There is little doubt that travel is a culturally enlightening experience. It can be fascinating to immerse yourself into a country’s gastronomy and landscapes; but how often do we stop to think about the belief systems of the countries we visit? Unfortunately, some of the ways of understanding the world have been misrepresented and misunderstood for centuries, so I’m going to dispel some of these myths by talking about the history that came to create these belief systems.

 New York is home to the world’s oldest and biggest St Patrick’s Day Parade; why not make sure you’re a part of it this year — after all, everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day, especially in New York where the city becomes a sea of green. If you aren’t already, become Irish this March on your New York holiday.

I woke up today and thought I would publish a little blurb about what I’ll be up to this year. The next few months are all planned out, however, July and onward to the end of the year is a bit more of a mystery. While I’m still weighing out my options, I must keep in mind that as particular situations develop, my plans may change as well. I’m not talking about a relationship or anything like that – because being gone for 4-8 months out of the year really can put a damper on all of that rubbish. There’s a chance that I may be relocating and settling down (slightly) in Florida with a friend, but if that doesn’t happen, I’ll likely remain on the road for the remainder of the year. But until things become clearer, I’ll digress and move forward with my whimsical travel planning, expecting that I will continue my travels for another 8-months…

Ireland recently opened its green gates to host its first ever City of Culture event in Limerick city, and just a further one hour 20 minute jaunt along the west coast, is the “city of the tribes” that is Galway. One of the largest cities in Ireland, Galway is an area that continues to offer lots of entertainments for guests throughout the year. Ireland is on many a wide eyed travelers list of places to visit, but it seems recently (through huge events like The Gathering); Ireland has stepped up a notch. With so much going on up and down the country, Galway is shining bright and has plenty for visitors to see and do this year. Below we take a look at 4 reasons to visit Galway in 2014.

There are a few relatively unique and obvious places in the United States that I’ve yet to visit, but seem like a ‘DOH!’ when I tell people such. I’ve never been to New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, or anywhere in Texas. Silly, isn’t it? For a travel writer from the USA to have never visited some of the most famous places in the country definitely sounds a bit silly to me. But I digress – mostly. If you’re an avid reader here on Eye & Pen, then you know that I’m gearing up for my upcoming USA road trip. So, basically, everyday I am scouring the internet for interesting attractions and ‘must see’ things to do along this road trip. I’ve already researched nearly half of the trip so far, but I have so much more to plan out. I have to research all possible stops, and important places, and then plot each thing on a map, planning out each and every possibility, so that I’m not wasting a ton of time by backtracking along the routing, or potentially show up and have no idea of what to do or where I should go. I at least want to have a large list planned out, just in case.