On the road again...

I have less than 4 hours to sleep tonight and I'm so nervous about tomorrow that I can't get any sleep. Emma, André and I  are traveling to Ecuador tomorrow morning. I've never traveled on Christmas Eve. I always travel on Christmas Day and the airports are empty. I wonder how it will be tomorrow. 

We just got back from Colombia 2 weeks ago and I also took a short work trip right after we came back. We finished packing and we are supposed to be asleep. I keep running my to-do lists in my head. I was a mess packing for Colombia and I don't want to do the same for this trip. I have to write a list of things I learned from our last trip with a toddler (the hard way of course). I had too much work before Colombia and I had a normal work load this week so I was able to plan with more time what to pack. I might have over packed as a result of my lack of planning from last month. The good thing is I tend to forget my stuff instead of Emma's. It is easier for me to improvise plus we are trying to potty train her and she uses a lot of pants every day. 

I have tons of pictures to share from our trip to Colombia. Those 10 days are still fresh in my mind. I will enjoy this week off because it will probably be the last one in a while. I'm using all of my personal time off with these 2 vacations in one month. 

Feliz Navidad! :) 

How to Get From Rural Pennsylvania to Washington DC

As a transportation engineer, I get to read and talk about the different modes of transportation. However, since I live in Florida I mostly use my car to get everywhere. A couple of months ago, I wanted to see some of my friends that live in DC after a work week in rural Pennsylvania. I had a rental car but I didn't want to drive to DC during rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon so I did the following:

I started by driving 2 hours to Baltimore Airport where I had rented the car. From the rental car center I took the shuttle to the main aiport terminal. Then I took the bus to the Amtrak station close to the airport. I took the Amtrak train towards Union Station in DC. I got off at Union Station and dropped off my bags with my friend's husband. (He drove to work that day just for this reason). My friend and I took the subway towards U street to have dinner. We stayed out late with my cousin and other friends. We took a taxi to my friend's place instead of the metro. We slept for 4 hours and then she drove me to DCA airport where I took my early morning flight to Tampa.

I'm not sure if this was the easiest/fastest way to make it to Washington. I love public transportation in the Northeast. I never got lost and it was easy except for the part where I had to carry my luggage and laptop bag everywhere. I wanted to drive to the most northern metro station in Maryland, but returning the rental car at a different location it was going to cost me an additional $300.

I had not been to DC in over 6 years. It was the City where I wanted to live for a long time. Those few hours there reminded me how much I love it. I can't wait to go back and stay longer. During my flight, I took a nap and when I landed in Tampa it was almost Emma's nap time. Andre surprised me by bringing her to the airport. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.  She was standing next to where the airport shuttle arrives. I was so happy to be home and hug my little girl after a week away. 

I drove a car, rode the bus, took the train, a taxi and an airplane just to spend one night in DC. I don't see my friends as often as I would like, so I have to say that it was all worth it.