we get by with a little help from our friends

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – it doesn’t hurt to have friends in the right places. I’m not ashamed to say that I take full advantage of my boyfriend’s beach house, my best friend’s cabin on the lake, and if a friend moves away, I make it my mission to make a vacation out of visiting them. Case in point – this weekend, I’m traveling to the beautiful seaside town of Cape May, NJ where my college roommate has a vacation home. I’ve got friends in high places, and because of this, I’ve traveled the globe. Can you blame a girl?

Places We’ve Been (& wouldn’t have otherwise thought to travel to) Because of our Friends

Washington, DC, USA: Little known fact (or well-known depending on who had to deal with me senior year of high school): Hubs & I broke up for a month when he left for college. Suddenly hours apart while I finished up high school in Bucks County and he started a new life in Washington, DC, we didn’t see the point of carrying on a long-distance relationship. Lucky for me, the wino also had dreams of moving to the District, and on a trip “visiting schools,” hubs and I met up… and got back together on the steps of the Capitol building. Since then, DC has been near-and-dear to my heart, and that love only got stronger over four years of regular visits from NYC to see both the future-hubs and my wino best friend.

Barcelona, Spain: When I went abroad as an undergraduate, so did 70% of my class at George Washington. That translates to about 1400 GWU students causing havoc across the globe. About 100 of these 1400 were in Barcelona, and roughly 15 of these 100 were my friends. How’s that for math? This meant that a trip to Barcelona was unavoidable. In short, we drank and ate and drank and got pick-pocketed. One day, I’ll return to Spain as a normal, responsible human being, but for now, Barcelona was perhaps my craziest, most out-of-control trip to date.

Juan Les Pins, France: Not content with only 4 hours separating us, future-hubs decided to spend a semester abroad in France. Cranky as it made me at the time, it was amazing for him and meant a future guaranteed trip for me. While I wasn’t able to make it there to visit him during his semester (waah broke college girl whine-fest), it was one of our required stops on our trip to France in 09. Chances are high that had hubs not studied there, we wouldn’t have included this adorable coastal town on the Riviera in our France itinerary.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA:  I rarely write about cities in the US. When I do, I don’t normally include places as exhilarating as Pittsburgh. In all seriousness, I’ve had a close friend who has lived here for the past three years, and I finally made the trip to see her this spring. Turns out, Pittsburgh is just my style- laid back, young,  and filled with great restaurants and bars. My favorite Bloody Mary of all time hails from Fat Head’s in South Side.

St. Thomas, USVI: Right after we graduated college, our friends began to pick up and move all over the place. From Ireland to Atlanta, we suddenly had access to couches all over the world. Except in this case, it wasn’t a couch—it was a bedroom in the bow of a sailboat docked in St. Thomas. Together with B&K, we spent a long weekend in May 08 living like pirates (i.e. serious sea legs and too much rum).

So, here’s our point (because I’m told by my boyfriend that I like to make them) – if you have friends around the globe, take advantage. Chances are, you’ll have a free place to stay and a built-in tour guide.

xoxo,
the wino & the romantic

– all photos are our own