Sirs and madams -

It has been quite some time since I last sent any e-mails detailing my travels. Since we last spoke, I've been rather busy, as I assume all of you have been. I just graduated from Miami in May, and I've peppered the last year and a half with some extraneous travels that I've failed to properly document in e-mail form. I'd like to take this time to reconnect with all of you via the long-lost art of group e-mail, as I'm having a bit of an adventure, and some of you have expressed interest.

I'll be on the road for the next 5 months, traveling the U.S. and Canada. I'm traveling by car, and I'm making most of the trip on my own. I'm pumped to say that my little bro Jonny will be joining me for a couple weeks, and I'm lucky enough to be connecting with other family and friends along the way.

This trip shall serve several purposes. First, it will obviously satiate a bit of my wanderlust, as most of you could imagine. Second, it will give me the opportunity to truly appreciate some of the wonders of my own country, which is something I've not yet been able to do. I'll explore some of North America's vastly different landscapes, cityscapes, sub-cultures, edibles, flora, fauna, and so forth. Next, this journey will allow me the chance to further my experience with the production of travel media. I'll soon be moving to California to work in travel media, and I need a lot more experience behind and in front of the camera, not to mention in the control room (i.e. working with editing, script-writing, and production). As I will be working to "tell the world's stories" throughout the course of my career, I'll be using this journey to further acquaint myself with the art of storytelling. Finally, this trip is giving me the chance to meet with various production companies, travel show hosts, and producers throughout the country. I've already set up a number of informational interviews and coffee/dinner outings, but if any of you have suggestions for people to contact, let me know! :)

I now have a website that all of you can visit to find my videos from this trip and my trip around the world last summer. You'll also find photography and a bit of info about my prior travels. Feel free to visit and give feedback, as it's still new and may need your input -- homepage.mac.com/rarudwall.

In addition to posting videos, photos, and writing, I'll be tracking my journey with Google Maps. Click on the link below to follow my travels between now and Thanksgiving:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108615724721649217631.00045208d5352931b9e50&ll=56.559482,-91.757812&spn=48.867744,115.136719&z=3

I've already been on the road for a number of days now, exploring some lovely places between Dayton and my current location of Boulder, Colorado. I'll be sure to send an e-mail with stories sometime in the next couple days.

Anyway, off to hike the Rockies. Hope all is well with all of you. Keep me posted on life, love, work, or anything else you'd like to share (unless it's finance or mathematics, in which case, I'll kindly ask you to refrain).

Sending my love from the shadow of mountains,
Rachel