterdam to London
London to Paris
Paris to Zurich
Zurich to Barcelona
Barcelona to Zurich
Zurich to Vienna
Vienna to Moscow
Moscow to Berlin
Berlin to Barcelona
Barcelona to Munich
Munich to Rome
Rome to Zurich
Zurich to Athens
Athens to Cairo
Cairo to Athens
Athens to Corfu
Athens to Munich
Munich to Delhi
Delhi to Bangkok
Bangkok to Narita
Narita to Beijing
Hong Kong to Beijing
Beijing to Bangkok
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi
Hue to Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang
Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap
Chiang Mai to Bangkok
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh to Singapore
Singapore to Sydney
Sydney to Brisbane
Brisbane to Melbourne
Adelaide to Cairns
Sydney to Melbourne
Melbourne to Sydney
Sydney to Wellington
Wellington to Christchurch
Christchurch to Rotorua
Auckland to Honolulu
Honolulu to San Francisco
Los Angeles to Kansas City
Kansas City to West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach to Tampa
Tampa to Los Angeles
San Jose to Atlanta
Atlanta to New Bern
Raleigh to Washington DC
DC to New York
New York to DC
DC to London
London to Sevilla
Sevilla to London
London to DC
DC to Chicago
Chicago to San Jose

Airlines flown: Aegean, AirBerlin, Air New Zealand, All Nippon, Bangkok Airways, British Airways, ClickAir, Delta, DragonAir, EasyJet, JetStar, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Niki, NokAir, Olympic, Pacific Airlines, Pacific Blue, Ryan Air, Singapore Airlines, SkyEurope, Southwest, Swiss Air, Thai Airways, Transavia, United, Virgin Blue, Vietnam Airlines

Let's Get Out of This Country

One Nation


I slipped into Washington DC Sunday night and into the Best Western Dulles. It was a nice room and I was ready to order up a fatty American meal to be delivered from the local pub but they didn't answer their phone. So I ended up snacking on popcorn and a Twix that the plane gave me. It was probably better that I didn't end my late night with potato skins and fried chicken tenders. Even better for my wallet.

Monday morning I got up way too early and rushed out to take a walk around Washington DC. I thought about how I was happier to come back to the US this time around than I was when I returned from the round the world trip. This last month away from home was a little rough mentally but I knew I had to take just a bit more time to get into the right mindset for tackling the next wave of life challenges. I stopped by the White House and grew excited about having a new President next year. I reflected by the reflecting pool. And I ran up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and wiped the sweat off my brow as I snapped a few photos. I was tired. Tired of the pain. Tired of wandering. Tired of wondering.

I couldn't wait to head back to fresh clothes and the comfort of the familiar. But as I sat around Dulles Airport contemplating life, I noticed my flight gradually becoming more delayed over the course of a few minutes. Thankfully, I took this as a sign to have a word with the ticket counter. As a thunder storm filled the sky, making the planes outside seemingly disappear, the line of people behind me grew to about fifty people.

Thankfully, the storm passed in an hour and I was on my way to Chicago where I had to sprint across two airport terminals to catch my flight to San Jose. But now I'm back, my head screwed up from four time zones in four days. I have hope.

Saro

Sun to Rain to Sun Again


To recover from our Friday night of flamenco and pitchers at La Carboneria, my friends and I hopped a bus out of Sevilla to the beach in Huelva . We wandered around a bit, stopping by a beachfront cafe where we were witness to a chubby boy showering and peeing in public at what we believed to be too old an age. To 'cleanse' my brain of those images, we sat on the beach a bit and I tried not to stare at topless sunbathers. I guess it wasn't really staring as it was just having my eyes open. We'd somehow selected a spot with boobs in every direction.

Our last day in Spain was spent trying to stay out of the 100 degree heat. While Dan and Yasmin explored La Giralda, I took refuge in the shade, scribbling project notes into my notebook, listening to the chatter of backpackers, and watching the brides, tourists, gypsies, and pretty girls walk by.

I never did have my glass of tinto de verano but I was happy to fulfill cravings of tortilla Espana, horchata, and iberica. After munching on the last of many bocadillo sandwiches, it was off to England where we met 45 degree temperatures and rainy skies. Early the next morning, London bid me farewell with a sunnier day. The only 'cloud' was an hour sitting on the plane as we waited for Air Force One to land at Heathrow. The Americans groaned when we heard President Bush was the one keeping us from going home to Washington DC.


Holiday Road

Labels: ,

Sunny Spain

Sevilla is beautiful but my brain can´t really focus on anything other than how I´m going to scramble to pay the bills when I get back. Hence my huge drive to get people to Digg my video contest entry. Big thanks to everyone who´s taken the time to support.

Good news is, I´ve already won a smaller prize. Hopefully, I´ll take the Digg prize and deal with some summer bills.

Bed time here in Spain though. Miss you.

Labels:

Another Detour


My friends Dan and Yasmin needed a little holiday so we're going to visit one of my favorite cities in Spain: Seville. We're catching a plane in a couple of hours but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at another quick project I cut tonight for a Tic Tac contest.

http://www.mintertainment.com/videos/video/Falling_for_Tic_Tacs

Don't forget to Digg my other video per the instructions below!

Labels:

Creativity


Oh man, I'm watching this WWDC 2008 Keynote... how could you not want an iPhone? Doesn't Apple know I don't have any money?

I created a video for the flipforbudget.com contest. The video with the most "diggs" wins a prize. Here is how you can help...

UPDATE: Some dude beat me by 12 Diggs.

Labels:

Hot Town Summer in the City


I spent my weekend in places like St. Albans, Clapham, Croydon, Greenwich, and get this "London". I'm definitely not in East San Jo. It was a hot day in London yesterday as I roamed the city, working on a project. That's right, I'm working on projects! You don't know how important that is for me right now. I went from Tower Bridge to Big Ben to the London Eye to Buckingham/St James Park to the National Gallery to the Natural History to the Victoria & Albert to the British Museum to Greenwich... and boy is my Oyster Card tired. (that's a London tube joke- I can make bad inside jokes internationally, that's how talented I am)

An exciting part was seeing my girls Carlien, Steph, and Amy. Weird not being in Thailand or Oz with them. I have to finish my project right now and then it's back off to London for the night. Later this week, maybe I'll chime in from another favorite spot of mine on the big ole planet.

Then it's home again! Homecoming (mp3)

Labels:

Wrap It Up


My cousin IM'd me the other day and asked if I was still in England having the time of my life. I laughed maniacally in my head. I'm sort of doing what I was doing in the US, catching up with old friends and looking for ways to help them around their houses. In my spare time I peruse blogs and become saddened by bleak news or discouraged by the seemingly more talented individuals around the planet. Constantly I'm questioning my purpose. I wonder about what defines us and why having a definition even matters. The soap bubble that is societal pressure is creeping up around me and it freaks me out man.

I think, wow, look how far I've come but feel that I've gotten nowhere. Somewhere, there's Anonymous laughing his butt off. I want to hide away from everyone and I want to burst out and blow them all the way. I want to have the last laugh. Manic. Maniacal.

I'm going to London for the weekend. Then I'm slipping off to somplace warm next week. Before California, I'm going to hop over to another great American city. Every now and then I like to forget that I've become the malcontent. I think of how I've drifted through Los Angeles, New York, and London in the last month. How romantic. I'm like one of those old ladies from that Sex and the City movie. Except I have only five wardrobe changes and barely enough money left to make a sandwich. I'm off to take some photos.


I'll Never Forget You (mp3)

Labels:

Footsteps


I've been in a bit of a gloom lately. I've pieced together some sort of plan for the next few months, though some extremely important details are missing. I'm sure things will fair well but I know there will be a lot of stomach aches involved for a while before I get to the 'well' portion of this next journey. What makes it extremely difficult to stay driven is knowing that I'll ultimately be alone again. I've done it before and I'll do it again. But it's never been the way I wanted to do it.

Anyhow, don't read into any of that. The important piece of information is that I'll be back in the USA on June 16.

American Boy (mp3)

Labels:



Web This Blog

My Photo
Name:
Location: United States

filmgen@yahoo.com A 29 yr old filmmaker from California traveled through Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia/NZ over ten months from April 2007 to March 2008.



Buy Tony Dinner!

SHOP AT AMAZON.COM:
TONY'S STORE


    follow me on Twitter

    TRAVEL ITINERARY

    2007
    April 6:
    Cuba
    April 30:
    France
    England
    Scotland
    Ireland
    Netherlands
    Poland
    Czech Republic
    June 3:
    Spain
    June 20:
    Switzerland
    June 22:
    Russia
    June 27:
    Germany
    June 30:
    Italy
    July 22:
    Greece
    Egypt
    August 9:
    India
    August 27:
    Japan
    September 10:
    China
    October 3:
    Thailand
    October 30:
    Vietnam/Cambodia
    December 3:
    Australia

    2008
    January 23:
    New Zealand
    February 26:
    Hawaii
    March 1:
    California
    Spring:
    Florida, North Carolina,
    New York, England, Spain

    2009
    December 29:
    Iceland
    January 9:
    New York City
    January 17:
    Washington D.C.
    February 18:
    California
    March 18-23:
    New Orleans


    Subscribe