What have I seen in the world?

One of the things that I do enjoy is visiting other countries and seeing more of the world. Sadly, my current travels across the world are rather limited. Work and college schedules along with the dollar not taking you as far as it used to being chief causes. My wife's Greek nationality provided her more opportunities for travel than me, and her country map puts mine to shame. I hope to develop photo journals in the near future of my trips, but the below summaries will have to suffice for now.

Where has James Van Sickle been to in the world?

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Greece (The Homeland)

Considering this is where Lia was born, it is only natural that I have travelled there. Lia is originally from Thessaloniki, also dubbed the northern capitol of Greece, which is where I have spent most of my time. Otherwise, Lia and I have visited together Athens and the island of Crete. Naturally, she has been just about everywhere in the country herself. Sadly, going back to Greece is hard currently due to the Euro. When Lia and I went to Greece in 2005, the prices were either on par or more expensive than Manhattan!

Our first trip to Greece was in the summer of 2000 for our late honeymoon. It was during this time that we did most of our travelling and sightseeing around the country. Since then, we have mostly confined ourselves to Lia's home in Thessaloniki, visiting her family and friends still in the city.

Thailand (The Wedding)

Our trip to Thailand started when one of my closest friends, Glen, decided to get married. Glen's soon-to-be wife was a Thai national studying in the US under a student visa. We spent roughly a week and half in Bangkok for his wedding, and seeing the monuments and other landmarks of the city. Considering the prices between Thailand and Greece, we are looking forward to the hope that we will go back to Thailand on our own someday in the near future.

Puerto Rico (The Conference)

Puerto Rico was an interesting visit. The main reason for us at the time was the Society for American Archaeology was holding a conference. We had the misfortune to go at a time when the local government had run out of funds, and many public officials and workers were striking in the streets. Luckily, none of these strikes caused any major problem for the conference beyond a slight delay in getting to and from the Conference Center.

Interestingly enough and by blind chance, Lia and I stumbled upon one of the roughly 30 Greek expatriots to own a restaurant in Puerto Rico. The only reason we chose the place was because the restaurant looked more inviting than the hotel recommended restaurants across the street. Upon looking at the menu, Lia asked "Why do you have Greek salad on the menu?" The waitress' response was simply "Because the owner is Greek. Would you like to speak with him?"