Comments on: Planning to Spend October in Iowa (Yep, Iowa)

by: Nerdy Nomad » Iowa is Out But Indo Might Be In

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:52:22 +0000

[…] A few weeks agoI wrote that I was hoping to head to Iowa to do some volunteering in Cedar Rapids with Hands On Disaster Response (HODR). I love volunteering with this group and I was hoping to get a chance to work with them again sooner, rather than later. I think their plan was to pull a bunch of professional builders (volunteers) together with a bunch of wannabees like me to help out with rebuilding in the flood-damaged community. […]

by: Laptop Briefcases

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:47:34 +0000

This definitely is a change for you. It definitely isn’t as glamorous as traveling across Europe and Africa. Still it should be very rewarding to help people restore their homes. Best of luck with that.

by: Beginner Brendan

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:18:28 +0000

You have inspired me with the volunteer work thing. I’m trying to get some online income going and just volunteer sense the peace corp rejected me

by: Jessica Reeder

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:48:40 +0000

Awesome! I’ve been traveling around the US and doing quite a bit of volunteering… it’s a lot of fun, you meet great people this way.

Personally I’m going to head toward Georgia (I’m in North Carolina now) and see about doing some flood relief work there. But if that doesn’t pan out, perhaps I’ll see you in Iowa.

by: Carrie

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:25:36 +0000

What a great cause, Kirsty. Good for you! My husband is an Iowa man, from the small town of Algona. When we were home visiting last year, he showed me around. It was a long week, but after the hustle-bustle of Asia, I admit it, I really liked the wide-open starry skies and fields of corn as far as the eye can see.

Despite being small and flat, there are a lot of cute little oddities in Iowa. It has its fair share of roadside attractions. My favorite was The Grotto of Redemption in West Bend. It’s a massive religious structure fashioned out of different types of minerals from all over the world. Don’t forget to go and pose as an American Gothic in Eldon at the American Gothic House.

And, if you’re heading over to Blue Earth, Minnesota, keep an eye out for the jolly Green Giant and the Keebler elves. You can’t miss them.

by: tiffany

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:26:48 +0000

Good luck, Kirsty. Not quite as exotic as some of your other adventures (at least not to me, a lifelong midwesterner), but sounds like a great cause. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

by: Jim

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:49:33 +0000

Good luck, Kirsty. Not quite as exotic as some of your other adventures (at least not to me, a lifelong midwesterner), but sounds like a great cause. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

by: Kirsty

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:39:38 +0000

@sparetire Haha… I think the US portions and giant supermarkets will be one thing that is very different from the small Haitian and Bangladeshi markets with flies on the meat (the rare day that they have it) and a choice of four different veggies! I always hear about this midwest place so it will be cool to check it out.

@languagedude I thought there were 52 states for years! I swear it’s what we’re taught up here in Canada. Boozing in a ditch sounds right up my alley… should be good times!

@stooly This will just be a short trip to the US for me but a road or cycling trip around the States has always been something I’ve wanted to do.

by: Stooly

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:03:42 +0000

Sounds amazing! I’m a little jealous but hopefully it will spark me on to work harder this side to organise a road-trip to the states in a few years!

by: Language Dude

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:08:41 +0000

Haha… You thought New England was a state? OK, don’t worry about it. Being a Canuck, I’ll cut you some slack. It’s not that bad though because when I lived in England, my coworkers were adamant in their beliefs that there were either 48, 51, or 52 US states depending on who I spoke to. When I insisted that there were 50, I was universally accused of taking the piss.

As for Iowa, I was stuck there for over a week about a decade ago because the transmission in my truck completely disintegrated. That was one hell of a long week. While waiting for replacement parts, we spent the days digging a duck pond. The nights required lots of alcohol and choice between two local party spots. One was a trailer park, the other was a giant irrigation canal surrounded by cornfields referred to as ‘the ditch’. Good times… good times.

by: Kirsty

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:05:39 +0000

@brent Thanks! But hey, as far as the geography lessons go, I’m never trying to impress people so it doesn’t matter much to me.

by: spare tire

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:56:25 +0000

Try the Hy-Vee. Aircraft hangar sized supermarkets with cheap, massive portion serving cafeteria/cafes with free wifi and all you can drink coffee refills. Large cofee, baked potatoes, green beans, chicken mmmm. And every time I’d go in there there was always some kind of club meetup or something going on. Yeah, the Midwest… It’s not so bad. Sometimes I miss ol’ USA.

by: Brent Miller

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:39:37 +0000

Kirsty,

I’m enjoying reading about your travels, and of course, learning about how you do this vagabonding, nomading thing.

I think it’s great you are going to Iowa to help out. That’s fantastic. It’s okay to say power tools scare you a little. But for a traveler to say they don’t know their geography? You might want to 1) brush up on your geography or 2) just not mention this deficit again.

Be well. Travel safe.

Brent