Vacation Lessons
September 16th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Today is my first day back from a week and a half long vacation. I went to Florida for a cousin's wedding, and then to Ohio for the birthday parties of my niece (1) and nephew (7). I had a few goals for the trip, so here's the update on those along with a few things I learned along the way:
- Playaways (at least with the included earbuds I used) are not loud enough to be heard when you're sitting on an airplane next to the engine. Next time perhaps I'll try a noise/anti-noise arrangement
- Key West isn't much fun when it is evacuated before a hurricane (I didn't make it to the library)
- People in airports don't take other peoples' books, even when "free book!" is written on the cover. I released five Bookcrossing books in airports this trip, and watched at least three people sit down next to one of them, look at it, and then go about their business. I found this interesting, but I'll have to rethink my guerrilla strategy for promoting literacy
- The Brevard Country Library System is wonderful. I used both their main library and Cocoa Beach branch, and everything worked, the staff were all nice, and it was just pleasant all-around - exactly what I needed while on vacation. I also picked up a few tips to bring back and implement in my own library
- Boston's Logan Airport has chairs with power outlets and USB jacks built right in - great
- Even if you're not in a hurricane, it can still effect you - the Keys were evacuated in advanced of Hurricane Ike, so I had to change plans and go north to Cape Canaveral. And then at the end of the trip when I was flying back from Ohio, the remnants of Ike knocked out power to much of southern Ohio and shut down the Cincinnati airport, thus canceling my flight
- A birthday party of eight seven-year-old boys is never dull
It was a good trip all around, and now I'm back to real life and the library. But NELA's annual conference is just over a month away, so that's another trip to look forward to. I'm part of a panel presenting "Library 2.0 For You" (or, L24U, if you like that sort of thing) on Monday, so mark your calendars.
